CARRIED AWAY IN AUTOMOBILE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12609, 25 June 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

CARRIED AWAY IN AUTOMOBILE.

GIRL'S CURIOUS ADVENTURE. Paris, May 14.The story of the adventures of Miss Arabella Crane, the young American girl rescued from a French prisou, a few days ago by the American Consul-General, reads like a chapter taken at random from "The Arabian Nights. Here is the story of' her t strange adventure as gleaned from her and the American Consul-General: — The latter received some ten days ago a note which had been posted at Dreux, an ancient Druid town in the Department of Eure-et-Loire, 50 miles from Paris. It was apparent at'a glance that the note had been written by an educated person. The writer said she was an American girl of twentythree, penniless, speaking no French, and held by the police of Dreux, although no criminal charge was pending against her. : Always open-hearted in such cases, the Consul-General was touched by the girl's appeal for assistance. He decided that he could not afford - to ignore the note and so despatched an attache of the Consulate to the out-of-the-way French village to make an investigation. The attache reported late the same afternoon that the girl's note was substantially correct, and he was directed to bring her to Paris at once. The police at Dreux corroborated the girls story, and said she was under no charge whatever, but was held because she did not appear to have any means of self-support. 1 hey were glad to surrender her to the American Consul. ' ." . '"-;,'" "Miss Crane then told of her strange adventure in the automobile. She said she had come to Paris a short time ago seeking an engagement on the stage. One day during her rambles about the city she met a man at the Hotel St. Petersburg, who introduced himself as Sir William White (no such name appears in Burke) and reminded her that they had already met in London. He told her he had been seeking her high and low, and was deeply in love with her. Without more ado " Sir William" proposed marriage to Miss Crane. She said she could not think of taking such a step on such short notice, and suggested that the subject be dropped for the time. , Sir William" then proposed that they take a jaunt about the city and see the sights in his automobile, which was standing at the hotel door. .. V Miss Crane accepted the invitation, never dreaming that- her escort was masquerading under a false name and title. They went out beyond Versailles, and near there stopped at a small town. The man said his automobile had got out of ; order, and he would have to stop there a short, time so repairs could be made. He took Miss Crane to a hotel that stood at some distance back from the road, and said they would dine there, as the repairs to the automobile would take an hour or more.'■•"' ■ - After dinner "Sir William" told Miss Crane that he had found it impossible to have the repairs done before the following day. ' ."/.V. ":":'-,'." ---v' ■' " i The young woman protested that she must be taken back to Paris without further delay, and suggested that they return by train. v-'v ! ; . ■;■■. --..V , }, - : '\. :•'■:■,'■ - ;sr%" #;• But the man could not be moved, and left the girl in her room. Miss Crane .then determined to get away from the t place alone, but; found the door locked. Her cries for help went unheeded, and at last she had almost given up hope of making her escape. Soon after midnight, however, she found that one of ; her 'windows was not locked, and through this she crept out on the ledge. She mustered up courage and dropped to the ground, <a>; distance ;of ■ -about ten feet. Luckily she was uninjured. Miss Crane set'."out along a road she supposed would lead to Paris, but in fact she was going in exactly the opposite direction. She had only a few copper coins, and i,these she spent for breakfast. Sha finally reached the village of Dreux, fifty mil*** from Paris, penniless. Driven to desperation, she finally appealed to the police for something to eat, but could not make herself understood, as she could not speak French. J The police proceeded to search her, and, finding no papers to identify her, she was locked up as* a tramp and held until Mr. Gowdy (Consul-General) sent his attache to the rescue. ' "«' The American Consul-General says "he found the girl's remarkable story of abduction to be true, and; that he knows the identity of the man \ who ,; posed as ;.| " Sir William White," whe will be arrested and prosecuted if the detectives can locate him.