As we got down to the level this evil prophecy showed itself a true one. There was gluey mud on the well-made track often three inches deep, and though our driver flogged industriously, the tired mules were seldom able to muster up anything better than a lumbering canter. We had the train in sight all the time, and could see that we were dropping astern at every stride. It was very mortifying.
But as the race neared its close Fortune again pulled a string in our favour. A distant whistle screamed, and we saw the train gradually bring up to a standstill alongside a signal-post. The respite was not for long, for the barrier was soon withdrawn, and she steamed into the station; but it had enabled us to see the pair we were chasing come sharply out of the buildings, enter a carriage, and get driven away through the gate into the city.
"What now?" demanded Haigh.
"On after them," exclaimed the anarchist.
"What! in this rattletrap?"
"Of course," said I.
"But everybody will stare."
"Oh, what the devil does that matter?"
"Why, for myself, I must say that in a fashionable place like this, with a lot of girls about, I——Hullo! that settles it, though."
"What?"