Barney had a long pistol in his belt and this he now took from its case, and examined critically while the girls looked on fearfully.
“You’re not going to shoot him, I hope?” asked Billie.
“It may not be necessary, Miss.”
“No, no. Don’t do that under any circumstances,” put in Miss Campbell.
Barney gave a humorous, good-natured grin.
“I’ll defend the ladies,” he said.
The suspense of waiting was almost more than they could endure. Miss Campbell proposed that they pile all the suitcases one on top of the other and take their stand behind them, like an improvised fort.
Billie suggested that they lay them across the road so that the car would be obliged to stop. As for Barney, he leapt on his Texas horse and took his stand like a sentinel in the middle of the road, pistol cocked.
But the Comet appeared before the girls could do anything. They saw it a long way off like a red speck on the road and as it came nearer, their wonder grew in proportion. On the chauffeur’s seat sat Peter Van Vechten.