But the bushes were so thick at this point that the slight start the fellow had was sufficient to enable him to get away. Hawley went crashing and floundering through the brush for some time in the hope of hitting the trail of the fugitive, but finally had to give it up as useless.
“I’m afraid I’ve lost him,” he said, somewhat crestfallen, as he returned to the girl in the automobile. “I don’t suppose he can have gone very far, but these bushes are worse than a maze at a county fair.”
“It’s no matter,” said the girl, with a smile. She seemed to have recovered a great deal of her lost composure. “I’m just as pleased that you didn’t catch him. I really don’t think the fellow meant any harm. He asked for money. The reason I screamed was because he looked so rough. The road here is so lonely that I lost my nerve when he came through the bushes and climbed onto the car. I suppose if I’d given him a few cents he’d have gone away quietly enough. I’m afraid I’m rather silly to be scared so easily.”
“Not at all,” said the Camera Chap. “I guess anybody would have been scared under the circumstances. What’s the matter with the car; a breakdown?”
“Oh, no,” the girl replied. “There’s nothing the matter with the car. I stopped merely because I—I was waiting for somebody whom I expect to meet here.”
Her hesitation and the vivid blush which accompanied these words enlightened Hawley as to the gender of this somebody for whom she was waiting.
She was an exceedingly attractive girl, and Hawley found himself envying the man whom she expected to meet. But as he had no desire to intrude upon this tryst, he stepped over to his motor cycle, and turned to the girl inquiringly.
“Guess I’ll be getting along,” he said, “unless, of course, you prefer to have me remain until the arrival of this—er—person you’re expecting. Are you afraid to be left alone here?”
“Oh, no,” she answered, in a tone which told him of her eagerness to get rid of him. “I’ll be all right, thank you. Please don’t let me detain you. I don’t intend to stay here. I’m going to turn the car around and ride slowly back toward Oldham until I meet—the friend I’m expecting.”
“That’s a very sensible idea,” Hawley said. “While the machine is in motion you’ll be in no danger of annoyance from any more tramps.”