"You think he saw all that came off?"
"I’m dead sure of it."
"And now——”
"There’s nothing to it," Fallon cut in again. "He has gone in pursuit of Mullen’s wagon. He didn’t know how far he might have to go, nor how long it would take him. That’s why he hid that wheel so far from the road."
Goulard was not slow to appreciate this reasoning, nor in deciding what course he would shape. There was murder in his eyes when, dragging Fallon back to the road, he commanded hurriedly:
"Return to town alone, Bill, and follow the directions I have given you. Make sure there is no slip-up. If I’m in wrong again; if these infernal Carters are wise to my game and are out to thwart me, I’ll wipe one and all of them off the map! Leave me here, Bill, and return alone. I’ll soon find out, by thunder, who is after Mullen and the wagon."
CHAPTER VII.
A TIMELY ARRIVAL.
Patsy Garvan arrived within an hour at his destination, or, rather, that of Mullen and his evil-eyed companion. Through a break in the belt of woods Patsy could see the end of the narrow road, through which he had trailed the two crooks and the covered wagon.
Scattered dwellings, also, could be seen in the distance, all of a cheap and inferior type. Farther away were the poles and wires of a suburban trolley line, all denoting that he was approaching the outskirt of one of the many inferior settlements to be found in that part of the Bronx.
To the right of the narrow road, however, brought into view just before reaching the break of the woodland, was a faded, isolated old house of considerable size, the grounds, stable, and outbuildings of which denoted that[Pg 29] it had been a desirable place in the remote past, though then in a miserably run-down and wretched condition.