The spade had been laid aside now, and the critical moment had arrived. Cray turned to his companion and made a series of quick, expressive gestures.
“I’ll tackle him. You be ready to gag him while I hold him,” they said as plainly as words.
An instant later, Simpson reappeared in the narrow space between the garage and the car, and, turning his back, started to shut the big, sliding door.
That was Jack Cray’s opportunity, and, taking immediate advantage of it, he launched himself full tilt at the thief’s back.
CHAPTER XXVI.
NOT ON THE PROGRAM.
Simpson gave a startled gasp and tried to turn, but Cray’s weight bore him down, and in a trice they were on the ground.
Gordon showed himself, and approached as they flopped about for a few moments in that confined space. Suddenly he turned without warning and ran around the corner behind which he had just been hiding. He quickly circled about the tiny garage and approached the struggling men from the other direction.
The space had been so narrow that it would have been awkward for him to get at Simpson’s head. Now, however, he could do so without difficulty, and, as he stooped, he had a handkerchief all ready to gag the prisoner.