“They must not escape!” she screamed. “They shall not!”
The next instant she leaped into the saddle of the police horse, Dick. Just as the noble animal dashed away she felt the solid impact of someone mounting behind her.
One glance she cast behind her. “Oh!” she breathed. It was the man in gray. To Dick she whispered: “All right, Dick, old dear, Go! Go fast! For the love of Patrick O’Hara and Laurie Seymour; for the love of all that’s good and true, go; go as you never went before!”
There was no need to talk to Dick. He was away like the wind.
It was a moment of high suspense and swift action; one of those moments when success or failure hinges on the right move at the right second.
CHAPTER XXII
THE FINISH
Dick was no ordinary horse. He was an unusual horse who had very unusual masters. The young policeman had spoken the truth when he said that Pat O’Hara’s horse was the smartest on the force. As Dick felt his young mistress in the saddle and the man in gray behind her, he realized that this was not to be a race, but a fight. He seemed to sense that his task was to keep in sight of that racing blue automobile, and not for one instant to lose sight of it.
Follow it he did, and that at the peril of his own life and the lives of those who rode. Now dashing past a low, closed car, now crowding between two black sedans, now all but run down by a great yellow car, he forged straight ahead.
He not only followed; he actually gained. Leaning far forward in the saddle, Cordie kept her eyes upon the fleeing car. Now they were but three quarters of a block away, now a half, now a quarter.
It was an exciting moment. Beads of perspiration stood out upon the tip of Cordie’s nose. The hand that held the reins trembled. They were gaining, gaining, gaining. Through narrow passages impossible to a car, old Dick crowded forward like a fleet, sure-footed dog. Now a yard he gained, now a rod, and now a long stretch of open. They were gaining, gaining, gaining! What were they to do once the car was overtaken? That Cordie could not tell. She only knew one thing clearly—the men in the car must not escape and she was determined to prevent their escape.