With Billy in the back! The thought shook Dan Speedwell. For an instant he was tempted to pull down—to reduce speed—to take no further risk in this wild chase.
But then, the thought that Billy might need him—that the robbers might have already discovered that they carried a spy with them—urged the brother to cling to the trail like a hound on the scent of game.
They shot around a curve in the road. Henri held up his hand. Some sound—a noise louder than the roar of their passage—had come to him.
“What is it?” shouted Dan, but not reducing speed.
“A blow-out!” cried the Frenchman, and pointed ahead.
“It’s the other car!” shouted Polk, leaning over the back of the front seat. “We’re going to catch ’em. They’ve burst a tire!”
CHAPTER XIII
A SHARP TURN
Billy Speedwell, in the hood of the robbers’ car, speeding over these lonely roads at this late hour of the night, had many sensations. He had his own anxieties and fears—nor were they much connected with the wrecked automobile in the tree-tops; nevertheless, they were poignant troubles.
Billy was much shaken as the motor car bounced over the way. The pace was not quite so wild, however, as it had been on the run down to the Falls. George was handling the car with more caution. Billy could hear a low murmur of voices—now and then a little cry. The man who had been shot, and who had kept perfectly still while at Rebo’s garage, was having his wound dressed, without doubt.