A moment later the fugitives came to where their vehicle was parked beside the road. It was in darkness and there seemed to be no life about it. Hesitating only a moment, to make sure of this, Ned and Tom approached. In their hearts they were hoping that the machine would not be in the possession of the enemy.
It did not seem to be. They were not challenged as they leaped to the driver's seat, and in a moment Tom had switched on the lights.
"We're in luck, Ned!" he yelled, as a glance at the various gages showed that there was plenty of oil and gas. "Now if they haven't put it on the blink, well let them have a look at our tail light in about two seconds!"
The self-starter hummed. There was a responding roar from the powerful motor, and in another instant Tom Swift was heading his machine down the mountain at ever increasing speed.
There had been several days of dry weather following the storm, and the dust of the highway reflected the headlights well so that driving was comparatively easy. The speed increased so that Ned called out:
"Aren't you hitting it up pretty fast, Tom?"
"Got to!" was the grim answer. "They're coming after us! Listen!"
He slowed for a second, silencing his engine a bit, and from behind came the roaring exhaust of another car.
"They've got to go some to get me now!" exulted Tom. "We're on a down grade, and as soon as the motor warms up I'll show them what my House on Wheels can do!"
Faster and faster they sped down the winding road in the darkness. The hand on the speedometer went to 25 to 30, and then on past 35. When it got to 45 Ned looked at Tom and took a tighter grip of the seat rail.