"Stop, sir!" bellowed the stranger, and with surprising agility for one of his age and dignified appearance, he hopped upon the step and caught hold of the door.
Tony didn't wait for any further instructions. Freeing his arm quietly from Isabel he leaned across the car, and with a sudden swift thrust in the chest sent the intruder sprawling in the roadway.
At the same moment he jammed on the accelerator, and the well-trained Hispano leaped forward like a greyhound from its leash.
CHAPTER IX
A RUN-AWAY QUEEN
A morbid regard for the exact speed limit was never one of Tony's failings, and he covered the short distance that separated them from the end of the park in what was probably a record time for that respectable stretch of fairway.
He slackened down a little on reaching the gates, but as luck would have it there was no one about to obstruct his progress, and in a graceful curve he swept out on to the main road.
Then with a laugh he turned to Isabel.
"I love going about with you, Isabel," he said. "One never knows what's going to happen next."
She made no answer, but rising slightly in her seat cast a quick, frightened glance over her shoulder as if to see whether they were being followed.