At a furious pace the car leaped forward along the deserted road, the telltale track of the fugitives still standing out plainly in the glare of the head lamps. Colin was much too occupied with the wheel to indulge in any further attempt at conversation, while sheltering his eyes from the wind with one hand, and grasping the back of the seat with the other, the Inspector stared out in front of him in grim silence.
Rounding a slight curve between two low banks, they emerged into a long stretch of almost perfectly straight roadway, and at the same moment a simultaneous shout burst from both their lips. There in the moonlight, not more than half a mile away, they could see the dark outline and gleaming tail lamp of another car, travelling swiftly in the same direction as themselves.
"There they are!" roared the Inspector. "Keep her going, doctor! Keep her going, and we've got 'em!"
With an inward prayer that his tires would stand the strain, Colin drove down the accelerator to its extreme limit. The well-tuned engine responded to his call, and with the wind rushing in their faces, and the whole chassis quivering and rocking beneath them, they surged on recklessly in pursuit of their escaping quarry.
Any doubt as to the respective pace of the two cars was settled in the next minute. Slowly but surely the distance between them lessened, until in the bright moonlight it was possible to make out the bare head and broad shoulders of "Spike" Cooper as he crouched in the seat alongside the driver, staring back over the swaying tonneau.
"Look out for that devil!" shouted the Inspector. "He'll start shooting directly we're close enough."
Clutching his own pistol in his hand, he leaned forward over the dashboard, his eyes glued on the motionless figure ahead.
Nearer and nearer they drew, the mud and gravel flying from beneath their wheels, the roar and throb of the engine seeming to beat time to the mad rhythm of the chase.
Suddenly, with a warning cry, Marsden raised his weapon. There was a simultaneous spurt of flame from both cars, and with a vicious thud something buried itself in the padded seat just beside Colin's shoulder.
Crack! Crack! Crack!