Clement was impatient to get out at him; again Gatineau checked him.
“Neuburg’s here. That was his call,” he said. “He’s in hiding. He’s waiting to see whether Lucas’s movement draws anything.”
Lucas walked eagerly up the trail, with all eyes watching him. There was no movement or sound on the mountainside above him. A minute passed. Suddenly they saw Neuburg standing above the trail.
He had slipped silently out of the shadow, and was standing quietly looking round. Lucas changed direction at once, and ran up to him.
Gatineau, too, began to move. The men with them spread out to form a half-circle about the little detective, who headed straight through the spruce, going with the skill of a trapper towards the big murderer.
They dipped to a hollow, rose to a point where they could see the two men. Neuburg was talking rapidly. As he talked he put his hand behind him, raised it with a revolver, and fired straight at Gatineau in cover.
Gatineau shouted and fell. Two shots rang out. Lucas fell dead and Neuburg began to run.
He dived straight for the bush, crashing the branches aside with his huge figure. In a moment he had plunged into the gloom. Clement was after him, and one of the men cut across to head the big fellow.
In front, Clement heard the crashing of the murderer’s passage, and even at times caught the back swing of the branches. Once he saw the brute, sighted and fired. Once a revolver spat and a bullet screamed close to his head. They scrambled into a rocky pocket and out again. Ahead there came a sudden shout, the explosion of two guns close together, and a great scream of rage and fear.
Clement broke cover to see a man struggling in the great arms of Neuburg. Neuburg was trying to break the fellow’s back with knee and hands. Clement shouted and leaped forward. Neuburg turned, snarling like an animal, and flung his victim at the Englishman’s knees.