Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-11-15
cHApTER XcIN.--pURsUIr

'<'ishiN NClS.---I'U l..
Though II was his life that they
sought SO pertinaciously. no later than
Yesterday (and then by no means for
the first timc), they had proved that
u Roso were With Alan they would
include her ruthlessly III whatsoever
scheme they might contemplate for his
personal determination.
Nor would Tom Darcus bc exempt if
they wcre caught In company-though
Judith might be. in view Of Marrophat's
infatuation for the girl.
These two were far ahead, out of
sight. indeed; and must somehow be
ovcrtaken and warned-no easy matter.
since the machine which bore them
vas. IL anything. faster than Alan's,
Just as the racing automobile was fas.
Ter than either
From it's jog-trot the cycle swept in
q, It's greatest speed; yentrc-a terra.
cars back. tail a-.ftream, IL roared
down the road at such speed as tore
tho very breath from the lips Of those
whom II carried.
Alan kept his gaze steadfast 10. the
road before them, daring not once to
look up and round or back, but con-
strained ever to watch their way: for
at such frightful speed as they were
now making tho slightest obstruction
was fraught with dircst peril: one lit :
tic sidelong swerve from the narrow
and tortuous path. and death would be
their portion. For now on ono hand,
now on tho other. now on. both the
hilisidcs fell away in such steep de-
,livftics as almost to deserve the name
OF cliffs-ns the road wound It's ger
nontino way through tho heart OF these
great, desolatc, silent mountains.
So sinuous and Wandering was it's
course. indeed. that Alan seldom could
sec hundred yards of it ahead, but
must pclt on in panic flight, hoping
for the bcst-thnt Judith and Barcus
would soon show UP in front that
something might happen TO hinder the
pursuit-nevcr Knowing whether the
latter lost or gained.
And thus catastrophe befell
Round the swelling bosom of "a
wooded mountainsidc the motorcycle
swept like u hunted hare. and without
tho least warning came upon Barcus
and Judith. disnounted, Harcus bend
Ing over his cycle and tinkcring with
ita motor, At Il poinc where the road
ran narrow betwcc,, the heavily for
ested hillside and - tcrracclikc slope
OF hare. brown earth, shooting down
ward at an angle OF nearly forty i've
degrees from the horizontal, and fully
ninety feet in length from the road $
edge to the underground that masked
little stream ihling through the bot
tom of the canyon.
For one manipulating instant coll
lision seemed unavoida BILE. Barous and
Judith and the motorcycle occupied
most OF the width OF the road; there
was little room between them and the
declivity, less between them and the
forest To try to pass them on the
latter side would be only TO dash his
brains out against the trees; while to
make the attempt on the outside would
be to risk leaving the road altogether
and dashing off into space.
And IT was impossible to stop the
cycle-so brief was. all his warning.
In desperation Alan chose the outside
OF the road; and for the space of q
y single heartbeat thought that he might
possibly make 1t, bu, with the next
realized that he would not-seeine the
front wheel swing off over the iip Of
the slope.
Al this he acted sharply and upon
sheer instinct. AS the cycle ler, the
ROAD altogether he risked a broken
knee by releasing his grasp of the ham
dleoars and strengthening out his leg
and driving ii down forcibly against
the roadbed. The effect of this was TO
lift him bodily from the saddle: the
machine shot from beneath him like
some strange projectile hurled from
the pore OF great gun; and Rose
crashed against him in the same frac-
ttion Of a second.
Headlons they plunged as one down
the hillside. struck its shelving sur
race good twenty feet from the brink
OF the road. and dying apart tumbled
their separate ways down the re-
Inainder of the drop and into the
friendly shelter Of the underbrush
Something nearly miraculous saved
them whole. Beyond a few scratches
and bruises and n severe shal,inr,,n
they escaped unframed And they
were picking themselves up and re-
gaining. their breath and recollecting
their scattered wits when, with i'm
petus no less terrific than their own
had boon, the pursuing, motor car
swung round the bend and hurled itself
directly nj the two who remained upon
the road above
But Tom Barcus hadn't failed to
profit by the warning implicit in Alan's
accident.
CONTINUED To-Morrow.)