The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1922-04-25

4
to any length, to put an end to the
White Moll. He would not hesitate
an instant to shoot her down in doing
| 1t. A few revolver shots from a car
| that speeded away in the darkness
| offered even chance of escape. And
| yet, unless she forced an issue such
as that, she knew that Danglar would
not resort to firing at her here in the
city. He would want to be sure that
| was the only chance he had of getting
her, before he accepted the risk that
he would run of being caught for it by
| the police.
She found herself becoming strange
ly, cool and collected now. The one
| danger, greater than all others. that
| menaced her was a traffic block that
| would cause her to stop, and allow
| those in the other car behind to rush
| in upon her she sat here at the
wheel. And sooner Or later. if she
| stayed in the city, block such as
that was inevitable. She must get
out of the city, then. 1t was only to
invite another risk, the risk that
Danglar was in the faster car of the
| two-but there was no other way.
She drove more quickly, made her
! way to the Bridge, and crossed it. The
car behind followed with immutable
persistence. 1t made no effort to
| close the short gap between them;
but, neither, the other hand, did
it permit that gap to widen.
They passed through BROOKLYN; and
then; reaching the outskirts, Rhoda
Gray, with headlights streaming into
the black, with an open Long Island
| road before her, flung her throttle
wide, and the car leaped like thing
l.of life into the night 1t was a sud
RI inc a
yards-but that was all.
The wind tore at her and whipped
her face; thee ar rocked and reeled
as in soma mad frenzy. There was
| not much traffic, but such as there
was it cleared away from before her
as if by magic. as, seeking shelter
| from the wild meteortc thing running
| amuck, the few vehicles, motor or
horse, that she encountered Rugged
the edge of the road, and the wind
whisked to her ears fragments of
shouts and excavations Again and
again she looked back-two fiery balls
| of light blazed behind her-a1wayS
those same two fiery balls.
She neither gained nor lost. Rigid,
like steel, her little figure was crouch
ed over the wheel. She did not
know the road She knew nothing
save that she was racing for her life.
She did not know the end; she could
not see the end. Perhaps there would
be some mericful piece of luck for her
that would win her through break
down to that roaring thing, with Its
eyes that were balls of fire, behind.
She passed through a town with
lighted streets and lighted windows
Or was it only Imagination? 1t was
gone again, anyhow, and there was
just black road ahead. Over the
noar of the car and the sweep OF
the wind, then, she caught, or fancied
she caught, a series of faint reports.
She looked behind her. Yes, they
were firing now. Little flashes leap
ed out above and at the SldeS OF those
blazing headlights
How long was it since she had left
the Silver Sphinx? Minutes or hours
would not measure it, would they?
But it could not last much longer! She
was growing very tired; the strain
upon her arms, yes, and upon her eyes,
was becoming unbearable. She sway
ed little in her seat, and the car
swerved and she jerked it back again
into the straight She began to laugh
a little hysterically-andt then, sudden
", she Strengthened up. tense and alert
once more.
That swerve was the germ of an In
sDiration! 1t took root swiftly now.
1t was desperate-but she was des-
perate She could not drive much
more. or much longer like this Mind
| and body were almost undone. And,
| besides, she was not outdtstanc1ng
| that car behind her by a foot; and
| sooner or later they would hit her
with one of their shots, or, perhaps
what they were really trying to do,
| puncture one of her tires
~ III dnN
| Yes, Danglar was just far enough be-
hind to make the plan possible. She
began to allow the car to swerve no
ticeably at intervals as though she
were weakening and the car was get
ting beyond her control-which was.
indeed, almost too literally the case.
And now it seemed to her that each
time she swerved there came an ex-
ultant shout from the car behind.
Well, she asked for nothing better;
that was what she was trying to do,
wasn't it?-inspire them with the be-
lief that she was breaking under the
strain.
Her ewes searched anxiously down
the luminous pathway made by her
high-powered headlights. If only
she could reach a piece of road that
combined two tl1ings=an embanknent
of some sort, and a curve just sharp
enough to those headlight behind off
at tangent for an instant as they
rounded it, too, in following her.
A minute, two, another passed. aAnd
then Rhoda Gray. tight-hpped, her
face drawn hard, as her own head
lights suddenly edged away from the
road and opened what looked like
deep ravine on her left, while the road
curved to the right, flung a. frenzied
glance back of her. Tt was her
chance-her one chan-e Danglar was
perhaps a little more than a hundred
Yards in the rear. Yes-now! His
headlights were streaming out on her
as he, too, touched the curve The
right-hand side of her car, the right
hand side of the road were in black
ness She. checked violently. almost
to stop, then instantly opened the
throttle wide once more, wrenching
the wheel over to head the machine
for the rayine; and before the car