The Holly chieftain., 1923-04-19
CHAPTER xxl-continusd.

-1I-
As he struggled forward, impatient
at these delays, he came several
times upon narrow, unguarded roads
and crossed them; at other times the
little wilderness which protected him
changed suddenly to a well-kept lawn
where some great house with its
garages and outbuildings loomed
ahead, and afraid to cross these open
places, he was obliged to retrace his
steps and. find way round. The dis
tance from the bridge to the place
where the men he was following had
got out of their motor, he had thought
to be about two miles; but when he
had been travelling more than an hour,
he had not yet reached it. Then.
suddenly he came upon the road for
which he was looking; somewhere to
the east along 1t was the place he
sought. He crouched as near to the
road as he dared and where he could
look up and down 1t. This being
main road, was guarded. A motor
car with armed men in 1t passed him.
and presently repassed, evidently pa
trolling the road; its lights showed
him a man with gun standing at the
first bend Of the road to the east.
Eaton drew further back and moved
parallel to the road but far enough
away from 1t to be hidden. A quarter
Of a mile further he found second
man. The motorcar, evidently, was
patroling only to this point; another
car was on duty beyond this. AS
Eaton halted, this second car ap-
preached, and was halted, backed
and turned.
Its headlights swept through the
woods and revealed Eaton. The man
standing In the road cried out the
alarm and fired at Eaton point blank;
he fired second and third time.
Eaton fed madly back into the shad-
ow; as he did SO, he heard the men
crying to one smother and leaping
from the car and following him. He
retreated to the woods, went further
along and came back to the road, ly-
ing fiat upon his face again and wait
ing till some other car in passing
should give him light to see.
Eaton, weak and dizzy from his
wounds and confused by darkness and
his struggle through the woods, had
no exact idea how long 1t had taken
him to get to this place; but he knew
that 1t could have been hardly less
than two hours since he had left Har-
riet. The men he was following,
therefore, had that much start of
TIM, nd to Io
patience but did not discourage him.
His own wounds, Eaton understood,
made his escape practically impossi-
ole, because any one who saw him
would at once challenge and detain
him; and the other man was still more
seriously wounded. 1t was not his es-
cape that Eaton feared; 1t was con-
cealment Of him. The man had been
taken from the car because his condi-
ton was SO serious that there was no
hope Of hiding 1t; Eaton thought he
must be dead. He expected to find
the body concealed under dead leaves,
hurriedly hidden.
The night had cleared a little; to
the north, Eaton could see stars. Sud
oCAAS thS hpuu uhu lhC 1CduSSS UuSue9
at Its sides flashed out in the bright
light Of motorcar passing. Eaton
strained forward. He had found the
place he sought: there was no doubt
car had turned on the road some
time before and stopped there. The
passing Of many cars had SO tracked
the road that none Of the men In the
70 ho,
thing Of Significance there; but Eaton
saw plainly in the soft ground at
the edge of the woods the footmarks
of two men walking one behind the
other. When the car had passed. he
crept forward In the dark and fingered
the distinct heel and toe marks In
the soft soil. For a little distance
he could follow them by feeling; then
as they led him into the edge Of the
woods the ground grew harder and
he could no longer follow them in
that way.
1t was plain to him what had oc-
CURED; two men had got out Of the
car here and had lifted out and car
ried away third. He knelt where
hC Noolu ACCi lhC last 1oolStCPo hS
could detect and looked around.
The wound In his shoulder no long
er bled, but the pain of 1t twinged
him through and through; his head
throbbed with the hurt there; his feet
were raw and bleeding where sharp
roots and branches had cut through
his socks and torn the flesh; his skin
was hot and dry with fever, and his
head swan.
There was not yet light enough to
see any distance, but Eaton, accus-
toned to the darkness and bending
close to the ground, could discern the
footmarks even on the harder soil.
They led away from the road into
the woods. On the rotted leaves and
twigs was dark stain; few steps
beyond there was another. Eaton
picking up leaf and lingering 1t,