Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-02
Continued from Yesterdays Starr
INSTALLMENT XX.

INSTALLMENT XIX.
SECOND car was halted by the
| ~ hotel steps an imported Amer
| IL lean affair with faded gray
4 4 green paint work and the gen.
eral outward appearance of a
vehicle let out for hire. It was proc
ably not the car Dighton had ordered.
but he climbed in nevertheless.
An olivc-faced youth in check cap
surveyed him doubtful!y from the
drivers seat.
You ere the Signor Parker, Signore?"
Djghton unearthcd hundrei-lirc
| note
My name is Dighton," he explained
hurriedly.
Il have Just ordered car from your
firm. Probably it will roll up in cou-
pie of minutes-and the Signor Parker
can take 1t instead"
He pointed to a cloud of white dust
at bend1n the road
What have you got under that bon
nct?-Six cylnders?"
Isl. Signore."
Can you catch that car in front?"
The driver shrugged his shoulders
and spread out pair of singuiarly I'M
clean hands.
''One can but try!"
He pocketed the note and threw the
chugging engine into first. In an Ill
credibly short space Of time he had
put her in top-and the augmented
group of gaping wayfSrers saw the car
| Jerk forward with an evcr-increasn;
| velocity that impellcd them to watch il
| out of sight.
| The youth was quite evidently proud
- I i< t.,,e ne ~
skipper of his ship or an old-timc
coachman of his horses.
"A wonderful engine Sigror," he
yelled in Dighton's car. There is not
| another to equal 1t in Rapallo."
Dighton nodded to show that he had
heard The pleasing purr of the engine
had told him all he wanted to know
concerning her mechanical possibilities.
His eyes were fixed on the road
ahead.
What are her tires like?"
The italian drew down the corners
of his mouth and gesticulated with one
hand.
Not too good, eh?"
Dighton grunted.
The ive-complexioned boy was not
so confident in his tires as In his en-
gine-and this was a make Of car in
which tire-changing was a tedious
business. A delay of 10 minutes might
mean losing sight of their quarry al
together. He would have to chance
that.
At the eastern extremity of the town
the other vehicle was so yards ahead
Of them There was evidently nothing
wrong with her engine. for she took
the first hill without any appfeciable
drop in speed.
Dighton passed over cigarette.
which the youth accepted with a grin
and ignted with practiced skill.
AN italian car that, signore." he
volunteered in strident, lisping Gen
oese. "Marca Italiana-made in Turin.
A doctors car perhaps. They picked up
a lady who had tainted"
Dighton drew in deep breath.
Then he WIS on the right track,
after all! AS the miles totaled them
selves up on the speedometer, the ex-
preston on his face grew less set.
They were not gaining much ground.
their own. Provided the tires held out,
he was prepared to back this heavier
car on the level. There was consola-
ton in the memory that in dashiu5
from Rapallo after Greta's abducto",
he was in no sense leaving his post.
True enough, the Villa Sabine was mis-
main objective: but it was equally I'M
pcrtant that the Lizard should be
run to earth. While that desperate
was tearing over the countryside with
Dighton at his heels, he could not be
exploring the murky recesses OF Fon-
tanelli's cellar. :,
He was growing to like that little
driver, to thank his stars he had not
Aa wit n
man. An old-stager might, have de-
INJURED. II was no small thing to be
called out for a leisurely local drive
and be switched off with no satistac-
tory explanation on to wild dash into
infinity! -
The mentality of Dante Brizzolesi-
Dighton had discovered his rlame-waS
both interesting and curious. English
men were reputed to be capable Of mad
adventures such as these-and they
were accustomed to pay generously for
their pleasures. The Signore, besides.
had inquired as to the capabilities OF
his ca--and he was glad of an oppor-
tunity to demonstrate them. Dightcn
tried to ,1,agine the attitude OF Lon-
don taxicab driver toward a similar
stunt proposed in hating English by a
foreigner.
A road under repair between CHA
vari and Lavagna reduced the distance
between the two cars to bare 20 yards.
Beyond this obstruction. however. the
forward driver accelerated. increasing
the distance so yisibly that Dighton
shouted aloud.
For a fraction of second the GER
seemed to leave the road altogether
and the headlong race Of two vehicles
through Lavagna caused startled peas
ants to scuttle to the roadside for
safety. The wind from Dighton's car
sent a soldiers cap spinning from his
head into the air, and carsbinlero
on point-duty waved wildly after them
until he was lost to view. At Sentri
Levante their quarry took the road that
led abruptly inland.
The sky had become overcast they
were meeting a chill north wind and an
endless succession of tremendous hills.
Dighton was beginning to wish he had
brought a coat or that they had
thought to raise the hood before start
ing. Every patch of flints in the road
increased his anxiety for those tires,
and as this test of endurance con-
tinued. he leaned more and more to
| the conviction that the Lizard was
| playing with them.
! The car in front seemed to reduce
or increase the distance between them
as it chose. In the midst Of a long
ascent the imperturbable driver breath
cd something about benZina!
This was a hint of a calamity for
which he had not banked. They were
running short of petrol!
Dighton grittcd his teeth. The busi-
ness was beginning to look hopeless.
| The role of passenger was getting on
his nerves. He Gid not doubt for one
moment that the other knew his car.
that he was getting the utmost out o.
(! her but he felt somehow that he could
! do better. But for the time that would
be wasted in a change of seats, ne
would have coynseled a stop end pre-
vailed upon the other to vacate his