It gave them the advantage. Finally the car
stopped, and he groaned. It had stopped exactly opposite his
hiding-place! He had hoped that they would not be able to tell just
where he had left the road, but in a moment the explanation came to him.
He had trampled down the hedge in getting through, of course, and had
left a trail that a child might have followed.
Then the headlight was switched off, and for a moment he lost the car
altogether. His ears, rather than his eyes, told him that someone was
coming. He heard the breaking down of the hedge, and then footsteps
moving slowly, but coming closer. And in a moment he saw a little
stabbing ray of light that wandered back and forth. Whoever was stalking
him was evidently not afraid of him.
Suddenly he remembered his pistol, the one he had taken from Schmidt's
holster. He gripped it convulsively. After all, he was not as helpless
as he had believed. He waited. Should he risk all now, with a shot--a
shot that might warn this stalker off and give him another chance to
escape, even though there were others in the car? He drew out the
pistol, and cocked it. Then, at the faint sound, a voice called to him
out of the darkness.
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