Page:The Secret of the Caves.djvu/59

motorcycle even if it had been only a short distance ahead. They could only trust to their own speed and to the chance that the thief had not obtained too much of a start.

Suddenly, as they swerved around a bend in the road, Joe gave a cry of delight.

In the distance, on an open stretch, half-hidden by a heavy cloud of dust, a motorcycle was hurtling toward an expanse of paved highway that lay like a white ribbon far beyond the trees.

"That's him!" Joe shouted.

But Frank had already seen the dark object ahead.

He let the machine out to its fullest speed. He knew that if the fugitive once gained the highway it would be impossible to overtake him. It was now or never.

But the country road was deceptive.

Just a few yards away, he spied a culvert. It had been poorly constructed and a bad bump was inevitable. It was suicidal to take it at their present speed.

He desperately tried to slacken pace, but the machine reached the rise in the road in a moment, lurched over it, seemed to leap through the air, and then hit the road again with a crash. There was a tremendous jolt.

Frank's grip was almost torn from the handlebars, but he held on tightly. Joe had