CHAPTER XVIII

MATCHING WITS


"After him, Bart! We mustn't let him get away!" exclaimed the
stout man, as he hurriedly climbed out of the tonneau of the
automobile.

"Not me! I ain't hankering after a cold bath just now," answered
his companion, who had jumped out on the other side, and was
running around.

"Run down to the bank and get hold of him, if you can!" continued
Jim, harshly.

This seemed at least reasonable, and Bart had no objections to
trying to do something along such lines.

"Don't see anything of him here!" he announced a minute later, as
he appeared below, and ran along the bank of the stream.

The moon had gone behind a cloud, as though wishing to favor the
escape of the unwilling chauffeur.

"Hang the luck! Well, come up here then, and we'll put off. P'raps
I might manage with my other arm. We can't hang around here, with