floating black cloud, and with her first appearance Frank turned
an anxious face toward the spot where a violent agitation in the
brush announced the presence of the running Jim.

"Hold up there, boy! Put on the brake, or I'll----" but the rest
was unheard, for Frank had dropped as low as he could in the front
of the car, though still keeping his hands on that guiding wheel.

He heard the sharp discharge of a weapon, thrice repeated. His
heart seemed to come up almost in his throat, for this thing of
being under fire was a new experience for the young athlete.
Perhaps the man had tried to simply puncture the tire, although
this would in the end delay their departure. Frank never knew the
truth in connection with the firing.

Then, in another second or two, he realized that he had passed
beyond the zone of danger, with a clear road ahead of him!

"Hurrah!"

He could not help giving vent to his delight in this one shout.
Just half a mile further on another road branched off from the one
he was flying over. He remembered that by a circuitous way it
would eventually take him to Columbia, passing through first the
village of Stagers, and then a larger place known as Plattville.

His pulses were bounding with triumph as he let the car out notch
by notch. Why, after all, the smash could have done no serious
damage to the machine. What was fifteen miles when in such a
splendid traveler as this new auto of the good doctor's?