south of him. His face was over the wheel and his eyes strained
through the darkness. Then suddenly he spat out his cigarette and gave a
sharp intake of the breath. Far away down the road two little yellow
points had rounded a curve. They vanished into a dip, shot upwards once
more, and then vanished again. The inert man in the draped car woke
suddenly into intense life. From his pocket he pulled a mask of dark
cloth, which he fastened securely across his face, adjusting it carefully
that his sight might be unimpeded. For an instant he uncovered an
acetylene hand-lantern, took a hasty glance at his own preparations, and
laid it beside a Mauser pistol upon the seat alongside him. Then,
twitching his hat down lower than ever, he released his clutch and slid
downward his gear-lever. With a chuckle and shudder the long, black
machine sprang forward, and shot with a soft sigh from her powerful
engines down the sloping gradient. The driver stooped and switched off
his electric head-lights. Only a dim grey swathe cut through the black
heath indicated the line of his road. From in front there came presently
a confused puffing and rattling and clanging as the oncoming car breasted
the slope. It coughed and spluttered on a powerful, old-fashioned low
gear, while its engine throbbed like a weary heart. The yellow, glaring
lights dipped for the last time into a switchback curve. When they
reappeared over the crest the two cars were within thirty yards of each
other. The dark one darted across the road and barred the other's
passage, while a warning acetylene lamp was waved in the air. With a
jarring of brakes the noisy new-comer was brought to a halt.

"I say," cried an aggrieved voice, "'pon my soul, you know, we might have
had an accident. Why the devil don't you keep your head-lights on? I
never saw you till I nearly burst my radiators on you!"

The acetylene lamp, held forward, discovered a very angry young man, blue-
eyed, yellow-moustached, and florid, sitting alone at the wheel of an
antiquated twelve-horse Wolseley. Suddenly the aggrieved look upon his
flushed face changed to one of absolute bewilderment. The driver in the
dark car had sprung out of the seat, a black, long-barrelled,
wicked-looking pistol was poked in the traveller's face, and behind the
further sights of it was a circle of black cloth with two deadly eyes
looking from as many slits.

"Hands up!" said a quick, stern voice. "Hands up!