me
restrained captive hailed freedom in a joyous fashion.

After all Josh was not detained there more than a couple of minutes,
though it may have seemed much longer to the anxious lad, for his heart
beat so tumultuously that it really threatened to smother him.

He could constantly hear the men inside the house moving hastily about,
and calling to one another in French. Evidently they were wondering
where the missing boy as well as his machine could be hidden. They might
at any instant begin to suspect that a clever trick had been played upon
them, and come rushing forth to protect their own car, upon which the
continuance of the pursuit depended wholly.

At last Josh seemed to have finished his work, whatever it may have
been, for he turned away from the car and started to run. He took to the
road, meaning to reach the spot where his motorcycle lay hidden in the
bushes. Given just enough time to arrive and lay hands on the precious
machine Josh felt sure he could laugh at any effort on the part of the
men to overtake him.

Just as he came close to the hiding place of the wheel he heard a loud
shout from the rear. This announced that his presence had been
discovered by one or both of the Frenchmen. Of course their first
thought would be to leap into the car and try to speed after him. Josh
chuckled with fiendish glee as he contemplated their disgust when they
found that no matter how hard they tried they could not coax the red
racer to make the first move.

He could hear them roaring as he dragged his machine out on the road.
One look back was sufficient to show him how matters stood. Both men
were tumbling out of the stalled car, wild to make a hasty examination
in order to discover why it would not move an inch, though the engine
was throbbing away tumultuously all the while, just as they had left it.

"The crack I gave that self-starter rod bent it, and placed it out of
commission, all right," Josh exclaimed, as he drew his machine to the
middle of the road, and deliberately prepared to follow after his chums;
"but that was only a beginning; the worst is yet to come when they look
around."

Louder came the angry shouts from the direction of the house. The men
must have learned the full nature of their troubles. Josh saw them
starting toward him as if under the impression that he would be silly
enough to await their coming.

"Not for Joseph; not if he knows it!" he called out, as he turned on the
current, a