er of an hour was lost, but the locking ring
had rusted in its thread, as sometimes happens, and it was heavy work
for a girl to shift it unaided. She had forbidden Barraclough to help
and had made him picket a hundred yards down the road in case the
pursuers should come up unexpectedly.

After that all had gone well--except for a plug sooting on number three
cylinder and a halt for petrol about fifty miles outside London. A
full moon had risen with sundown which lit the countryside brightly,
and made the run almost as easy as by day.

Only once did Barraclough see the pursuing Ford, two spots of light
visible from the top of the rise threading through the valley five
miles to the rear. Of course, it might have been any other car, but a
kind of second sense convinced him that this was not the case. He did
not confide to Flora what he had seen, but the tapping of his foot on
the floor-board gave her the information as surely as any spoken word.

She startled him not a little by rapping out the enquiry:

"How much lead have we got."

"Five miles."

"We shall do it. They won't average more than twenty-eight and we're
good for that. Where are we now?"

"Hogs-back."

"What's time?"

"'Bout ten to eleven."

"Hm! Think they'll shove any obstacles in the way?"

"Depends," said Anthony. "If they sent a message through it's pretty
certain we may run into a hold up."

"Going to chance it?"

"No. We'll slip off the main road at Cobham and trickle in through the
byes."

"Right oh! tell me when."

For some miles they drove in silence and once again between Ripley and
Guildford had a glimpse of the following lights. With a considerable
shock Barraclough realised that the distance separating the two cars
had greatly diminished. But hereabouts an unexpected piece of luck
favoured them. At a point where the road narrowed between hedges a
farm gate was thrown open and a flock of sheep was driven out into the
highway. Flora contrived to dash past before the leaders of the flock
came through the gate. Another second and she would have been too
late. Glancing back Anthony observed that the entire road was solid
with sheep, a compact mass that moved neither forward nor backward.

"Our friends'll lose five minutes penetrating that," he announced
gleefully.

It did not occur to him until later that every one of those woolly ewes
was an unknowing servant of Hugo van Diest and that their presence in
the road