Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/290

 from the station into the hills behind Findellen. He pulled down the peak of his cap and started after it desperately.

Crossing the road, he crossed the car’s trail in the paste of red Jersey mud that remained from the morning’s rain; and three of the wheels had left smooth tracks where the car had turned, and the fourth had imprinted the indented pattern of a corrugated shoe designed to prevent skidding. Barney slowed his pace to study it. He glanced at the sky, that showed sunset colors. He drew a dollar watch from his trouser pocket and found it five minutes after six. He put his cap back from his forehead thoughtfully, and turned along the main street—away from the trail of the automobile—to find a hardware store. He could not follow a track in the mud after dark. He had to have a lantern.

At seven o’clock, with a little electric lamp in his pocket, he was climbing the hill road