Around the corner they darted even as the chief of police appeared in the doorway—­too late to see in which direction his erstwhile prisoners had flown.  But the two fugitives could hear his voice raised in another roar, as he thundered out a call for his men to give chase.

“Come on, Uncle John!” shouted Hal, and the latter, although he had long since come to believe that his bones had stiffened with age, surprised himself by the manner in which he flew over the ground.

Fortunately, the street at the moment was deserted.  Around one, two, then three corners Hal doubled, and then slowed down.

“Guess we are all right for a few minutes,” he gasped.

Uncle John stopped and gasped for breath.

“I’m not as young as I used to be, Hal,” he said.  “Don’t forget that.  I can’t go a hundred yards in eleven seconds any more.”

“Well, you didn’t miss it much,” said Hal, with a chuckle.  “But come on, we must get away from here.  If we are caught now, the chances are they will stand us up against a wall and have a shot at us.”

“In which event,” said Uncle John dryly, “I can still do a hundred yards in ten flat.”

Side by side the two walked on.

“The question that now arises,” said Uncle John, “is how we are going to get away from here?”

“First,” said Hal, “we must go back and see if Chester is still where we left him.”

“Like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Uncle John.  “This is a pretty good-sized town.”

“Not at all,” replied Hal.  “I have a pretty keen sense of direction; besides, I always make it a point to look at the names of the streets.  I can find it in half an hour.  Come on.”

The lad had not boasted and less than an hour later they stood again in the house where so lately they had been prisoners.

“Well, he’s gone,” said Hal quietly.  “We cannot help him here.  The best thing for us to do is to return to Rome and lay the case before the ambassador, who can take the matter up with Ambassador Penfield at Vienna, or through Washington.”

“The thing to do, then, is to hunt the railroad station,” declared Uncle John.  “Do you think you can find it?”

“If I can’t, I can ask,” replied Hal.

Thirty minutes later saw Hal at the ticket window asking what time the next train left for Rome.

“In an hour,” was the reply.

Hal purchased two tickets.  Then with Uncle John he strolled about the station.

Suddenly the boy halted in his tracks and grabbed Uncle John by the arm, pulling him into a corner.  And it was well that he did so, for a moment later there brushed by the spot where they had stood none other than the chief of police and several other men in uniform.

“He may not be looking for us, but the chances are he is,” said Hal.

The chief went straight to the ticket office, where he engaged the agent in conversation.