CHAPTER XIV

ALTERED PLANS

Fred’s horse did for him what he could scarcely have done for himself in time.  It reared and threw him, then bolted.  Tired already, the sudden appearance of the monstrous ray of light and the roar of the approaching motor was too much for that horse.  Fred was not hurt by the fall.  Having had no stirrups from which to disengage his feet, he was able to let himself go.  And he had no sooner landed than he was up.  For just a moment, he knew he must be plainly visible in the glare of the searchlight.  But he dashed for the side of the road and made his way through a hedge and into the field on the other side.  There he began to run as fast and as hard as he could.

He had two chances, he thought.  One, that he had not been seen at all; the other, that whoever was in the car might think he had passed on the flying horse.  If he had been seen, however, he could not hope to escape by running.  He was too tired, for one thing, after the strenuous experience of the previous night, and for another, he was almost certain to be seen, for after he had traversed a space that was covered with shrubs and young trees, he would be in the open.  And a bullet could travel faster than he could.

And so, after making his dash, he stopped running and threw himself down, facing the road, to watch and to listen.  At first he thought he was safe, for the car roared by.  But in a moment his ear caught a different note in the sound of the motor, and then the engine stopped.  It started again in a moment, but now the headlight was coming toward him again!  The car had been turned around.  It was back, undoubtedly, to look for him.  Still he decided not to run, but to stay where he was, though every instinct prompted him to take the chance of flight.  That, however, was pure panic, and he fought against the impulse.

The car came along slowly.  He was not more than a hundred feet from the road, and the headlight showed him the progress of the car.  Its blinding light, however, made it impossible for him to see the car itself or its occupants.  It gave them the advantage.  Finally the car stopped, and he groaned.  It had stopped exactly opposite his hiding-place!  He had hoped that they would not be able to tell just where he had left the road, but in a moment the explanation came to him.  He had trampled down the hedge in getting through, of course, and had left a trail that a child might have followed.

Then the headlight was switched off, and for a moment he lost the car altogether.  His ears, rather than his eyes, told him that someone was coming.  He heard the breaking down of the hedge, and then footsteps moving slowly, but coming closer.  And in a moment he saw a little stabbing ray of light that wandered back and forth.  Whoever was stalking him was evidently not afraid of him.