CHAPTER XXII THE FINISH
Dick was no ordinary horse. He was an unusual horse who had very unusualmasters. The young policeman had spoken the truth when he said that PatO'Hara's horse was the smartest on the force. As Dick felt his youngmistress in the saddle and the man in gray behind her, he realized thatthis was not to be a race, but a fight. He seemed to sense that his taskwas to keep in sight of that racing blue automobile, and not for oneinstant to lose sight of it.
Follow it he did, and that at the peril of his own life and the lives ofthose who rode. Now dashing past a low, closed car, now crowding betweentwo black sedans, now all but run down by a great yellow car, he forgedstraight ahead.
He not only followed; he actually gained. Leaning far forward in thesaddle, Cordie kept her eyes upon the fleeing car. Now they were butthree quarters of a block away, now a half, now a quarter.
It was an exciting moment. Beads of perspiration stood out upon the tipof Cordie's nose. The hand that held the reins trembled. They weregaining, gaining, gaining. Through narrow passages impossible to a car,old Dick crowded forward like a fleet, sure-footed dog. Now a yard hegained, now a rod, and now a long stretch of open. They were gaining,gaining, gaining! What were they to do once the car was overtaken? ThatCordie could not tell. She only knew one thing clearly--the men in thecar must not escape and she was determined to prevent their escape.
Then, as they neared a cross street, a man stepped out on the runningboard and flashed an automatic. Aiming deliberately, he fired. The nextinstant, with the din of a hundred sets of brakes screaming in theirears, Cordie, the horse and the man in gray were piled all in a heap inthe middle of the street.
In the midst of all this there came a crash. What was that? Dared shehope it was the villains' car? At sound of it the man in gray was up andaway like mad.
"What's this?" she heard an unfamiliar voice saying. A man from thenearest car behind them had come to the aid of the girl and the horse.
* * * * * * * *
In the meantime, Lucile was passing through experiences quite as strange.
Laurie Seymour had been knocked unconscious by a blow on the head.Patrick O'Hara had been shot from his horse. How serious were theinjuries of these, her friends?
To determine this, then to see what might be done for their relief; thisappeared to be her duty, even though Cordie was in grave danger still.
Men pressed forward to assist her. They carried the unconscious ones intothe lobby of a hotel. There they were stretched out upon davenports andremedies applied by the house physician.
Lucile was engaged in stopping the flow of blood from Patrick O'Hara'sscalp wound. She chanced to look up and there, at the edge of thedavenport, she caught sight of a familiar face.
"Miss Diurno! The Mystery Lady! Spirit of Christmas! Two Hundred ingold!" her mind registered automatically, but her fingers held rigidly totheir task.
* * * * * * * *
As Cordie struggled to her feet, after being plunged from the back of thefallen horse, she saw the man in gray leap for the side of an automobilethat had crashed into the curb. A thrill ran through her as she realizedthat this was the blue racer. The next instant, after fairly tearing thedoor from the hinges, the man in gray dragged a man out of the blue car,threw him to the pavement and held him rigidly there.
There came the clatter of horse's hoofs, and then down sprang good oldTim, the police sergeant, and his fellow officer.
"He's a bad one," growled the one in gray. "If you've got handcuffs, put'em on him."
Tim hesitated. How was an officer to know who was in the right? Thismight be but a Christmas Eve fight. He had not witnessed the beginning ofthis affair.
A hand tugged at his sleeve. "If you please, Tim," came a girlish voice,"It's me, the one who stole Patrick O'Hara's horse. If you'll believe meyou better take his word for it. He's right."
"Oh, he is, eh?" rumbled Tim. "Little girl, what you say goes. I'd trustyou any time. On they go."
The hawk-eyed man, for it was he that had been captured (his accomplicehad vanished) made one more desperate effort to escape, but failed. Thehandcuffs were snapped on and he was led away by the younger officer.
"Now," said Tim in a sterner voice, "tell me how Pat O'Hara's horse comesto be lyin' there in the street?"
"He--he shot him," Cordie gulped, pointing away toward the hawk-eyed man.
"He did, did he? Then he should be hung."
"Pat--Patrick O'Hara's sho--shot too," Cordie was very near to tears. "Ifit hadn't been for him," she nodded to the figure in gray, "we--wewouldn't have got him, though Dick and I would have done our--our best,for he--he shot our good good friend Pat O'Hara." At this, Cordie's longpent up tears came flooding forth as she hid her face on good old Tim'sbroad breast.
"That's all right," he soothed, patting her on the shoulders. "It's notas bad as you think. Look! There's old Dick getting to his feet now."
It was true. The man in gray had walked over to where Dick lay, hadcoaxed the horse to get up, and was now leading him limping to the curb.
"It's only a flesh wound in the leg," he explained. "Give him a week orten days and he'll be on the beat again. Dick, old boy," he said huskily,"and you too, dear little Cordie, I want to thank you for what you'vedone for me. I--I've had my revenge, if a man has a right to revenge. Andit might be they'll find the fox skins among his plunder."
The eyes of the man in gray, just now brimming with honest tears, wereturned toward Cordie. It was James, the seaman and bundle carrier!
For a moment he gripped the girl's hand, then turning to Tim, said:
"You'll look after her? See that she gets safely back to her friends?"
"Oh sure! Sure!"
"Then I'll be getting over to the police station. They'll be wantingsomeone to prefer charges."
He was turning to go, but Cordie called him back. Handing him a slip ofpaper on which she had scribbled a number and an address, she said:
"Call me on the phone at that number to-morrow, or else at the ButlerHouse before midnight. I want to know whether you get those wonderfulsilver fox skins back. I--might have a customer for them if you do."
"It would make a great little old Christmas for me if I did," he smiled."But it's going to be all right anyway."
Reading the address Cordie had given him, James gave a great start."Right on the Gold Coast!" was his mental comment. "Out where there isnothing but palaces and mansions!"