Then the unexpected occurred. The driver opened his throttle and the
car leaped ahead, and at the same time the man beside him stood up and
struck at Bob.
Bob leaned back to avoid the blow, and the next moment found himself
flat on his back in the road, with the car disappearing around the
curve.
Frank, who by now had reached the top of the bank, dropped to the road
beside him and bent over him with real anxiety in his voice as he
said:
"Bob, Bob, are you hurt?"
Ruefully rubbing the back of his head, Bob sat up.
"No," said he, "But they got away, Frank."
Again there was a crashing in the underbrush on the top of the bank,
and Mr. Temple and Tom Barnum came into view, red and perspiring.
"Escaped you, hey?" said Mr. Temple, leaping to the road, as Bob
scrambled to his feet. "But, say, I see you captured something all
right." And he pointed to a coat clutched fast in Bob's hand.
Then for the first time Bob noticed that in falling from the car he
had dragged his victim's coat with him. He held it up and looked at it
curiously.
"He must have been wriggling out of his coat when he found you
wouldn't let go," surmised Frank. "I could see him threshing around
just as I came up to the top of the bank.
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