Then he landed again, a pile-driving half-arm jolt that went home, and Hallin lay still.
Gasping, the Saint relaxed....
And at once Hallin heaved up titanically under him, and something more than a fist struck the side of the Saint's head.
If it had struck a direct blow Simon's skull would have been cracked like an eggshell; but Hallin had misjudged his mark by a fraction. The stone glanced from the Saint's temple; even so, it was like being kicked by a mule. It shook the Saint more than anything else in the whole of that mad struggle, and sent him toppling sideways with a welter of tangled lights zipping before his eyes. He felt Hallin slip from his grasp, and slithered desperately away to his left. Something went past his cheek, so close that he felt it pass, and hit the ground beyond him with a crunching thud....
He touched another bush, and crawled dizzily round it. On the other side he dragged himself up-- first to his knees, then, shakily, to his feet. He could hear Hallin stumbling about in the blackness, searching for him; but he had to rest. Every muscle of his body ached; his head was playing a complete symphony....
Then he heard the bush rustle; and he had not moved.
He strained his eyes into the obscurity. The steady beam of the torch was a dozen yards away; suddenly he saw Hallin silhouetted against it. Hallin must have seen him at the same moment. The Saint ducked instantaneously, and the rock that Hallin hurled at him went over his head. Simon saw that rock also, for the fraction of a second, in the same silhouette; it was the size of a football.
Hallin came after it without a pause. Simon could see him clearly. With a gigantic effort the Saint gathered his strength and met the rush with a long straight left that packed every ounce of power he could muster. Hallin was coming in carelessly now: the blow took him squarely on the mouth and sent him flying.
The Saint stood still. As long as he could keep his position he had a precarious advantage. He saw Hallin's silhouette again, for a moment--but only for a moment. Then nothing. He realized that Hallin had also seen the point....
He began to edge away, with his ears alert for the slightest warning sound. And then he saw another light--the light of a match, moving through the darkness a few points from his torch. At the same time Teal's shout reached him faintly.
Without hesitation Simon plunged towards the electric torch,
Again he guessed exactly what Hallin would do --and he was right. The man had already crept around behind him--that gave the Saint a lead-- but, as he ran, Simon heard the other coming up behind. A hand touched his arm; then Hallin cursed, and the Saint heard him fall.
Simon reached the light, switched it out, and swerved away. He heard Hallin running again, but the man went right past him and did not turn back.
"Where are you, Templar?"
He heard Teal's voice, closer at hand; as "the Saint blundered after Hallin, his path took him towards the voice; presently he switched on his light again, and Teal himself showed up, red-faced and perspiring.
"Have you seen him?" rapped the Saint.
"No," said the detective shortly. "Didn't you kill him?"
Simon answered with the ghost of a laugh.
"Unfortunately I failed. But there's still time. He must have gone between us. Come on!"
He started off again, and Teal had to follow.
As they ran the Saint said: "This'll take us towards the road, anyway. He's sure to make for that. Where's Perry?"
"I sent him back to the car," said TealShort-windedly. "With Mason."
"Which car?"
"Hallin's."
"You sap! That's where Hallin'll be making for."
"Perry's got his gun back."
"Oh! . . . How's Mason?"
"Shot through the lungs. Perry carried him."
"Learn anything from Perry?"
"Not much. I didn't wait."
They went on quickly. Hallin could no longer be heard, but the Saint was certain about the road. And the road would take Hallin to something else...
They came out of the scrub onto level turf, where the going was easier. Down to his left the Saint saw a pair of headlights. He turned, hurrying on.
"Mind the ditch."
He lighted the detective over, and followed with a leap. As his feet touched the road he heard Perry's challenge.
"Stop where you are!"
"But this is us," said the Saint.
The car turned a little, and the headlights picked him up. In a moment the car itself swept up beside them.
"You haven't seen Miles?" demanded Simon, with one foot on the step.
"Not a sign."
"And you haven't; heard anything?"
"Only you. I thought--"
"Damnation!" said the Saint, in his gentle way.
He looked up and down the road, listening intently, but he could hear nothing. Then he swung onto the running board.
"He's sure to have struck the road somewhere," he said crisply. "Teal, hustle yourself round the other side. . . . Can you put this thing along, Nigel?"
"I'll do my best."
"Off you go, then."
Teal climbed onto the step at the other side, and the car started again with a jerk, and gathered speed. Teal leaned over to be pessimistic.
"He'll see us coming a mile away if he is on the road," he said.
"I know," said the Saint savagely. "Perhaps you'd rather run."
He did not care to admit how pessimistic he himself felt. He was certain that Hallin must make for the road sooner or later; but he also knew that Teal's remark was perfectly justified. In fact, if it had been merely a question of capturing a fugitive, the Saint would have given it up forthwith. But there was another reason for the chase, and this very reason also gave it a faint chance of success. It was Perry who made the Saint speak of it.
"He told me Moyna wasn't far away," Perry said. "Have you any idea what he meant?"
"What he said," answered the Saint grimly. "He brought Moyna with him, but he didn't take her to the cottage. I don't know where he took her; but I'll bet he told you the truth. She won't be far away."
Perry said, in a strained voice: "Oughtn't we to be looking for her, instead of chasing him?"
"We're doing both at the same time," said the Saint quietly. "Wherever she is, that's where he's gone. Miles Hallin is going to have his life."
"I--I can hardly believe it, even now," said the youngster huskily.
Simon's hand rested on his shoulder.
"I hope you won't see it proved," he said. "But I know that Hallin has gone to find Moyna."
Teal cleared his throat.
"He can't have got as far as this, anyway," he remarked.
"Right as usual, Claud Eustace." The Saint's voice was preternaturally calm. "He must have gone down the hill. Turn the car round, Nigel, and we'll try the other line."
Teal understood, and held his peace. Of course Hallin might easily have gone up the hill. He would have stepped off the road, and they might have passed him. , . . But Perry could b% spared the argument. . . . And yet Teal did not know how sincerely the Saint was clinging to his hope. Simon himself did not know why he should have clung to the hope as he did, against all reason; but the faith that spurred him on was above reason. The Saint simply could not believe that the story would end--the way Teal thought it must end....
"This is where we started from." The Saint spoke to the lad at the wheel in tones of easy confidence. "We could stop the engine and coast S3 down, couldn't we? Then wed hardly make any noise..."
They went on with no sound but the soft rustle of the tires. Simon did not have to mention the headlights. Those would give their approach away even more surely than the drone of the engine; but Simon would have invented any fatuous remark to save Perry's nerves.