Harley stepped into
the road, and following a brief conversation Harley set out westward,
performing a detour before heading south for Lower Claybury, a little
town with which he was only slightly acquainted. No evidence of
espionage could he detect, but the note of danger spoke intimately to
his inner consciousness; so that when, the metropolis left behind, he
found himself in the hilly Surrey countryside, more than once he pulled
up, sitting silent for a while and listening intently. He failed,
always, to detect any sign of pursuit.

The night was tropically brilliant, hot, and still, but saving the
distant murmur of the city, and ordinary comings and goings along the
country roads, there was nothing to account for a growing anxiety of
which he became conscious.

He was in gunshot of Old Claybury church tower, when the sight of a
haystack immediately inside a meadow gate suggested a likely hiding
place for the racer; and, having run the car under cover, Harley
proceeded on foot to the little railway station. He approached a porter
who leaned in the doorway. "Could you direct me to the house of his
excellency Ormuz Khan?" he inquired.

"Yes, sir," was the reply. "If you follow the uphill road on the other
side of the station until you come to the Manor Park--you will see the
gates--and then branch off to the right, taking the road facing the
gates. Hillside--that's the name of the house--is about a quarter of a
mile along."

Dusk was beginning to fall and, although the nature of his proposed
operations demanded secrecy, he recognized that every hour was precious.
Accordingly he walked immediately back to the spot at which he had left
the car and, following the porter's directions, drove over the line at
the level crossing immediately beyond the station, and proceeded up
a tree-lined road until he found himself skirting the railing of an
extensive tract of park land.

Presently heavy gates appeared in view; and then, to the right, another
lane in which the growing dusk had painted many shadows. He determined
to drive on until he should find a suitable hiding place. And at a
spot, as he presently learned, not a hundred yards from Hillside, he
discovered an opening in the hedge which divided the road from a tilled
field. Into this, without hesitation, he turned the racer, backing in,
in order that he might be ready for a flying start in case of emergency.
Once more he set out on foot.

He proceeded with caution,