ere the next registering booth was
located.

As the old couple had been made aware of the stirring event of that
particular day, Fred would not be surprised to see them on the lookout,
ready to give him a cheery wave of the hand as he passed by.

He counted himself as lucky to get along over that rough section of his
journey without any accident. There was always a possibility of catching
his foot in some unseen vine, and finding himself thrown violently to the
ground. Even a slight injury to his knee might work to his disadvantage,
since it was bound to cripple him at some time during the remaining
thirteen or more miles that must be passed over before the goal was
reached.

Now he discovered a stump of a tree that had been cut down recently, and
which he remembered lay close to where they were standing at the time
they headed for the shelter of the old barn. This assured him that he
must have covered the worst of the trail, and was about to strike easier
going. Fred thought he would not be averse to this, since it had been
hard pushing through the scrub, where lowhanging branches of trees
continually threatened to strike him in the eyes, and all manner of
hidden traps awaited the feet of the unwary.

He did not doubt in the least but that by taking the road he would so
increase his speed over one who stuck to the crooked trails, that he must
arrive at the toll-gate station quite a little time ahead of Ackers.

Well, every minute would be apt to count, for like each one of the other
Riverport contestants Fred had been told all sorts of amazing stories
about the ability of the Mechanicsburg "Wonder" to recuperate, and come
in at the end of a long race apparently fresh. That had been one of the
reasons for his brush with Ackers; he had tried to run him off his feet,
and test this feature of his make-up.

There was the old barn at last. Fred saw its familiar outlines with the
greatest satisfaction. So far as he could tell he had carried out every
part of his work with clock-like fidelity, for he had counted on reaching
this point at a given time, and expected to be registering again far in
advance of all others.

Bursting from the shelter of the woods Fred gave a single glance back of
him. He saw no sign of Colon, and yet felt positive that the other must
even then be threading his tortuous way through the undergrowth, and
would arrive within a few minutes at most.

Of course it was far from Fred's polic