The Phantom Motor | Page 2

the road of The Trap toward the other end. The feeble rays of the lantern showed the unbroken line of the cold, stone walls on each side. There was no shrubbery of any sort, only a narrow strip of grass close to the wall. The more Baker considered the matter the more anxious he became and he increased his pace a little. As he turned a gentle curve he saw a lantern in the distance coming slowly toward him. It was evidently being carried by someone who was looking carefully along each side of the road.
'Hello!' called Baker, when the lantern came within distance. 'That you, Bowman?'
'Yes,' came the hallooed response.
The lanterns moved on and met. Baker's solicitude for the other constable was quickly changed to curiosity.
'What're you looking for?' he asked.
'That auto,' replied Bowman. 'It didn't come through my end and I thought perhaps there had been an accident so I walked along looking for it. Haven't seen anything.'
'Didn't come through your end?' repeated Baker in amazement. 'Why it must have. It didn't come back my way and I haven't passed it so it must have gone through.'
`Well, it didn't,' declared Bowman conclusively. 'I was on the lookout for it, too, standing beside the road. There hasn't been a car through my end in an hour.'
Special Constable Baker raised his lantern until the rays fell full upon the face of Special Constable Bowman and for an instant they stared each at the other. Suspicion glowed from the keen, avaricious eyes of Baker.
'How much did they give you to let em' by?' he asked.
'Give me?' exclaimed Bowman, in righteous indignation. 'Give me nothing. I haven't seen a car.'
A slight sneer curled the lips of Special Constable Baker.
'Of course that's all right to report at headquarters,' he said, 'but I happen to know that the auto came in here, that it didn't go back my way, that it couldn't get out except at the ends, therefore it went your way.' He was silent for a moment. 'And whatever you got, Jim, seems to me I ought to get half.'
Then the worm - i.e., Bowman - turned. A polite curl appeared about his lips and was permitted to show through the grizzled mustache.
I guess,' he said deliberately, 'you think because you do that, everybody else does. I haven't seen any autos.'
'Don't I always give you half, Jim?' Baker demanded, almost pleadingly.
'Well I haven't seen any car and that's all there is to it. If it didn't go back your way there wasn't any car.' There was a pause; Bowman was framing up something particularly unpleasant. 'You're seeing things, that's what's the matter.'
So was sown discord between two officers of the County of Yarborough. After awhile they separated with mutual sneers and open derision and went back to their respective posts. Each was thoughtful in his own way. At five minutes of midnight when they went offduty Baker called Bowman on the phone again.
'I've been thinking this thing over, Jim, and I guess it would be just as well if we didn't report it or say anything about it when we go in,' said Baker slowly. 'It seems foolish and if we did say anything about it it would give the boys the laugh on us.'
'Just as you say,' responded Bowman.
Relations between Special Constable Baker and Special Constable Bowman were strained on the morrow. But they walked along side by side to their respective posts. Baker stopped at his end of The Trap; Bowman didn't even look around.
'You'd better keep your eyes open tonight, Jim,' Baker called as a last word.
'I had 'em open last night,' was the disgusted retort.
Seven, eight, nine o'clock passed. Two or three cars had gone through The Trap at moderate speed and one had been warned by Baker. At a few minutes past nine he was staring down the road which led into The Trap when he saw something that brought him quickly to his feet. It was a pair of dazzling white eyes, far away. He recognized them - the mysterious car of the night before.
'I'll get it this time,' he muttered grimly, between closed teeth.
Then when the onrushing car was a full two hundred yards away Baker planted himself in the middle of the road and began to swing the lantern. The auto seemed, if anything, to be traveling even faster than on the previous night. At a hundred yards Baker began to shout. Still the car didn't lessen speed, merely rushed on. Again at the psychological instant Baker jumped. The auto whisked by as the chauffeur gave it a dextrous twist to prevent running down the Special Constable.
Safely out of its way Baker turned and stared after it, trying to read the number. He could see there was a number because a white board swung