His hand slipped again to the revolver and he drew it forth, holding it
ready for instant use. Then he went forward swiftly again on noiseless
steps, and once more he caught a glimpse of the flitting shadow straight
ahead. He increased his speed and the shadow resolved itself into the
figure of a man, a figure that seemed familiar to him.
Two or three times the man stopped and looked back, but John had shrunk
behind a tree and no pursuit was visible. Then he resumed his rapid
flight up the steep slope, and young Scott persistently followed, never
once losing sight of the active figure.
The way led to the crest of the mountain which hung about two thousand
feet above the village and it was a climb requiring some time and
endurance, but though John's pulse beat fast it was with excitement and
not with exhaustion. At the summit he saw the figure emerge upon an open
space upon which stood a slender round tower of considerable height.
John stopped at the edge of the pines and saw the figure disappear
within the tower, upon the summit of which something presently began to
flash and crackle. He caught his breath and the blood leaped fiercely
through his veins. He knew that the tower was a wireless signal station
and that it was talking to another somewhere. It sent, too, as he well
knew, through the velvety blue of the night the message that
Mademoiselle Julie Lannes, Suzanne, her maid, and John Scott, the
American, were in the village of Obenstein where they could be taken.
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