They had not
dared to ask too many questions of any one near the ferry, fearful lest
the people they were pursuing might have a guard posted there to warn
them in case of a possible pursuit, yet cautious inquiries seemed to
indicate that all the automobiles on the ferryboat which had preceded
had been headed to the north.
"There's only one thing we can do," Dean had said despondently. "We have
got to run out each road we come to until we reach some shop or garage
where the people would be likely to have noticed the Hoffs. They may
have stopped somewhere, or we may meet some one coming toward us who
will remember having passed them."
"It seems like a wild-goose chase," said Jane, "but I suppose there is
nothing else to do."
The strain of their bitter disappointment was telling on both of them.
Each felt inclined to blame the other for their having fallen so far
behind. They rode along in silence, their nerves becoming more and more
keyed up as their hopes grew less. At garage after garage they paused to
question the employees.
"Did a big gray car with two men, an old man with a beard and a young
man driving, pass this way about an hour ago?"
"I don't remember any such car," was the invariable answer.
Time and time again they repeated their query, wording it always the
same, except for lengthening the interval of time in which the car might
have passed, for the afternoon was rapidly passing.
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