There are one or two inexplicable features--" The eyes of the other met his with a level glance of desperate hostility.
With an undisciplined flash of temper, Carl brutally clubbed his assailant into insensibility with the revolver butt and dragged him heavily to the tonneau of his car, throbbing unheeded in the darkness.
Having assured himself of his guest's continued docility by the sinister adjustment of a handkerchief, an indifferent rag or so from the repair kit and a dirty rope, he covered the motionless figure carelessly with a robe and sprang to the wheel, whistling softly.

With a throb, the great car leaped, humming, to the road.
At midnight the lights of Harlem lay ahead.

The ride from the hills, three hours of storm and squirting gravel, had been made with the persistent whir and drone of a speeding engine.

But once had it rested black and silent in a lonely road of dripping trees, while the driver hurried into a roadside tavern and telephoned.
Now, with a purring sigh as a bridge loomed ahead, the car slackened and stopped.

Carl slowly lighted a cigarette.