A second later the machine and rider had disappeared in the pitch darkness.
He re-fixed his lamp.

Pursuit, he knew, was useless without his lantern, and, cursing the maker thereof, he adjusted another battery, and put the light on the ground to see what it was that the fugitive had dropped.

He thought he heard a smothered exclamation behind him and turned swiftly.
But nobody came within the radius of his lamp.

He must be getting nervy, he thought, and continued his inspection of the wallet.
It was a long, leather portfolio, about ten inches in length and five inches in depth, and it was strangely heavy.

He picked it up, felt for the clasp, and found instead two tiny locks.