They rode along in silence after that and though they were all a bit nervous they felt that courage would come when a safe distance had been put between them and the terrible house. Though Devlin was not there in body he seemed to be there in spirit, and they longed to get out of the woods and into the open where he could no longer wield his power. It was about five o'clock. Bits of warm sunshine filtered through the higher branches of the trees but below the shadows were gathering and where the growth was thick a gloom had already penetrated. When they had been riding for some little time, Frost said, "The boss is goin' to see Smithson, the insurance man, I think. He lives in Hillbriar near that doctor you went to see. He must have some place else to go, I been thinkin', 'cause it wouldn't take him that long to just go there." The boys were about to agree when they rounded a turn in the narrow trail and saw just ahead the path which Devlin had seemed so interested in on that memorable Monday night. Also, they saw Devlin sitting in his car as if he had just climbed in and was ready to start away. He was headed in the same direction that they were. Frost swerved the car with such force that it almost turned on its side. "Scram, kids!" he said hoarsely. "I'll have to too! He'll know--he'll know I'm double-crossin' him!" Skippy was out of the coupé with Nickie jumping after him. They grasped hands instinctively, and broke through the thick brush running blindly, wildly, but running as they had never run before. Devlin's terrible voice seemed to follow them everywhere for his shouts rang out time and again and they heard Frost scream several times. Not once did they look back. They could hear the crackling brush and they thought that Frost must be somewhere in their wake. They thought no more about the man than that for they were too intent on their own preservation. They must not, at any cost, stop until Devlin's funereal echoes were left far behind. Darkness had almost overtaken them before they had the courage to sit down and rest on a fallen log. Muddy and scratched from head to foot, they would have presented a comical picture if it had not been for the piteous expression on their faces. Mosquitoes had already got in some of their work as the great red lumps on their hands and foreheads indicated. "We gotta slap mud on thick, Nickie," Skippy said wearily. "I read once about a kid what was lost in a swamp and he did that and saves his life. These blamed things can eat a feller up--you know it?" "I feel like I'm ate up a'ready," Nickie answered pathetically. "Kid, you think we gotta stay in this graveyard all night?" "It's night now an' where are we? There's no use stumblin' 'round in the dark, is there? We might walk plunk into that bog an' you heard yourself what Frost said about it. You don't get out once you walk into some parts."