Barney hadn't the slightest doubt now as to the outcome.
His borrowed car was a good one, in good condition. And in the
matter of driving he rather prided himself that he needn't take his
hat off to anyone when it came to ability and nerve.
They were only about fifty feet from the highway. The girl touched
his hand again. "We're safe," she cried, her voice vibrant with
excitement, "we're safe at last." From beneath the bonnet, as though
in answer to her statement, came a sickly, sucking sputter. The
momentum of the car diminished. The throbbing of the engine ceased.
They sat in silence as the machine coasted toward the highway and
came to a dead stop, with its front wheels upon the road to safety.
The girl turned toward Barney with an exclamation of surprise and
interrogation.
"The jig's up," he groaned; "we're out of gasoline!"
IX
THE CAPTURE
The capture of Princess Emma von der Tann and Barney Custer was a
relatively simple matter. Open fields spread in all directions about
the crossroads at which their car had come to its humiliating stop.
There was no cover. To have sought escape by flight, thus in the
open, would have been to expose the princess to the fire of the
troopers. Barney could not do this. He preferred to surrender and
trust to chance to open the way to escape later.
When Captain Ernst Maenck drove up he found the prisoners disarmed,
standing beside the now-useless car.
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