In a short time afterwards the aerostat landed near the city, and Frank left her again.
He soon came hastening back, his face aglow with pleasure, and cried, as he got aboard:
“Where is he?” eagerly asked the detective.
“On the rail. He purchased a compartment on a train which will carry him to Marseilles, in the south of France.”
“It would be hard to tell which train it is if we met it.”
“Very true; but I know when it is due at its destination to-morrow, and we have only to go ahead, and as we can easily pass him we will get there ahead of the cars. When the train arrives we’ll be waiting for him.”
“Perhaps, but he don’t know we are after him, and therefore will not look for us,” said Frank.
The engine of the clouds reached Marseilles five hours ahead of the train on which Martin Murdock was riding.
In Cherbourg he had met a Custom House inspector who saw the man land from the steamer, and purchase his railroad ticket for the south of France.
The Pegasus was landed late in the afternoon, and the young inventor went to the railroad depot.
When the train came in he saw Murdock alight.
Coming up behind the man and clapping a hand on his shoulder, Frank exclaimed:
“Blast it, the inventor!” gasped the man, in startled tones.
He turned around, glared at Frank a moment and then clapped his hand to his hip-pocket to draw a revolver.
In a moment they were aiming at each other.
A shout of alarm escaped the people around, and they scattered in all directions, fearful of being shot.
The bullet grazed Frank’s head and he staggered.
Murdock dashed out into the street and ran away.
Recovering himself, Frank rushed after him, but the villain jumped into a carriage and was whirled away.
Frank ran along after it, holding a handkerchief to his head where a wound had been inflicted.
He afterwards met it coming back and hailed the driver.
“You can have it if you carry me to where you just took the man.”
Here he paused, and as Frank alighted, he said:
“Monsieur, here is where I carried my last fare.”
“He boarded a North German Lloyd steamer which was just getting ready to put out to sea, bound for Alexandria.”
It was marvelous how the fugitive escaped him.
He was certainly the slipperiest customer Frank ever met.