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diff --git a/33845.txt b/33845.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf217cc --- /dev/null +++ b/33845.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9490 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lightning Conductor, by +C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lightning Conductor + The Strange Adventures of a Motor-Car + +Author: C. N. Williamson + A. M. Williamson + +Release Date: October 7, 2010 [EBook #33845] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Christian Boissonnas and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR + + _THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A MOTOR-CAR_ + + EDITED BY + C. N. AND A. M. WILLIAMSON + + REVISED AND ENLARGED + + _FIFTEENTH IMPRESSION_ + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 1903 + + + + + Copyright, 1903, + BY + HENRY HOLT & CO. + + ROBERT DRUMMOND, PRINTER, NEW YORK. + + + + +TO THE REAL MONTIE + + + + +THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + In the Oak Room, the "White Lion," + Cobham, Surrey, _November 12_. + + Dear Shiny-headed Angel, + +I hope you won't mind, but I've changed all my plans. I've bought an +automobile, or a motor-car, as they call it over here; and while I'm +writing to you, Aunt Mary is having nervous prostration on a sofa in a +corner at least a hundred years old--I mean the sofa, not the corner, +which is a good deal more. But perhaps I'd better explain. + +Well, to begin with, some people we met on the steamer (they were an +archdeacon, with charming silk legs, and an archdeaconess who snubbed us +till it leaked out through that Aunt Mary that you were _the_ Chauncey +Randolph) said if we wanted to see a thoroughly characteristic English +village, we ought to run out to Cobham; and we ran--to-day. + +Aunt Mary had one of her presentiments against the expedition, so I was +sure it would turn out nice. When we drove up to this lovely old +red-brick hotel, in a thing they call a fly because it crawls; there +were several automobiles starting off, and I can tell you I felt +small--just as if I were Miss Noah getting out the ark. (Were there any +Miss Noahs, by the way?) + +One of the automobiles was different from any I've ever seen on our side +or this. It was high and dignified, like a chariot, and looked over the +heads of the others as the archdeaconess used to look over mine till she +heard whose daughter I was. A _chauffeur_ was sitting on the front seat, +and a gorgeous man had jumped down and was giving him directions. He +wasn't looking my way, so I seized the opportunity to snapshot him, as a +souvenir of English scenery; but that tactless Kodak of mine gave the +loudest "click" you ever heard, and he turned his head in time to +suspect what had been happening. I swept past with my most "haughty Lady +Gwendolen" air, talking to Aunt Mary, and hoped I shouldn't see him +again. But we'd hardly got seated for lunch in a beautiful old room, +panelled from floor to ceiling with ancient oak, when he came into the +room, and Aunt Mary, who has a sneaking weakness for titles (I suppose +it's the effect of the English climate), murmured that _there_ was her +ideal of a duke. + +The Gorgeous Man strolled up and took a place at our table. He passed +Aunt Mary some things which she didn't want, and then began to throw out +a few conversational feelers. If you're a girl, and want fun in England, +it's no end of a pull being American; for if you do anything that people +think queer, they just sigh, and say, "Poor creature! she's one of those +mad Americans," and put you down as harmless. I don't know whether an +English girl would have talked or not, but I did; and he knew lots of +our friends, especially in Paris, and it was easy to see he was a +raving, tearing "swell," even if he wasn't exactly a duke. I can't +remember how it began, but _really_ it was Aunt Mary and not I who +chattered about our trip, and how we were abroad for the first time, and +were going to "do" Europe as soon as we had "done" England. + +The Gorgeous Man had lived in France (he seems to have lived nearly +everywhere, and to know everybody and everything worth knowing), and, +said he, "What a pity we couldn't do our tour on a motor-car!" At that I +became flippant, and inquired which, in his opinion, would be more +suitable as _chauffeur_--Aunt Mary or I; whereupon he announced that he +was not joking, but serious. We ought to have a motor-car and a +_chauffeur_. Then we might say, like Monte Cristo, "The world is mine." + +He went on to tell of the wonderful journeys he'd made in his car, +"which we might have noticed outside." It seemed it was better than any +other sort of car in the world; in fact there was no other exactly like +it, as it had been made especially for him. You simply couldn't break +it, it was so strong; the engine would outlast two of any other kind; +and one of the advantages was that it had belts and a marvellous +arrangement called a "jockey pulley" to regulate the speed: consequently +it ran more "sweetly" (that was the word he used) than gear-driven cars, +which, according to him, jerk, and are noisy, break easily, and do all +sorts of disagreeable things. + +By the time we were half through lunch I was envying him his car, and +feeling as if life wasn't worth living, because I couldn't have it to +play with. I asked if I could buy one like it, but he was very +discouraging. He had had his fitted up with lots of expensive +improvements, and it didn't pay the firm to make cars like that for the +public, so I would have to order one specially, and it might be months +before it could be delivered. I was thinking it rather inconsiderate in +him to work me up to such a pitch, just to cast me down again, when he +mentioned, in an incidental way, that he intended to sell his car, +because he had ordered a racer of forty horse-power. + +I jumped at that and said, "Why not sell it to me?" + +You _ought_ to have seen Aunt Mary's face! But we didn't give her time +to speak, and gasps are more effectual as punctuations than +interruptions. + +Her Duke was too much moved to pause for them. He hurried to say that he +hoped I hadn't misunderstood him. The last thought in his mind had been +to "make a deal." Of course, if I really contemplated buying a car, I +must see a great many different kinds before deciding. But as it seemed +I had never had a ride on an automobile (_your_ fault, Dad--your only +one!), he would be delighted to take us a little spin in his car. + +Before Aunt Mary could get in a word I had accepted; for I _did_ want to +go. And what is Aunt Mary for if not to make all the things I want to do +and otherwise couldn't, strictly proper? + +Anyhow, we went, and it was heavenly. I know how a bird feels now, only +more so. You know, Dad, how quickly I make up my mind. I take that from +you, and in our spin through beautiful lanes to a delightful hotel +called--just think of it!--the "Hautboy and Fiddle," at the village of +Ockham, I'd had quite time enough to determine that I wanted the Duke's +car, if it could be got. + +I said so; he objected. You've no idea how delicate he was about it, so +afraid it might seem that he had taken advantage. I assured him that, if +anything, it was the other way round, and at last he yielded. The car +really is a beauty. You can put a big trunk on behind, and there are +places for tools and books and lunch, and no end of little things, in a +box under the cushions we sit on, and even under the floor. You never +saw anything so convenient. He showed me everything, and explained the +machinery, but that part I forgot as fast as he talked, so I can't tell +you now exactly on what principle the engine works. When it came to a +talk about price I thought he would say two thousand five hundred +dollars at least (that's five hundred pounds, isn't it?) for such a +splendid chariot. I know Jimmy Payne gave nearly twice that for the one +he brought over to New York last year, and it wasn't half as handsome; +but--would you believe it?--the man seemed quite shy at naming one +thousand five hundred dollars. It was a second-hand car now, he +insisted, though he had only had it three months, and he wouldn't think +of charging more. I felt as if I were playing the poor fellow a real +Yankee trick when I cried "Done!" + +Well, now, Dad, there's my confession. That's all up to date, except +that the Duke, who isn't a duke, but plain Mr. Reginald Cecil-Lanstown +("plain" seems hardly the word for all that, does it?) is to bring _my_ +car, late his, to Claridge's on Monday, and I'm to pay. You dear, to +have given me such an unlimited letter of credit! He's got to get me a +_chauffeur_ who can speak French and knows the Continent, and Aunt Mary +and I will do the rest of our London shopping on an automobile--my own, +if you please. Then, when we are ready to cross the Channel, we'll drive +to Newhaven, ship the car to Dieppe, and after that I hope we shan't so +much as _see_ a railroad train, except from a long distance. Automobiles +for ever, say I, mine in particular. + +I'm writing this after we have come back to Cobham, and while we wait +for the fly which is to take us to the station. Aunt Mary says I am mad. +She is quite "off" her Duke now, and thinks he is a fraud. By the way, +when that photo is developed I'll send it to you, so that you can see +your daughter's new gee-gee. Here comes the cab, so good-bye, you old +saint. From + + Your sinner, + Molly. + + + Carlton Hotel, London, + _November 14_. + + Dearest, + +I've got it; it's mine; bought and paid for. It's so handsome that even +Aunt Mary is mollified. (I didn't mean that for a _pun_, but let it +pass.) Mr. Cecil-Lanstown has told me everything I ought to know (about +motor-cars, I mean), and now, after having tea with us, looking dukier +than ever, he has departed with a roll of your hard-earned money in his +pocket. It's lucky I met him when I did, and secured the car, for he has +been called out of England on business, is going to-morrow, and seems +not to know when he'll be able to get back. But he says we may meet in +France when he has his big racing automobile. + +The only drawback to my new toy is the _chauffeur_. Why "_chauffeur_," +by the way, I wonder? He doesn't heat anything. On the contrary, if I +understand the matter, it's apparently his duty to keep things cool, +including his own head. This one looks as if he had had his head on ice +for years. He is the gloomiest man I ever saw, gives you the feeling +that he may burst into tears any minute; but Mr. Cecil-Lanstown says he +is one of the best _chauffeurs_ in England, and thoroughly understands +this particular make of car, which is German. + +The man's name is Rattray. It suits him somehow. If I were the heroine +of a melodrama, I should feel the minute I set eyes on Rattray that he +was the villain of the piece, and I should hang on like grim death to +any marriage certificates or wills that might concern me, for I should +know it would be his aim during at least four acts to get possession of +them. He has enormous blue eyes like Easter eggs, and his ears look +something like cactuses, only, thank goodness, I'm spared their being +green; they wouldn't go with his complexion. I talked to him and put on +scientific airs, but I'm afraid they weren't effective, for he hardly +said anything, only looked gloomy, and as if he read "amateur" written +on my soul or somewhere where it wasn't supposed to show. He's gone now +to make arrangements for keeping _my_ car in a _garage_. He's to bring +it round every morning at ten o'clock, and is to teach me to drive. I +won't seal this letter up till to-morrow then I can tell you how I like +my first lesson. + + * * * * * + + _November 15._ + +I _was_ proud of the car when I went out on it yesterday. Aunt Mary +wouldn't go, because she doesn't wish to be the "victim of an +experiment." Rattray drove for a long way, but when we got beyond the +traffic, towards Richmond, I took his place, and my lesson began. It's +harder than I thought it would be, because you have to do so many things +at once. You really ought to have three or four hands with this car, +Rattray says. When I asked him if it was different with other cars, he +didn't seem to hear. Already I've noticed that he's subject to a sort of +spasmodic deafness, but I suppose I must put up with that, as he is such +a fine mechanic. One can't have everything. + +With your left hand you have to steer the car by means of a kind of +tiller, and to this is attached the horn to warn creatures of all sorts +that you're coming. I blow this with my right hand, but Rattray says I +ought to learn to do it while steering with the left, as there are +quantities of other things to be done with the right hand. First there +is a funny little handle with which you change speeds whenever you come +to a hill; then there is the "jockey-pulley-lever," which gives the +right tension to the belts (this is _very_ important); the +"throttle-valve-lever," on which you must always keep your hand to +control the speed of the car; and the brake which you jam on when you +want to stop. So there are two things to do with the left hand, and four +things with the right, and often most of these things must be done at +the same time. No wonder I was confused and got my hands a little mixed, +so that I forgot which was which, and things went wrong for a second! +Just then a cart was rude enough to come round a corner. I tried to +steer to the right, but went to the left--and you can't _think_ how many +things can happen with a motor-car in one second. + +Now, don't be worried! I wasn't hurt a bit; only we charged on to the +side-walk, and butted into a shop. It was my fault, not a bit the car's. +If it weren't a _splendid_ car it would have been smashed to pieces, +and perhaps we with it, instead of just breaking the front--oh, and the +shop too, a little. I shall have to pay the man something. He's a +"haberdasher," whatever that is, but it _sounds_ like the sort of name +he might have called me if he'd been very angry when I broke his window. + +The one bad consequence of my stupidity is that the poor, innocent, +sinned-against car must lie up for repairs. Rattray says they may take +some days. In that case Aunt Mary and I must do our shopping in a hired +brougham--such an anti-climax; but Rattray _promises_ that the dear +thing shall be ready for our start to France on the 19th. Meanwhile, I +shall console myself for my disappointment by buying an outfit for a +trip--a warm coat, and a mask, and a hood, and all sorts of tricky +little things I've marked in a perfectly thrilling catalogue. + +Now, if you fuss, I shall be sorry I've told you the truth. Remember the +axiom about the bad penny. That's + + + Your + Molly + + +The Horrible Restaurant of the Boule d'Or, Suresnes, Near Paris, + + _November 28_. + + Forgive me, dear, long-suffering-because-you-couldn't-help-yourself-Dad, +for being such a beast about writing. But I did send you three cables, +didn't I? Aunt Mary would have written, only I threatened her with +unspeakable things if she did. I knew so well what she would say, and I +wouldn't have it. Now, however, I'm going to tell you the truth, the +whole truth, and nothing but the truth--no varnish. Indeed, there isn't +much varnish left on anything. + +I wonder if I can make you comprehend the things I've gone through in +the last two or three days? Why, Dad, I feel old enough to be your +mother. But I'll try and begin at the beginning, though it seems, to +look back, almost before the memory of man, to say nothing of woman. Let +me see, where _is_ the beginning, when I was still young and happy? +Perhaps it's in our outfit for the trip. I can dwell upon that with +comparative calmness. + +Even Aunt Mary was happy. You would have had to rush out and take your +"apoplectic medicine," as I used to call it, if you could have seen her +trying different kinds of masks and goggles, and asking gravely which +were most becoming. Thank Heaven that I've inherited your sense of +humour! To that I have owed my sanity during the last _dies irae_. (Is +that the way to spell it?) + +I wouldn't have the conventional kind of mask, nor goggles. Seeing Aunt +Mary in her armour saved me from that. I bought what they call a "toilet +mask," which women vainer than I wear at night to preserve their +complexions. This was only for a last resort on very dusty days, to be +hidden from sight by a thin, grey veil, as if I were a modern prophet of +Korassan. + +We got dust-grey cloaks, waterproof cloth on the outside, and lined with +fur. Aunt Mary invested in a kind of patent helmet, with curtains that +unfurl on the sides, to cover the ears; and I found myself so fetching +in a hood that I bought one, as well as a toque, to provide for all +weathers. Then we got a fascinating tea-basket, foot-warmers that burn +charcoal, and had two flat trunks made on purpose to fit the back of the +car, with tarpaulin covers to take on and off. Our big luggage we +planned to send to places where we wanted to make a long stay; but we +would have enough with us to make us feel self-contained and +independent. + +We did look ship-shape when we started from the "Carlton" on the morning +of November 19th, with our luggage strapped on behind, the foot-warmers +and tea-basket on the floor, our umbrellas in a hanging-basket +contrivance, a fur-lined waterproof rug over Aunt Mary's knees and mine. +I'd taken no more lessons since that first day I wrote you about, owing +to the car not being ready until the night before our start, so Rattray +sat in front alone, Aunt Mary and I together behind. + +We meant to have got off about eight, as we had to drive over fifty +miles to Newhaven, where the car was to be shipped that night; but +Rattray had a little difficulty in starting the car, and we were half an +hour late, which was irritating, especially as a good many people were +waiting to see us off. At last, however, we shot away in fine style, +which checked Aunt Mary in the middle of her thirty-second sigh. + +All went well for a couple of hours. We were out in the country--lovely +undulating English country. The car, which Mr. Cecil-Lanstown had said +was beyond all others as a hill-climber, was justifying its reputation, +as I had confidently expected it would. The air was cold, but instead of +making one shiver, our blood tingled with exhilaration as we flew along. +You know what a chilly body Aunt Mary is? Even she didn't complain of +the weather, and hardly needed her foot-warmer. "This is life!" said I +to myself. It seemed to me that I'd never known the height of physical +pleasure until I'd driven in a motor-car. It was better than dancing on +a perfect floor with a perfect partner to _plu_perfect music; better +than eating when you're awfully hungry; better than holding out your +hands to a fire when they're numb with cold; better than a bath after a +hot, dusty railway journey. I can't give it higher praise, can I?--and I +_did_ wish for you. I thought you would be converted. Oh, my +_un_prophetic soul! + +Suddenly, sailing up a steep hill at about ten miles an hour, the car +stopped, and would have run back if Rattray hadn't put on the brakes. +"What's the matter?" said I, while Aunt Mary convulsively clutched my +arm. + +"Only a belt broken, miss," he returned gloomily. "Means twenty minutes' +delay, that's all. Sorry I must trouble you ladies to get up. New belts +and belt-fasteners under your seat. Tools under the floor." + +We were relieved to think it was no worse, and reminded ourselves that +we had much to be thankful for, while we disarranged our comfortably +established selves. There were the tea-basket and the foot-warmers to be +lifted from the floor and deposited on Rattray's vacant front seat, the +big rug to be got rid of, our feet to be put up while the floor-board +was lifted, then we had to stand while the cushions were pulled off the +seat and the lid of the box raised. We, or at least I, tried to think it +was part of the fun; but it was a _little_ depressing to hear Rattray +grunting and grumbling to himself as he unstrapped the luggage, hoisted +it off the back of the car so that he could get at the broken belt +inside, and plumped it down viciously on the dusty road. + +The delay was nearer half an hour than twenty minutes, and it seemed +extra long because it was a strain entertaining Aunt Mary to keep her +from saying "I told you so!" But we had not gone two miles before our +little annoyance was forgotten. That is the queer part about +automobiling. You're so happy when all's going well that you forget +past misadventures, and feel joyously hopeful that you will never have +any more. + +We got on all right until after lunch, which we ate at a lovely inn +close to George Meredith's house. Then it took half an hour to start the +car again. Rattray looked as if he were going to burst. Just to watch +him turning that handle in vain made me feel as if elephants had walked +over me. He said the trouble was that "the compression was too strong," +and that there was "back-firing"--whatever that means. Just as I was +giving up hope the engine started off with a rush, and we were on the +way again through the most soothingly pretty country. About four +o'clock, in the midst of a glorious spin, there was a "r-r-r-tch," the +car swerved to one side, Aunt Mary screamed, and we stopped dead. "Chain +broken," snarled Rattray. + +Up we had to jump once more: tea-basket, foot-warmers, rugs, ourselves, +everything had to be hustled out of the way for Rattray to get at the +tools and spare chains which we carried in the box under our seats. I +began to think perhaps the car _wasn't_ quite so conveniently arranged +for touring as I had fancied, but I'd have died sooner than say +so--then. I pretended that this was a capital opportunity for tea, so +opened the tea-basket, and we had quite a picnic by the roadside while +Rattray fussed with the chain. It wasn't very cold, and I looked forward +to many similar delightful halts in a warmer climate "by the banks of +the brimming Loire," as I put it jauntily to Aunt Mary. But she only +said, "I'm sure I hope so, my dear," in a tone more chilling than the +weather. + +It was at least half an hour before Rattray had the chain properly +fixed, and then there was the usual difficulty in starting. Once the +handle flew round and struck him on the back of the hand. He yelled, +kicked one of the wheels, and went to the grassy side of the road, where +in the dusk I could dimly see him holding his hand to his mouth and +rocking backwards and forwards. He did look so like a distracted goblin +that I could hardly steady my voice to ask if he was much hurt. "Nearly +broke my hand, that's all, miss," he growled. At last he flew at the +terrible handle again, managed to start the motor, and we were off. + +Going up a hill in a town that Rattray said was called Lewes, I noticed +that the car didn't seem to travel with its customary springy vigour. +"Loss of power," Rattray jerked at me over his shoulder when I +questioned him as to what was the matter, and there I had to leave it, +wondering vaguely what he meant. I think he lost the way in Lewes (it +was now quite dark, with no stars); anyhow, we made many windings, and +at last came out into a plain between dim, chalky hills, with a shining +river faintly visible. Aunt Mary had relapsed into expressive silence; +the car seemed to crawl like a wounded thing; but at last we got to +Newhaven pier, and had our luggage carried on board the boat. Rattray +was to follow with the car in the cargo-boat. So ended the "lesson for +the first day"--a ten-hour lesson--and I felt sadder as well as wiser +for it. + +Aunt Mary went to sleep as soon as we got on the boat; but I was so +excited at the thought of seeing France that I stayed on deck, wrapped +in the warm coat I'd bought for the car. We had a splendid crossing, +and as we got near Dieppe I could see chalk cliffs and a great gaunt +crucifix on the pier leading into the harbour. It seemed as if I were in +a dream when I heard people chattering French quite as a matter of +course to each other, and I liked the _douaniers_, the smart soldiers, +and the railway porters in blue blouses. It was four in the morning when +we landed. Of course, it was the dead season at Dieppe, but we got in at +a hotel close to the sea. It was lovely waking up, rather late, one's +very first day in France, looking out of the window at the bright water +and the little fishing-boats, with their red-brown sails, and smelling a +really heavenly scent of strong coffee and fresh-baked rolls. + +Later in the morning I walked round to the harbour to find that the +cargo-boat had arrived, and that Rattray and the car had been landed. +The creature actually greeted me with smiles. Now for the first time he +was a comfort. He did everything, paid the deposit demanded by the +custom-house, and got the necessary papers. Then he drove me back to the +hotel, but as it was about midday I thought that it would be nicer to +start for Paris the next day, when I hoped we could have a long, clear +run. In Paris, of course, Aunt Mary and I wanted to stay for at least a +week. Rattray promised to thoroughly overhaul the car, so that there +need be no "incidents" on the way. + +There was a crowd round us next morning--a friendly, good-natured little +crowd--when we were getting ready to start in the stable-yard of the +hotel. Our landlady was there, a duck of a woman; the hotel porters in +green baize aprons stood and stared; some women washing clothes at a +trough in the corner stopped their work; and a lot of funny, wee +schoolboys, with short cropped hair and black blouses with leather +belts, buzzed round, gesticulating and trying to explain the mechanism +of the car to each other. Rattray bustled about with an oil-can in his +hand, then loaded up our luggage, and all was ready. With more dignity +than confidence I mounted to the high seat beside Aunt Mary. This time, +with one turn of the handle, the motor started, so contrary is this +strange beast, the automobile. One day you toil at the starting-handle +half an hour, the next the thing comes to life with a touch, and nobody +can explain why. Bowing to madame and the hotel people, we sailed +gracefully out of the hotel yard, Rattray too-tooing a fanfaronade on +the horn. It was a splendid start! + +The streets of Dieppe are of those horrid uneven stones that the French +call _pave_, and our car jolted over them with as much noise and clatter +as if we'd had a cargo of dishes. You see the car's very solidly built +and heavy--that, said Mr. Cecil-Lanstown, is one of its merits. It is of +oak, an inch thick, and you can't break it. Another thing in its favour +is that it has solid tyres, and not those horrid pneumatics, which are +always bursting and puncturing, and give no end of trouble. "With solid +tyres you are always safe," said Mr. Cecil-Lanstown. I can't help +thinking, though, that on roads like these of Dieppe it would be +soothing to have "pneus," as they call them. Jingle, jingle! scrunch, +scrunch! goes the machinery inside, and all the loose parts of the car. +It did get on my nerves. + +But soon we were out of the town and on one of the smoothest roads you +ever saw. Rattray said it was a "route nationale," and that they are the +best roads in the world. The car bounded along as if it were on a +billiard-table. Even Aunt Mary said, "Now, if it were always like +_this_----" My spirits went up, up. I proudly smiled and bowed to the +peasants in their orchards by the roadsides. I was even inclined to pat +Rattray on the shoulder of his black leather coat. This, _this_ was +life! The sun shone, the fresh air sang in our ears, the car ran as if +it had the strength of a giant. I felt as independent as a gipsy in his +caravan, only we were travelling at many times his speed. The country +seemed to unfold just like a panorama. At each turn I looked for an +adventure. + +We skimmed through a delicious green country given up to enormous +orchards which, Aunt Mary read out of a guide-book, yield the famous +_cidre de Normandie_. I thought of the lovely pink dress this land would +wear by-and-by, and then suddenly we came out from a small road on to a +broad, winding one, and there was a wide view over waving country, with +a white town like a butterfly that had fluttered into a bird's nest. +Rattray let the car go down this long road towards the valley at +something like thirty miles an hour, and Aunt Mary's hand had nervously +grasped the rail when there came a kind of sigh inside the car, and it +paused to rest. + +Rattray jumped off and made puzzled inspection. "Can't see anything +wrong, miss; must take off the luggage and look inside." It is a +peculiarity that every working part is hidden modestly under the body of +the car. This protects them from wet and dust, Mr. Cecil-Lanstown told +me; but it seems a little inconvenient to have to haul off _all_ the +luggage every time you want to examine the machinery. It didn't take +long to find out what was the matter. The "aspiration pipe," Rattray +said, had worked loose (no doubt through the jolting over the Dieppe +_pave_) and the "vapour couldn't get from the carburetter to the +explosion chamber." + +I only partly understood, but I felt that the poor car wasn't to blame. +How could it be expected to go on without aspirating? There was "no +spanner to fit the union," and Rattray darkly hinted at further trouble. +Three little French boys with a go-cart had come to stare. I Kodaked +them and send you their picture in this letter as a sort of punctuation +to my complaints. + +Well, when Rattray had screwed up the "union" as well as he could (isn't +that what our statesmen did after the confederate war?), off we started +again, bustled through the town in the valley (which I found from Murray +was Neufchatel-en-Bray), and had a consoling run through beautiful +country until, at noon, we shot into the market-place of Forges les +Eaux. It was market-day, and we drove at a walking pace through the +crowded _place_, all alive with booths, the cackling of turkeys, and the +lowing of cows. There seemed to be only one decent inn, and the _salle +a manger_ was full of loud-talking peasants, with shrewd, brown, +wrinkled faces like masks, who "ate out loud," as I used to say. + +The place was so thronged that Rattray had to sit at the same table with +us, and though as a good democrat I oughtn't to have minded, I did +squirm a little, for his manners--well, "they're better not to dwell +on." But the luncheon _was_ good, so French and so cheap. We hurried +over it, but it took Rattray half an hour to replenish the tanks of the +car with water (of course he had to lift down the luggage to do this) +and to oil the bearings. We sailed out of Forges les Eaux so bravely +that my hopes went up. It seemed certain we should be in Paris quite in +good time, but almost as soon as we had got out of the town one of the +chains glided gracefully off on to the road. + +You'd think it the simplest thing in the world to slip it on again, but +that was just what it wasn't. Rattray worked over it half an hour +(everything takes half an hour to do on this car, I notice, when it +doesn't take more), saying things under his breath which Aunt Mary was +too deaf and I too dignified to hear. Finally I was driven to remark +waspishly, "You'd be a bad soldier; a good soldier makes the best of +things, and bears them like a man. You make the worst." + +"That's all very well, miss," retorted my gloomy goblin; "but soldiers +have to fight _men_, not _beasts_." + +"They get killed sometimes," said I. + +"There's things makes a man _want_ to die," groaned he. And that +silenced me, even though I heard a ceaseless mumbling about "every +bloomin' screw being loose; that he'd engaged as a mechanic, not a +car-maker; that if he _was_ a car-maker, he was hanged if he'd disgrace +himself making one of _this_ sort, anyhow." + +You'll think I'm exaggerating, but I vow we had not gone more than ten +miles further before that chain broke again. This time I believe Rattray +shed tears. As for Aunt Mary, her attitude was that of cold, Christian +resignation. She had sacrificed herself to me, and would continue to do +so, since such was her Duty, with a capital D; indeed, she had expected +this, and from the first she had told me, etc., etc. At last the chain +was forced on again and fastened with a new bolt. We sped forward for a +few deceitful moments, but--detail is growing monotonous. After that +something happened to the car, on the average, every hour. Chains +snapped or came off; if belts didn't break, they were too short or too +long. Mysterious squeaks made themselves heard; the crank-head got hot +(what head wouldn't?), and we had to wait until it thought fit to cool, +a process which could scarcely be accelerated by Rattray's language. He +now announced that this make of car, and my specimen in particular, was +_the_ vilest in the automobile world. If a worse _could_ be made, it did +not yet exist! When I ventured to inquire why he had not expressed this +opinion before leaving London, he announced that it was not his business +to express opinions, but to drive such vehicles as he was engaged to +drive. I hoped that there must be something wrong with the automobile +which Rattray didn't understand; that in Paris I could have it put +right, and that even yet all might go well. For a few miles we went with +reasonable speed, and no mishaps; but half-way up a long, long hill the +mystic "power" vanished once more, and there we were stranded nearly +opposite a forge, from which strolled three huge, black-faced men, +adorned with pitying smiles. + +"Hire them to push," I said despairingly to Rattray, and as he turned a +sulky back to obey, I heard a whirring sound, and an automobile flew +past us up the steep hill, going about fifteen miles an hour. That did +seem the last straw; and with hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness +in my breast, I was shaking my fist after the thing, when it stopped +politely. + +There were two men in it, both in leather caps and coats--I noticed that +half unconsciously. Now one of them jumped out and came walking back to +us. Taking off his cap, he asked me with his eyes and Aunt Mary with his +voice--in English--if there was anything he could do. He was very +good-looking, and spoke nicely, like a gentleman, but he seemed so +successful that I couldn't help hating him and wishing he would go away. +The only thing I wanted was that he and the other man and their car +should be specks in the distance when Rattray came back with his +blacksmiths to push us up the hill; so I thanked him hurriedly, and said +we didn't need help. Perhaps I said it rather stiffly, I was so wild to +have him gone. He stood for a minute as if he would have liked to say +something else, but didn't know how, then bowed, and went back to his +car. In a minute it was shooting up hill again, and I never was gladder +at anything in my life than when I saw it disappear over the top--only +just in time too, for it wasn't out of sight when our three blacksmiths +had their shoulders to the task. + +"_There's_ a good car, if you like, miss," said that fiend Rattray. +"It's a Napier. Some pleasure in driving _that_." + +I could have boxed his ears. + +Once on level ground again, the car seemed to recover a little strength. +But night fell when we were still a long way from Paris, and our poor +oil-lamps only gave light enough to make darkness visible, so that we +daren't travel at high speed. There were uncountable belt-breakings and +heart-achings before at last, after eleven at night, we crawled through +the barriers of Paris and mounted up the Avenue de la Grande Armee to +the Arc de Triomphe. We drove straight to the Elysee Palace Hotel, and +let Rattray take the brute beast to a _garage_, which I _wished_ had +been a slaughter-house. + +I couldn't sleep that night for thinking that I was actually in Paris, +and for puzzling what to do next, since it was clear it would be no use +going on with the car unless some hidden ailment could be discovered and +rectified. Our plan had been to stop in Paris for a week, and then drive +on to the beautiful chateau country of the Loire that I've always +dreamed of seeing. Afterwards, I thought we might go across country to +the Riviera; but now, unless light suddenly shone out of darkness, all +that was knocked on the head. What was my joy, then, in the morning, +when Rattray came and deigned to inform me that he had found out the +cause of the worst mischief! "The connecting-rod that worked the magnet +had got out of adjustment, and so the timing of the explosions was +wrong." This could be made right, and he would see to the belts and +chains. In a few days we might be ready to get away, with some hope of +better luck. + +I was so pleased I gave him a louis. Afterwards I wished I hadn't--but +that's a detail. I sent you a cable, just saying, you'll remember: +"Elysee Palace for a week; all well"; and Aunt Mary and I proceeded to +drown our sorrows by draughts of undiluted Paris. + +Crowds of Americans were at the hotel, a good many I knew; but Aunt Mary +and I kept dark about the automobile--very different from that time in +London, where I was always swaggering around talking of "my motor-car" +and the trip I meant to take. _Poor_ little me! + +Mrs. Tom van Wyck was there, and she introduced me to an Englishwoman, +Lady Brighthelmston, a viscountess, or something, and you pronounce her +"Lady Brighton." She's near-sighted and looks at you through a +lorgnette, which is disconcerting, and makes you feel as if your +features didn't match properly; but she turned out to be rather nice, +and said she hoped we'd see each other at Cannes, where she's going +immediately. She expects her son to join her there. He's touring now on +his motor-car, and expects to meet her and some friends on the Riviera +in about a fortnight. Mrs. van Wyck told me he's the Honourable John +Winston, and a very nice fellow, but I grudge him an automobile, which +_goes_. + +I just _couldn't_ write to you that week in Paris; not that I was too +busy--I'm never too busy to write to my dear old boy. But I knew you'd +expect to hear how I enjoyed the trip, and I didn't want to tell you the +bad news till perhaps I might have good news to add. Consequently I +cabled whenever a writing-day came round. + +Well, at last Rattray vowed that the car was in good condition, and we +might start. It was a whole week since I'd seen the monster, and it +looked so handsome as it sailed up to the hotel door that my pride in it +came back. It was early in the morning, so there weren't many people +about, but I shouldn't have had cause to be ashamed if there had been. +We went off in fine style, and it was delicious driving through the +Bois, en route for Orleans, by way of Versailles. After all, I said to +myself, perhaps the car hadn't been to blame for our horrid experience. +No car was perfect, even Rattray admitted that. Some little thing had +gone wrong with ours, and the poor thing had been misunderstood. + +We had traversed the Bois, and were mounting the long hill of Suresnes, +when "squeak! squeak!" a little insinuating sound began to mingle with +my reflections. I was too happy, with the sweet wind in my face, to pay +attention at first, but the noise kept on, insisting on being noticed. +Then it occurred to me that I'd heard it before in moments of baleful +memory. + +"I believe that horrid crank-head is getting hot," said I. "Are you sure +it doesn't need oil?" + +"Sure, miss," returned Rattray. "The crank-head's all right. That squeak +ain't anything to worry about." + +So I didn't worry, and we bowled along for twenty perfect minutes, then +something went smash inside, and we stopped dead. It _was_ the +crank-head, which was nearly red hot. The crank had snapped like a +carrot. I was too prostrate, and, I trust, too proud to say things to +Rattray, though if he had just made sure that the lubricator was working +properly, we should have been saved. + +Fortunately we had lately passed a big _garage_ by the Pont de Suresnes, +and we "coasted" to it down the hill, although of course our engine was +paralysed. You couldn't expect it to work without a head, even though +that head _was_ only a "crank!" + +For once Rattray was somewhat subdued. He knew he was in fault, and +meekly proposed to take an electric tram back to Paris, there to see if +a new crank could be bought to fit, otherwise one would have to be made, +and it would take two or three days. At this I remarked icily that in +the latter case we would not proceed with the trip, and he could return +to London. Usually he retorted, if I showed the slightest sign of +disapproval, but now he merely asked if I would give him the money to +buy the new crank if it were obtainable. + +I had only a couple of louis in change and a five-hundred franc note, so +I gave that to him, and he was to return as soon as possible, probably +in an hour and a half. Aunt Mary and I found our way gloomily to a +little third-class restaurant, where we had coffee and things. Time +crept on and brought no Rattray. When two hours had passed I walked back +to the _garage_, but the proprietor had no news. The car was standing in +the place where they had dragged it, and I climbed up to sit in gloomy +state on the back seat, feeling as if I couldn't bear to go back to Aunt +Mary until something had happened. Then something did happen, but not +the thing I had wanted. The very car that had stopped when we were in +trouble on the hill of the blacksmiths, far on the other side of Paris, +more than a week ago, came gliding smoothly, deliciously into the +_garage_. + +The same two leather-capped and coated men were in it, master and +_chauffeur_, I thought. The madame of the establishment was talking +sympathetically to me, but I heard the voice of the man who had asked me +if he could help (the one I had taken for the master) inquiring in +French for a particular kind of essence. Then I didn't hear any more. He +and the _garage_ man were speaking in lower tones, and besides, the +shrill condolences of madame drowned their murmurs. She was loudly +giving it as her opinion that my _chauffeur_ had run off with my money, +and that, unless I had some means of tracing him, I should never look +upon his face again. I did wish that she would be quiet, at least until +the fortunate automobilists rolled away like kings in their chariot; but +I couldn't make her stop, and I was certain they heard every word. I +even imagined that they had deserted the subject of petrol for my +troubles, because I could see out of a corner of an eye that the +proprietor in his conversation with them nodded more than once towards +my car, in which I sat ingloriously enthroned like a sort of captive +Zenobia. + +They seemed to be a long time buying their petrol, anyway, and presently +my worst fears were confirmed. The man who had spoken to me on the fatal +hill came forward, repeating himself (like history) by taking off his +cap and wearing exactly the same half-shy, half-interested expression as +before. + +He said "er" once or twice, and then informed me that the proprietor had +been telling him what a scrape I was in, or words to that effect. He +offered to drive into Paris on his car, which would only take a few +minutes, go to the place where my _chauffeur_ had intended to buy the +crank, see whether he had been there, and if so, what delayed him. Then, +if anything were wrong, he would come back and let me know. + +I said that I couldn't possibly let him take so much trouble, but he +would hardly listen. He knew the address of the place from the _garage_ +man, who had recommended it to Rattray, and almost before I knew what +had happened the car and the dusty, leather-clad men were off. + +There was nothing for me to do but to go back to Aunt Mary, which I did +in no happy frame of mind. + +That Napier must have tossed its bonnet at the legal limit of speed, for +in less than an hour it drew up before this restaurant. Out jumped _my_ +one of the two men and came into the room where Aunt Mary and I had sat +so long reading old French papers. + +"I'm sorry to have to tell you," said he in his nice voice, "that your +man appears to be a scoundrel. He hasn't been to Le Sage's, nor to +another place which I tried. I'm afraid he has gone off with your money, +and that your only hope of getting it will be to track the fellow with a +detective." + +"I don't want to track him," I said. "I never want to see him again, and +I don't care about the money. I'll engage another _chauffeur_. There +must be plenty in Paris." + +As I said this he had rather a curious look on his face. I didn't +understand it then, but I did afterwards. "I'm afraid you'll find very +few who understand your make of car," he said, "which is German, +and--er--perhaps not up to the very latest date." + +"I can believe anything of it," said I. "But now the crank's broken, +and----" + +"I've taken the liberty of bringing another, which we took out of a +similar car," broke in the man. "The proprietor of the _garage_ across +the way thinks he can put it in for you; if not, I can help him, for I +once drove a car of the same make as yours, and have reason to remember +it." + +I burst into thanks, and when I had used up most of my prettiest +adjectives I asked how long the work would take. He thought only a few +hours, and my car might be ready to start again in the afternoon. + +I clapped my hands at this; then I could feel my face fall. (Funny +expression, isn't it?--almost as absurd as I "dropped my eyes"; but I +think I did that too.) "How lovely!" said I. And then, "But what good if +I can't get a _chauffeur_?" + +The man's face grew red--not a bricky, ugly red; but as he was very +brown already, it only turned a nice mahogany colour, and made him look +quite engaging. "If you would take me," he said, "I am at your service." + +I never was more astonished in my life, and I just sat and stared at +him. I was sure he must be making fun. + +"Of course you'll think it strange," he went on in a hurry; "but the +fact is, I'm out of a job----" + +"Why, are you a _real chauffeur_--a mechanic?" I couldn't help breaking +in on him. I _almost_ blurted out that I had taken him for the master, +which would have been horrid, of course, and suddenly I was ashamed of +myself, for I had been treating him exactly like an equal; and perhaps I +was silly enough to be a tiny bit disappointed too, for I'll confess to +you, Dad, that I'd had visions of his being someone rather grand, which +would have spread a little jam of romance over the stale, dry bread of +this disagreeable experience. Anyhow, this man was _much_ better looking +than his companion, whom I knew now was the master. He wasn't a gorgeous +person, like Mr. Cecil-Lanstown, but I'd certainly thought he had rather +a distinguished air. However, these Englishmen, even the peasants, are +sometimes such splendid types--clear-cut features, brave, keen eyes, +and all that, you know, as if their ancestors might have been Vikings. + +While I was thinking, he was telling me that he was a _chauffeur_, sure +enough, and that this was the last day of his engagement with his +master, who didn't wish to take a mechanic any farther. His name, he +said, was James Brown. He had had a good deal of experience with several +kinds of cars--my sort was the first he'd ever driven; he knew it well, +and if I cared to try him, he could get me a very good reference from +his master, Mr. Winston. + +"Mr. Winston!" I repeated. "Is your master the Honourable John Winston?" + +"That is his name," he answered, though he looked so odd when he said it +that I thought it wise to mention that I knew Mr. Winston's mother, so +he would have a sort of warning if he weren't speaking the truth. But he +didn't look like a man who would tell fibs, and to cut a long story +short, he brought out a letter which the Honourable John Winston had +already given him. It was very short, as if it had been written in a +hurry, but nothing could have been more satisfactory. Brown, as I +suppose I must call him, said that he would be able to start with us as +soon as the car was ready, and when I mentioned where I wanted to go he +remarked that he had been all through the chateau country several times +on a motor-car. One can see from the way he talks that he's an +intelligent, competent young man (he can't be more than twenty-eight or +nine) and knows his business thoroughly. I think I'm very lucky to get +him, don't you? + +_Now_ you will understand the address at the top of this long letter; +and I am writing it while James Brown and the _garage_ man fit the new +crank into the car. I must have been scribbling away for two hours, so +almost any minute my new _chauffeur_ may arrive to say that we can +start. I shall write again soon to tell you how he turns out, and all +about things in general; and when I don't write I'll cable. + + + Your battered but hopeful + Molly. + + + + +FROM JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Orleans, _November 29_. + + My dear Montie, + +I have so many things to tell you I scarcely know where to begin. First +let me announce that I am in for an adventure--a real flesh and blood +adventure into which I plump without premeditation, but an adventure of +so delightful a kind that I hope it may continue for many a day. I know +you'll say at once, "That means Woman"; and you're right. But I won't go +to the heart of the story at once; I'll begin at the beginning. First, +though, a word as to yourself. I miss you enormously. It is a cruel +stroke of fate that you should have been ordered to Davos after you had +made all your plans to go with me on my new car to the Riviera. I still +think that a trip on which you would have been in the open air all day +was just as likely to check incipient chest trouble as the cold dryness +of Davos; but no doubt you were right to do as the doctors told you. I +shall look eagerly for letters from you with bulletins of your progress. +As I can't have you with me, the next best thing will be to write to you +often; besides, you said that you would like to have frequent reports of +my doings in France, with "plenty of detail." + +Well, the new car is a stunner. I haven't so far a fault to find with +her. She takes most hills on the third, which is very good; for though +we are only two up--Almond and I--I have luggage in the _tonneau_ almost +equal to the weight of another passenger. Between Dieppe and Paris she +licked up the kilometres as a running flame licks up dry wood. She runs +sweetly and with hardly any noise. The ignition seems to work perfectly; +she carries water and petrol enough for 150 miles. I think at last in +the Napier I have found the ideal car, and you know I have searched long +enough. Almond timed her on the level bit at Acheres, and it was at the +rate of over forty-five miles an hour--not bad for a touring car. + +It was between Dieppe and Paris (somewhere between Gisors and Meru) that +the adventure began. I was flying up a slope of perhaps one in fifteen, +when I became aware of Beauty in Distress. An antediluvian car, which +was recognizable by its rearward protuberance as something archaic, was +stationary on the hill; two ladies sat on an extraordinarily high seat +behind like a throne, and a mechanic was slouching towards a smith's +forge by the roadside. One motorist, of course, must always offer help +to another--to pass a stranded car would be like ignoring signals of +distress at sea; besides, one of the ladies looked young and seemed to +have a charming figure. So, having passed them, I pulled up and went +back. + +The ladies said "America" to me as plainly as if they had spoken. They +were most professionally got up, the elder so befurred and goggled that +I could see only the tip of her nose; the younger with a wonderfully +fetching grey fur coat, a thing that I believe women call a "toque," and +a double veil, which allowed only a tantalising hint of a piquant +profile and a pair of bewildering grey eyes. They--or rather the younger +one--met my profferred help with a rather curt refusal, but the voice +that uttered it was musical to a point rare among the American women of +the eastern States, and these were New York or nowhere. There was +nothing for me to do except retire; but Almond, looking back as we sped +away, said, "Why, sir, blowed if they haven't got those three smiths +pushing them up the hill!" From which I argued that Beauty was very +jealous for the reputation of her car. This is the end of Chapter I. + +Chapter II. opens at Suresnes, some days later. I was starting for +Cannes, and had just crossed the bridge when, in the yard of a _garage_ +on the left-hand side at the foot of the hill, I detected again Beauty +in Distress--the same Beauty, but a different Distress. There was the +high and portly car, with Beauty perched up in it alone--Beauty in the +attitude appropriate to Patience smiling at Grief. Almost before I knew +what I did, I turned my car into the yard and pulled up near her, making +an excuse of asking for Stelline, though, as a matter of fact, Almond +had filled up the tank only half an hour before at the Automobile Club. +The manager of the _garage_ told me that Beauty's car was stranded with +a broken crank. Now Almond had caught sight of her _mecanicien_ the +previous time we met, and knew him for a wrong un in London; therefore +when I heard he had gone off to Paris with five hundred francs to buy a +new crank, I thought the situation serious. So, despite the former snub, +I again offered my services. + +SHE had her veil up, and, by Jove! she was good to look upon! The eyes +were deep and candid; the curve of the red lips (a little subdued now) +suggested a delightful sense of humour; her brown hair rippled over the +ears and escaped in curly tendrils on her white neck. The girl was +delicately balanced, finely wrought, tempered like a sword-blade. +Something in my inner workings seemed to cry out with pleasure at her +perfections; a very unusual nervousness got hold of me when I spoke to +her. + +It ended in my flying off to the Avenue de la Grande Armee to search for +the missing man and another crank. You remember my earliest automobile +experiences were with a Benz, as so many people's have been, and I knew +where to go. Nothing had been heard of the man; I bribed a fellow to +take a crank out of another car, and on the way back a wild idea +occurred to me. I was obliged to sketch it to the astonished Almond, +commanded him to deadly secrecy, then offered my own services to the +beautiful American girl in place of her former _chauffeur_, absconded. +The whole thing came into my mind in a flash as I was spinning through +the Bois, and I hadn't time to think of the difficulties in which I +might get landed. I only felt that this was the prettiest girl I had +ever seen, and determined at any price to see a good deal more of her. +Only one way of doing that occurred to me. I couldn't say to her, "I am +Mr. John Winston, a perfectly respectable person. I have been seized +with a strong and sudden admiration for your beauty. Will you let me go +with you on your trip through France?" Even an American girl would have +been staggered at that. The situation called for an immediate +decision--either I was to lose the girl, or resort to a trick. You quite +see how it was, don't you? + +In the first instant there came a complication. I had stopped my car a +minute in the Bois to scribble a character for my new self--James Brown, +from my old self--John Winston; but as soon as I presented this piece of +writing to back up my application for the place, Miss Molly Randolph (I +may as well give you her name) exclaimed that she knew my mother. Such +is life! It seems they met in Paris. But the die was cast, and she +engaged me. I trusted the Napier to Almond, giving him general +instructions to keep as near to us as he could, without letting himself +be seen, and for the last two days I have been _chauffeur_, +_mecanicien_, call it what you will, to the most charming girl in this +exceedingly satisfactory world. + +By this time I know that your eyes are wide open. I can picture you +stretched in your _chaise longue_ at Davos in the sunshine reading this +and whistling softly to yourself. I have no time to write more to-night; +the rest must wait. + + Your very sincere and excited friend, + Jack Winston. + + + Hotel de Londres, Amboise, + _December 3_. + + My dear Montie, + +The plot thickens. She is _Superb_. But things are happening which I +didn't foresee, and which I don't like. I have to suppress a Worm, and +suppressed he shall be. I am writing this letter to you in my bedroom. +It is three in the morning, and a lovely night--more like spring than +winter. Through my wide-open window the only sound that comes in is the +lapping of the lazy Loire against the piers of the great stone bridge. I +have not been to bed; I shall not go to bed, for I have something to do +when dawn begins. Though I have worked hard to-day, I am not tired; I am +too excited for fatigue. But I must give you a sketch of what has +happened during the last few days. It is a comfort and a pleasure to me +to be able to unburden myself to your sympathetic heart. You will read +what I write with patience, I know, and with interest, I hope. That you +will often smile, I am sure. + +I sent you a line from Orleans, telling you that I had got myself +engaged as _chauffeur_ to Miss Molly Randolph at Suresnes. Well, the +_garage_ man and I managed to fit the new crank into my lovely +employer's abominable car, and about three or four in the afternoon we +were ready to take the road. As I tucked the rug round the ladies Miss +Randolph threw me an appealing look. "My aunt," she said, "declares that +it is quite useless to go on, as she is sure we shall never get +anywhere. But it _is_ a good car, isn't it, Brown, and we _shall_ get to +Tours, shan't we?" "It's a _great_ car, miss," I said quite truthfully +and very heartily. "With this car I'd guarantee to take you comfortably +all round Europe." Heaven knows that this boast was the child of hope +rather than experience; but it would have been too maddening to have the +whole thing knocked on the head at the beginning by the fears of a +timorous elderly lady. "You hear, Aunt Mary, what Brown says," said the +girl, with the air of one who brings an argument to a close, and I +hastened to start the car. + +By Jove! The compression was strong! I wasn't prepared for it after the +simple twist of the hand, which is all that is necessary to start the +Napier, and the recoil of the starting-handle nearly broke my wrist. But +I got the engine going with the second try, jumped to my place in front +of the ladies (you understand that it is a phaeton-seated car), and +started very gingerly up the hill. Though I was once accustomed to a +belt-driven Benz (you remember my little 3-1/2 horse-power "halfpenny +Benz," as I came to call it), that had the ordinary fast and loose +pulleys, while this German monstrosity is driven by a jockey-pulley, an +appliance fiendishly contrived, as it seemed to me, especially for +breaking belts quickly. The car too is steered by a tiller worked with +the left hand, and there are so many different levers to manipulate +that to drive the thing properly one ought to be a modern Briareus. + +I must say, though, that the thing has power. It bumbled in excellent +style on the second speed up the long hill of Suresnes; but when we got +to the level and changed speeds, I put the jockey on a trifle too +quickly, and snick! went the belt. I was awfully anxious that my new +mistress shouldn't think me a duffer, that she shouldn't lose confidence +in her car and me, and determine to bring her tour to an abrupt end; so +as soon as I felt the snap I turned round saying it was only a broken +belt that could be mended in no time. She smiled delightfully. "How nice +of you to take it so well!" she said. "Rattray seemed to think that when +a belt broke the end of the world had come." + +Now to mend a belt seems the easiest thing going, and so it is when you +merely have to hammer a fastening through it and turn the ends over. But +in this car you have to make the joint with coils of twisted wire. +Simple as it is to do in a workshop, this belt-mending is a most +irritating affair by the roadside, and when done I found by subsequent +experiences that the wires wear through and tear out after less than a +hundred miles. + +On this first day, not having the hang of the job, I found it +disgustingly tedious. To begin with, to get at the pulleys I had to open +the back of the car, and that meant lifting down all the carefully +strapped luggage and depositing it by the roadside. Then the wire and +tools were either in a cupboard under the floor of the car or in a box +under the ladies' seats, which meant disturbing them every time one +wanted anything. How different to my beautifully planned Napier, where +every part is easily accessible! + +The mending of that third speed-belt took me half an hour, and after +that we made some progress; but dusk coming on, I suggested to the +ladies that as there was very little fun in travelling in the dark, I +thought they had better stay the night at Versailles, going on to +Orleans the next day. They agreed. + +I had thought out plans for my own comfort. I knew that at some of the +smaller country inns there would be no rooms for servants, and that I +should have to eat with the ladies, which suited me exactly. In the +larger towns, rather than mess with the couriers, valets, and maids, I +should simply instal my employers in one hotel, then quietly go off +myself to another. That is what I did at Versailles. I saw the ladies +into the best hotel in the town, drove the car into the stable-yard, and +went out to watch for Almond. He had followed us warily and had stopped +the Napier in a side street two hundred yards away. I joined him, and we +drove to a quiet hotel about a quarter of a mile from Miss Randolph's. I +had my luggage taken in, bathed, changed, and dined like a prince, +instructing Almond to be up at six next morning and thoroughly clean and +oil the German car, making a lot of new fastenings in spare belts. Later +in the day he is to follow us to Orleans with the Napier. Thus I live +the double life--by day the leather-clad _chauffeur_; by night the +English gentleman travelling on his own car. The plans seem well laid; +I cover my tracks carefully; I don't see how detection can come. + +With a good deal of inward fear and trembling I drove the car at eight +the next morning to the door of Miss Randolph's hotel. She and her +masked and goggled aunt appeared at once, and in five minutes the +luggage was strapped on behind. + +"Now please understand," said the girl, with a twinkle of merriment, in +her eyes, "that this is to be a pilgrimage, not a meteor flight. Even if +this car's capable of racing, which I guess it isn't, I don't want to +race. I just want to glide; I want to see everything; to drink in +impressions every instant." + +This suited me exactly, for it gave me a chance of humouring and +studying the uncouth thing that I was called upon to drive. I had come +out to Versailles to avoid the direct route to Orleans by Etampes, which +is _pave_ nearly all the way, and practically impassable for +automobiles. From Versailles there is a good route by Dourdan and +Angerville, which, if not picturesque, at least passes through +agreeable, richly cultivated country. The road is exceedingly +_accidentee_ on leaving Versailles, and I drove with great care down the +dangerous descent to Chateaufort, and also down the hill at St. Remy, +which leads to the valley of the Yvette. Till beyond Dourdan the road is +one long switchback, and it is but fair to record that the solid German +car climbed the hills with a kind of lumbering sturdiness much to its +credit. At Dourdan we lunched, and soon after entered on the long, level +road to Orleans. The car travelled well--for it, and the day's record of +sixty-seven miles was only three breakages of belts. To my relief and +surprise we actually got to Orleans in time for dinner. I was a proud +man when I drove my employers into the old-fashioned courtyard of the +d'Orleans. Almond, I knew, was at the St. Aignan with the Napier, and +there I presently joined him, to hear that he had done the total run +from Versailles, with an hour's stop for lunch, in under the four hours, +the car running splendidly all the way. Almond does not at all +understand why he is left alone, and why I have gone off to drive two +ladies in an out-of-date German car which any self-respecting +automobilist would be ashamed to be seen on in France. He looks at me +queerly, and would like to ask questions; but being a good servant as +well as a good mechanic, he doesn't, and kindly puts up with his +master's whims. + +My orders were to be ready for the ladies at ten the next morning, and +when punctually to the moment I drove the car into the courtyard, I +found them waiting for me. Miss Randolph volunteered the news that she +and her aunt had been round the town in a cab to see the sites connected +with the Maid, but that she had found it very difficult to picture +things as they were, so modernised is the town. + +The morning we left Orleans was exquisite. The car went well; the +magnificent Loire was brimming from bank to bank, and not meandering +among disfiguring sand-banks, as it does later in the year; the wide, +green landscape shone through a glitter of sunshine; and here and there +in the blue sky floated a mass of tumbled white cloud. Our little party +at first was silent. I think the beauty of the scene influenced us all, +even Aunt Mary; and the thrumming of the motor formed a monotonous +undercurrent to our thoughts. + +As I've told you, the German horror is phaeton-seated, and for me in +front to talk comfortably to any lady behind is not easy. In driving, +one can't take one's attention much off the road, so Miss Molly has to +lean forward and shout over my shoulder. A curious and delightful kind +of understanding is growing up between us. You know that the history of +this part of France is fairly familiar to me, and I've already done the +castles twice before. What I've forgotten, I've studied up in the +evenings, so as to be indispensable to Miss Randolph. At first she spoke +to me very little, only a kind word now and then such as one throws to a +servant; but I could hear much of what she said to her aunt, and her +comments on things in general were sprightly and original. She had +evidently read a good deal, looked at things freshly, and brought to +bear on the old Court history of France her own quaint point of view. +Her enthusiasm was ever ready--bubbling, but never gushing, and I +eagerly kept an ear to the windward not to miss the murmur of the +geographical and historical fountain behind my back. + +"Aunt Mary," on the contrary, has a vague and ordinary mind, being more +interested in what she is going to have for luncheon than in what she is +going to see. The girl, therefore, is rather thrown back upon herself. I +burned to join in the talk, yet I dared not step out of the character I +had assumed. As it turned out, fortune was waiting to befriend me. + +We were bowling along through Meung, when I suddenly spied on the other +side of the river the square and heavy mass of Notre Dame de Clery, and +almost without thinking, I pointed it out to Miss Randolph. "There is +Clery," I said, "where Louis the Eleventh is buried. You remember, in +_Quentin Durward_? The church is worth seeing. It's almost a pity we +didn't go that side of the river." Then I stopped, rather confused, +fearing I had given myself away. There was a moment's astonished +silence, and I was afraid Miss Randolph would see the back of my neck +getting red. + +"Why, _Brown_!" she cried, leaning forward over my shoulder, "you know +these things; you've read history?" + +"Oh yes, miss," I said. "I've read a bit here and there, such books as I +could get hold of. I was always interested in history and architecture, +and that sort of thing. Besides," I went on hastily, "I've travelled +this road before with a gentleman who knows a good deal about this part +of France." + +I don't think that was disingenuous, was it?--for I hope I've a right to +call myself "a gentleman." + +"How lucky for us!" cried Miss Randolph, and I heard her congratulating +herself to her aunt, because they had got hold of a _cicerone_ and +_chauffeur_ in one. After that she began to talk to me a good deal, and +now she seems to show a kind of wondering interest in testing the amount +of my knowledge, which I take care to clothe in common words and not to +show _too_ much. You must admit the situation grows in piquancy. + +At Mer we crossed the Loire by the suspension bridge and ran the eight +miles to Chambord, meaning to lunch there, and go on to Blois after +seeing the Chateau. It was a grand performance for the car to run nearly +three hours without accident. While luncheon was being prepared I filled +up the water-tanks (even this simple task involved lifting all the +luggage off the car), washed with some invaluable Hudson's soap, which I +had brought from my own car, and made myself smart for _dejeuner_. The +eating business will, I can see, be one of my chief difficulties. At +Chambord, for instance, in the small hotel, there is, of course, no +special room for servants. As I have no fondness for eating in stuffy +kitchens when it can be avoided, I wandered sedately into the _salle a +manger_, where Miss Randolph and her aunt were already seated, and took +a place at the further end of the same long table (we were the only +people in the room). Aunt Mary looked for an instant a little +discomposed at the idea of lunching with her niece's hired mechanic, but +Miss Randolph, noticing this--she sees everything--shot me a welcoming +smile. Then the paying difficulty is an odious one. Of course, at the +end of the meal my bill goes to her, and she pays for me: "_Mecanicien_, +_dejeuner_----" so much. Picture it! Of course, I can't protest, as this +is the custom; but I am keeping a strict account of all her expenses on +my account, and one day shall square our accounts somehow--I don't at +present see how. I have formed the idea that by-and-by I may offer to +act also as courier, relieving her of the bother of making payments, and +so on. If I can work that, I'll deduct my own lot and pay it myself, the +chances being that as she is careless about money she won't notice that +I've done so, only thinking, perhaps, that I am a clever chap to run +things so cheaply. + +There's another thing which gives me the "wombles," as those delightful +Miss Bryants used to call the feeling they had when they were looking +forward to any event with a mixture of excitement, fear, and +embarrassment. + +Well, I have the "wombles" when I think of the moment, near at hand, +when Miss Randolph will hand me my weekly wage, which I have put at the +modest figure of fifty francs a week; but I am getting away from the +_dejeuner_ at Chambord. + +We had just finished the _croute au pot_, when there came a whirr! +outside, upon which Miss Randolph looked questioningly at me. "A little +Pieper," I said. "How wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Can you really tell +different makes of cars just by their sound?" "Anyone can do that," I +informed her, "with practice; you will yourself by the time you get to +the end of this journey. Each car has its characteristic note. The De +Dion has a kind of screaming whirr; the Benz a pulsing throb; the +Panhard a thrumming; a tricycle a noise like a miniature Maxim." + +The driver of the Pieper came in. His get-up was the last outrageous +word of automobilism--leather cap with ear-flaps, goggles and mask, a +ridiculously shaggy coat of fur, and long boots of skin up to his +thighs--a suitable costume for an Arctic explorer, but mighty fantastic +in a mild French winter. You know these posing French automobilists. At +sight of a beautiful girl, he made haste to take off his hat and +goggles, revealing himself as a good-looking fellow with abnormally long +eyelashes, which I somehow resented. He preened himself like a bird, +twisted up the ends of his black moustache, and prepared for conquest. +Catching Miss Randolph's eye, he smiled; she answered with that +delightful American frankness which the Italian and the Frenchman +misconstrue, and in a moment they were talking motor-car as hard as they +could go. The poor _chauffeur_ was ignored. + +It undermines one's sense of self-importance to find how quickly one can +be unclassed. I tasted at this moment the mortification of service. Once +in an hotel at Biarritz I gave to the _valet de chambre_ a hat and a +couple of coats that I didn't want any more. They were in good +condition, and he was overwhelmed with the value of the gift. "Monsieur +is too kind," the fellow said; "such clothes are too good for me. They +are all right for you, but for _nous autres_!"--the "others," who +neither expect the good things of life nor envy those who have them. The +expression implies the belief that the world is divided into two +parts--the ones and the other ones. + +Now, as I heard my sweet and clever little lady babbling automobilism +with all the wisdom of an amateur of six weeks, I felt that I was +indeed one of the Others. Though the Frenchman was to me a manifest Worm +(in that he was supercilious, puffed up with conceit, taking it for +granted that women should fall down and worship him) and a ridiculous +braggart, I had to see her receive his open admiration with equanimity +and listen to his stories with credulity, _my_ business being to eat in +silence and "thank Heaven" (though not "fasting") that I was allowed in +the presence of my betters. Still, I would have gone through more than +that to be near her, to hear her talk, and see her smile, for frankly +this girl begins to interest me as no other woman has. + +"Ah, how I have travelled to-day!" the Frenchman said, throwing his +hands wide apart. "I left Paris this morning, to-morrow I shall be in +Biarritz. To-day I have killed a dog and three hens. On the front of my +car just now I found the bones and feathers of some birds, which +miscalculated their distance and could not get away in time." Miss +Randolph gave a little cry, translating for her aunt, who has no French. + +"Shocking!" ejaculated Aunt Mary. "A regular juggernaut." + +"Your car does not go as fast as that, mademoiselle?" the Frenchman went +on. "A little heavy, I should think; a slow hill-climber?" + +"On the contrary," Miss Randolph fired up. "Though my car +has--er--_some_ drawbacks, it goes splendidly uphill, doesn't it, +Brown?" + +"That is its strong point," I answered, grateful for the unexpected and +kindly word of recognition thrown to me, one of the Others; but the +Frenchman did not deign to notice the _chauffeur_. + +"Capital!" cried he. "If mademoiselle be willing, and a hill can be +found in the neighbourhood, I should like to wager my Pieper against her +seven-horse-power German car. I had an odd experience the other day," he +went on. "My motor stopped for want of _essence_; luckily it was in a +village, but there wasn't a drop of _essence_ to be bought--all the +shops were sold out. What do you think I did, mademoiselle? I filled the +tank with absinthe from a _cafe_, and got home on that. Not many would +have thought of it, eh?" + +"Few indeed," said I to myself, for it was news to me that his +carburetter could burn heavy oil. While I was reflecting that +automobiling, like fishing, is a pursuit whose followers are peculiarly +ready to sacrifice truth on the altar of picturesqueness, luncheon was +over, and we all rose. With what seemed to me detestable impertinence, +though clearly not understood as such by innocent Miss Randolph, the +Frenchman sauntered by the side of the ladies as if to go with them to +the Chateau. Perhaps my young mistress was touched by the look of gloom +that doubtless clouded my insignificant features, for she promptly and +cordially tendered me an invitation to go with them. "You know, Brown," +she said, "we look on you as our guide as well as our _chauffeur_" ("and +I must be your watch-dog too, though it isn't in the contract," I +grumbled to myself, "if you are going to allow every automobilist who +claims the right of fellowship to thrust himself upon you"). + +Even Aunt Mary was impressed as we passed into the inner court of +Chambord, and Miss Randolph (whose sympathy and imagination throws her +at once into harmony with her surroundings) drew a quick breath of +half-awed astonishment at sight of this enormous structure, more like a +city than a single house, with its prodigious towers, its extraordinary +assemblage of pinnacles, gables, turrets, cones, chimneys and gargoyles. +The Frenchman minced along at her side, twirling his moustache, and +making great play with those long-lashed eyes of his. I divined his +intention to outdistance us, and get Miss Randolph to himself in the +labyrinth of vast, empty rooms through which our party was paraded by a +languid guide; but thwarted him by hastening Aunt Mary's steps and +keeping upon their heels in my new character of watch-dog. I was more +annoyed than I care to tell you when I saw that she seemed to like his +idiotic compliments; but when I heard him tell her airily that Chambord +was built by Louis the Fourteenth, and Miss Randolph turned +questioningly to me with a puzzled little wrinkle on her forehead, I +felt that my time had come. + +I began something reprehensively like a lecture on Chambord, putting +myself by Miss Randolph's side, and determined that the Frenchman should +get no further chance. I pointed out the constant recurrence of the +salamander, the emblem of Francis the First, the builder of the house, +and I told how he had selected this sandy waste to build it on, because +the Comtesse de Thoury had once lived near by, she having been one of +the earliest loves of that oft-loving King. I enlarged upon the +characteristics of French Renaissance architecture, pointed out the +unity in variety of the design of Pierre Nepveu, the obscure but +splendid genius who planned the house as something between a fortified +castle and an Italian palace; showed them the H entwined with a crescent +on those parts of the house that were built by Henry the Second; and +sketched the history of the place, talking about Marshal Saxe, Stanislas +of Poland, the Revolution of 1792, and the subsequent tenancy of +Berthier. I can tell you that when once I was started, the +absinthe-driver was bowled over. I simply sprawled all over Chambord, +talked for once as well as I knew how, directed all my remarks to Miss +Randolph, who--"though I say it as shouldn't"--seemed dazzled by my +fireworks. An English girl must have been struck with the incongruity of +a hired mechanic spouting French history like a public lecturer, but +she, I think, only put it down to some difference in the standard of +English education. Anyhow, the Frenchman was done for, and Miss Randolph +and I plunged into an interesting talk, shunting the new acquaintance +upon Aunt Mary. As she can speak no French and he no English, they must +have had a "Jack-Sprat-and-his-wife" experience. + +For that happy hour while we wandered through the echoing-rooms of +Chambord, climbed the wonderful double staircase, and walked about the +intricate roof, I was no longer James Brown, the hired mechanic, but +John Winston, private gentleman and man at large, with a taste for +travel. There came a horrid wrench when I had to remember that I had +chosen to make myself one of the unclassed, one of the "others." The +autumnal twilight was falling; we had to get to Blois on a car that +might commit any atrocity at any instant. Yet, strange to say, it had a +magnanimous impulse, started easily, and ran smoothly. The somewhat +subdued Frenchman started just before us on his little Pieper, and soon +outpaced our solid chariot. We went back to St. Die, took the road by +the Loire, and as dusk was falling crossed the camel-backed bridge over +the great river, and went up the Rue Denis Pepin into the ancient city +of Blois. The Chateau does not show its best face to the riverside, +being hemmed in by other buildings, so I drove past our hotel and on to +the pretty green _place_ where the great many-windowed Chateau springs +aloft from its huge foundation. "The famous Chateau of Blois," I +remarked, waving a hand towards it. "The old home of the kings of +France." We all sat and looked up at the huge, silent building, the +glowing colours of its recessed windows catching the last beams of +departing day. + +"I suppose its only tenants now are ghosts," said Miss Randolph. "I can +imagine that I see wicked Catherine de Medicis glaring at us from that +high window near the tower." It was an impressive introduction to one of +the greatest monuments of France, and after we had gazed a little longer +I turned the car and drove back into the courtyard of the Grand Hotel de +Blois, where tame partridges pecked at grain upon the ground, many dogs +gambolled, and foreign birds bickered and chattered in huge cages. At +the entrance was the Frenchman, all eyes and eyelashes, darting forward +to help Miss Randolph from her car. + +I grew weary to nausea of this shallow, pretentious ass, with no +knowledge of his own land. It began to shape itself in my mind that +though a gentleman in exterior he was the common or garden +fortune-hunter, or perhaps worse. Finding a beautiful American girl +travelling _en automobile_, chaperoned only by a rather foolish and +pliable aunt, he fancied her an easy prey to his elaborate manners and +eyelashes. Knowing we were coming to the "Grand," I had directed Almond +to drive the Napier to the "France," and my duty for the day being over, +I was about to go across to change and dine, when I saw Miss Randolph in +the hall. She was annoyed, she told me, to find that the best suite of +rooms were taken by some rich Englishman and his daughter, and she had +to put up with second-rate ones. "Poor Monsieur Talleyrand," she ended, +"has little more than a cupboard to sleep in." Talleyrand, then, was the +name of the Frenchman. "Oh, is he stopping here?" I asked. "He said he +was going on at once to Biarritz." + +"He's changed his mind," said she. "He's so impressed with Chambord that +he says it's a pity not to see all the other chateaux, which are so +important in the history of his own country. He asked Aunt Mary if we +should mind his going at the same time with us. So _of course_ she said +we wouldn't." All this, if you please, with the most candid air of +guilelessness, which I actually believe was genuine. + +"She said _what_?" I demanded, quite forgetting my part in my rage. + +"She said," repeated Miss Randolph slowly and with dignity, "that we +would not mind his seeing the chateaux when we see them. Why should we +mind? The poor young man won't do us any harm, and it's quite right of +him to want to see his own castles, because, anyhow, they're a great +deal more his than ours." + +I was still out of myself, or rather out of Brown. + +"But is it possible, my dear Miss Randolph," I was mad enough to exclaim +(I, who had never before risen above the level of a humble "miss"), +"that you and Miss Kedison believe in that flimsy excuse? The +castles----" + +"Yes, the _castles_," she repeated, very properly taking the word out of +my mouth; and the worst of it was that she was completely right in +setting me in my place, setting me down hard. "I am surprised at you, +Brown. You are a splendid mechanic, and--and you have travelled and read +such a lot that you are a very good guide too, and because I think we're +lucky to have got you I treat you quite differently from an ordinary +_chauffeur_." (If you could have heard that "ordinary" as she said it! +There was hope in it in the midst of humiliation; but I dared not let a +gleam dart from my respectful eye.) "Still, you must remember, please, +that you are engaged for certain things and not for others. If I need a +protector besides Aunt Mary, I may tell you." + +I could have burst into unholy laughter to hear the poor child; but I +bottled it up, and only ventured to say, with a kind of soapy meekness +which I hoped might lather over the real presumption, "I beg your +pardon, miss, and I hope you won't be offended; but, as you say, I have +travelled a little, and I know something of Frenchmen. They don't always +understand American young ladies as well as----" + +"'As well as Englishmen,' I suppose you were going to say," snapped she, +that dimpled chin of hers suddenly seeming to assume a national +squareness I'd never observed. "But Monsieur Talleyrand, though a +Frenchman, is a gentleman." + +That's what I had to swallow, my boy. The inference was that a French +gentleman was, at worst, a cut above an English mechanic, and with that +she turned her back on me and ran upstairs with such a rustling of +unseen silk things as made me feel her very petticoats were bristling +with indignation. + +I could have shaken the girl. And the things I said to myself as I +stalked over to my own hotel won't bear repeating; they might set the +mail-bag an fire; combustibles aren't allowed in the post, I believe. I +swore that (among other things) one such snubbing was enough. If Miss +Randolph wanted to get herself in the devil of a scrape, she could do +it, but I wasn't going to stand by and look complacently on while that +smirking Beast made fools of her and her aunt. I'd clear out to-morrow; +didn't care a hang whether she found out the trick I'd played or not. + +That mood lasted about ten minutes, then I began to realise that, +talking of beasts, there was something of the sort inside my own leather +coat, and that if anyone deserved a shaking, it was Jack Winston, and +not that poor, pretty little thing. I was bound to stop on in the place +and protect her, whether she knew she wanted any protection except Aunt +Mary's (oh, Lord!) or not. Besides, I wanted the place, since it was the +best I could expect for the present, and where Talleyrand (?) was, there +would I be also, so long as he was near Her. + +Bath and dinner brought me once more as near to an angelic disposition +as I hope to attain in this sphere; and, while I was supposed to be +earning my screw by cleaning the loathsome car, and making new +fastenings for spare belts, I was complacently watching poor Almond in +the throes of these Herculean labours. N.B.--It's only fair to myself to +tell you that Almond is getting double wages, and is quite satisfied, +though I'm persuaded he thinks he has a madman for a master. + +About half-past nine next morning (that's yesterday, in case you're +getting mixed) I was hanging round the German chariot with a duster, +pretending to flick specks off it, though Almond had left none, when +Miss Randolph, Aunt Mary, and the alleged Talleyrand came out of the +coffee-room, laughing and talking like the best of friends. Talleyrand +was now in ordinary clothes, perhaps to point the difference between +himself and a mere professional _chauffeur_. Miss Randolph looked +adorable. She'd put off her motoring get-up, and was no end of a swell. +This I saw without seeming to see, for we had not met since our scene. +I didn't know where I stood with her, but thought it prudent meanwhile +to wear a humble air of conscious rectitude, misunderstood. + +Talleyrand was swaggering along without a glance at the _chauffeur_ (why +not, indeed?) when Miss Randolph hung back, looked round, and then +stopped. "Oh, Brown, do you know as much about the Chateau of Blois as +you did about Chambord?" asked she, in a voice as sweet as the Lost +Chord. + +"Yes, miss, I think I do," said I, lifting my black leather cap. + +"Then, are you too busy to come with us?" + +"No, miss, not at all, if I can be of any service." + +"But, you know, you needn't come unless you like. Maybe it bores you to +be a guide." + +Now, if I'd been a gentleman and not a _chauffeur_, perhaps I should +have had a right to suspect just a morsel of innocent, kittenish +coquetry in this. As it is with me--and with her--if there's anything of +the sort, it's wholly unconscious. But it's the most adorable type of +girl who flirts a little with everything human--man, woman, or +child--and doesn't know it. I take no flattering unction to myself as +Brown. Nevertheless I dutifully responded that it gave me pleasure to +make use of such small knowledge as I possessed, and was grateful to her +for not hearing Talleyrand murmur that he'd provided himself with the +_Guide Joanne_. After that I could afford to be moderately complacent, +even though I had to walk in the rear of the party, and no one took +notice of me until I was wanted. + +That time came, when we'd wound round the path under the commanding old +Chateau, with its long lines of windows, and reached the exquisite +Gothic doorway. From that moment it was the Chambord business over +again; and I thanked my foresight for having stopped out of my bed half +the night, fagging up all the historical details I'd forgotten. These I +brought out with a naturalistic air of having been brought up on them +since earliest infancy. + +Miss Randolph chatters pretty American French, but doesn't understand as +much as she speaks when it's reeled off by the yard, so to say; +therefore my explanations in English were more profitable than the +French of the official guide, who fell into the background. My +delightful American maiden has never travelled abroad before, and she +brings with her a fresh eagerness for all the old things that are so new +to her. It is a constant joy even for poor handicapped Brown to go about +with her, finding how invariably she seizes on the right thing, which +she knows by instinct rather than cultivation--though she's evidently +what she would call a "college girl." + +I halted my little party before the Louis the Twelfth gateway, made them +admire the equestrian statue of the good King, drew their attention to +the beautiful chimneys and the adornments of the roof, with the +agreeable porcupine of Louis, the mild ermine and the constantly +recurring festooned rope of that important lady, Anne of Brittany. Then +I led them inside, rejoicing in Talleyrand's air of resentful remoteness +from my guidance. I scored, too, in his superficial knowledge of +English. In the midst of my ciceronage, however, I thought of you, and +how we had discussed plans of this trip together. You had looked forward +particularly to the Chateau; and as you've urged me to paint for you +what you can't see (this time), your blood be on your own head if I bore +you. + +You would be happy in the courtyard of the Chateau, for it would be to +your mind, as to mine, one of the most delightful things in Europe. It's +a sort of object lesson in French architecture and history, showing at +least three periods; and when Miss Randolph looked up at that perfect, +open staircase, bewildering in its carved, fantastic beauty, I wasn't +surprised to have her ask if she were dreaming it, or if _we_ saw it +too. "It's lace, stone lace," she said. And so it is. She coined new +adjectives for the windows, the sculptured cornices, the exquisite and +ingenious perfection of the incomparable facade. + +"I could be so _good_ if I always had this staircase to look at!" she +exclaimed. "It didn't seem to have any effect on Catherine de Medici's +soul; but then I suppose when she lived here she stopped indoors most of +the time, making up poisons. I'm sorry I said yesterday that Francis the +First had a ridiculous nose. A man who could build this had a right to +_have_ anything he liked, or _do_ anything he liked." + +And you should have seen her stare when Talleyrand bestowed an +enthusiastic "_Comme c'est beau!_" on the left wing of the courtyard, +for which Gaston d'Orleans' bad taste and foolish extravagance is +responsible--a thing not to be named with the joyous Renaissance facade +of Francis. + +When Miss Randolph could be torn away, we went inside, and throwing off +self-consciousness in the good cause, I flung myself into the drama of +the Guise murder. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for. My +one desire was to interest Miss Randolph, and (incidentally, perhaps) +show her what a clever chap she had got for a _chauffeur_--though he +_wasn't_ a gentleman, and Talleyrand was. + +I pointed from a window to the spot where stands the house from which +the Duc de Guise was decoyed from the arms of his mistress; showed where +he stood impatiently leaning against the tall mantelpiece, waiting his +audience with Henri the Third; pointed to the threshold of the _Vieux +Cabinet_ where he was stabbed in the back as he lifted the arras; told +how he ran, crying "_a moi!_" and where he fell at last to die, bleeding +from more than forty wounds, given by the Forty Gentlemen of the Plot; +showed the little oratory in which, while the murderous work went on, +two monks gabbled prayers for its successful issue. + +I got quite interested in my own harangue, inspired by those stars Miss +Randolph has for eyes, and didn't notice that my audience had increased, +until, at this point, I suddenly heard a shocked echo of Aunt Mary's +"Oh!" of horror, murmured in a strange voice, close to my shoulder. Then +I looked round and saw a man and a girl, who were evidently hanging on +my words. + +The man was the type one sees on advertisements of succulent sauces; +you know, the smiling, full-bodied, red-faced, good-natured John Bull +sort, who is depicted smacking his lips over a meal accompanied by The +Sauce, which has produced the ecstasy. One glance at his shaven upper +lip, his chin beard, and his keen but kindly eye, and I set him down as +a comfortable manufacturer on a holiday--a Lancashire or Yorkshire man. +The girl might be a daughter or young wife; I thought the former. A +handsome creature, with big black eyes and a luscious, peach-like +colour; style of hairdressing conscientiously copied from Queen +Alexandra's; fine figure, well shown off by a too elaborate dress +probably bought at the wrong shop in Paris; you felt she had been sent +by doting parents to a boarding-school for "the daughters of noblemen +and gentlemen"; no expense spared. + +It was she who had echoed Aunt Mary; and when I turned she bridled. Yes, +I think that's the only word for what she did. But it was the man who +spoke. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, dividing the apology among the whole +party, and taking off his unspeakably solid hat to the ladies. "I hope +there's no objection to me and my daughter listening to this very +intelligent guide? She's learned French, but it doesn't seem to work +here; she thinks it's too Parisian for Blois, but anyhow, we couldn't +either of us understand a word the French guide said, so we took the +liberty of joining on to you, with a great deal of pleasure and profit." + +He had a sort of engaging ingenuousness, mixed with shrewdness of the +provincial order, and I could see that he appealed to my American girl, +though I don't think she cottoned to the daughter. She smiled at the +papa, as if for the sake of her own; and in a few pretty words +practically made him a present of me, that is, she offered to let him +share me for the rest of the tour round the Chateau. I was not sorry, as +I hoped that the daughter might occupy the attention of Monsieur +Talleyrand; and as, under these new conditions, we continued our +explorations, I adroitly contrived to divide off the party as follows: +Miss Randolph, the Lancashire man (his accent had placed him in my +mind), and myself; Aunt Mary, the new girl, and our gentleman of the +eyelashes. This arrangement was satisfactory to me and the old man, +whether it was to anybody else or not; and so grouped, we went through +the apartments of Catherine de Medicis (Aunt Mary pronounced "those +little poison cupboards of hers _vurry_ cunning; _so_ cute of her to +keep changing them around all the time!"), and out on the splendid +balconies. + +The Lancashire man, thanks to Miss Randolph's permission, made himself +quite at home with me, bombarding me with historical questions. But it +was evident that he was puzzled as to my status. + +"You are a first-rate lecturer," said he. "I suppose that's your +profession?" + +"Not entirely," said I, with a glance at Miss Randolph; but she was +enjoying the joke, and not minded to enlighten him. Probably he supposed +that leather jacket and leggings was the regulation costume of a +lecturing guide. + +"Do you engage by the day," he inquired, "or by the tour?" + +"So far, I have engaged by the tour, sir," I returned, playing up for +the amusement of my lady. + +He scratched his chin reflectively. "Baedeker recommends several of +these old castles in this part of the country," said he. "Do you know +'em all?" + +I answered that I had visited them. + +"All as interesting as this?" + +"Quite, in different ways." + +"Hm! Do you speak French?" + +"Fairly," I modestly responded. + +"Well, if this young lady hasn't engaged you for too long ahead, I +should like to talk to you about going on with us. I didn't think I +should care to have a courier, but a chap like you would add a good deal +to the pleasure of a trip. Seems to me you are a sort of walking +encyclopaedia. I would pay you whatever you asked, in reason----" + +"And, oh, papa, he might go on with us all the way to Cannes!" chipped +in the daughter, which was my first intimation that she was listening. +But she had joined the forward group, and the words addressed to Pa were +apparently spoken at me. I dared not look at Miss Randolph, but I hoped +that a background of other people's approval might set me off well in +her eyes. + +I was collecting my wits for an adequate answer, when she relieved me of +the responsibility. I might even say she snapped up the young lady from +Lancashire. + +"I'm afraid I must disappoint you," she replied for her _chauffeur_. +"He is engaged to _me_. I mean" (and she blushed divinely) "he is under +engagement to remain with my aunt and myself for some time. We are +making a tour on an automobile." + +"I beg your pardon, I'm sure," said the old fellow, as the American and +the English girl eyed each other--or each other's dresses. "I didn't +understand the arrangement. When you _are_ free, though," he went on, +turning to me, "you might just let me know. We're thinking of travelling +about for some time, and I've taken a liking to your ways. I'm at the +'Grand' here at Blois for the day, then we go on to Tours, and so by +easy stages to the Riviera. At Cannes, we shall settle down for a bit, +as my daughter has a friend who's expecting us to meet her there. But +I'll give you my card, with my home address on it, and a letter, or, +better still, a wire, would be forwarded." He then thanked Miss Randolph +for me, thanked me for myself, and, with a last flourish of trumpets, +handed me his card. + +By this time we had "done" the castle, as conscientious Aunt Mary would +say, and were parting. All exchanged bows (Miss Randolph's and the +Lancashire girl's expressive of armed neutrality) and parted. I +thereupon glanced at the card and got a sensation. + +"Mr. Jabez Barrow, Edenholme Hall, Liverpool," was what I read. That +conveys little to you, though as an address it has suggestive charm, but +to me it meant nothing less than a complication. Queer, what a little +place the world is! To make clear the situation I need only say, "The +Cotton King." Yes, that's it; you've guessed it. These Barrows are my +mother's newest proteges. Jabez Barrow is the "quaint, original old man" +she is so anxious for me to meet, and, indeed, has made arrangements +that I _should_ meet. Miss Barrow is the "beautiful girl with wonderful +eyes and such charming ways," who, in my dear mother's opinion, would be +so desirable as a daughter-in-law. Had not your doctors knocked our +plans on the head you would have had the pleasure of being introduced in +my company to the heiress, when I should have made you a present of my +chance to add to your own. As it is--well, I don't quite see that any +bother can come out of this coincidence, but I must keep a sharp lookout +for myself. I saw no Kodak in the hands of the gilded ones, +or--by-and-by--my mother might receive a shock. But perhaps they may +have possessed and concealed it. + +Into the midst of my broodings over the card broke the voice of Miss +Randolph, in whose wake I was now following down the picturesque old +street to the hotel. Talleyrand was in attendance again, and she had +merely to say that the car was to be ready for start to Amboise after +luncheon. Accordingly I stepped over to my own private lair, told Almond +to get off at once with my Napier to Amboise, putting up at a hotel I +named and awaiting instructions. + +Have you begun to think there's to be no end to this letter? Well, I +shall try to whet your curiosity for what's still to come by saying that +I have availed myself of a strange blank interval in the middle of the +night for the writing of it, and that dawn can't now be far off. When +it breaks this adventure of mine will have reached a crisis--a +distinctly new development. But enough of hints. + +This country of the Loire is exquisite; it has both grandeur and simple +beauty, and the road winding above the river is practically level and in +splendid condition; ideal for motors and "hay-motors." The distance +between the good town of Blois and Amboise is less than twenty miles. +Any decent-minded motor would whistle along from the great grey Chateau +to the brilliant cream-white one under the hour, but that isn't the way +of our Demon. + +Miss Randolph once said that owning a motor-car was like having a +half-tamed dragon in the family. She is quite right about _her_ +motor-car, poor child! The Demon had been behaving somewhat less +fiendishly of late, and I had hopes of a successful run to Amboise, +which I particularly desired, as Eyelashes was to accompany us with his +Pieper. But this good conduct had been no more than a trick. + +The luggage was loaded up; Talleyrand was making himself officious about +helping the ladies, who were in the courtyard ready to mount, when the +motor took it into its vile head not to start--a little attack of +faintness, owing to the petrol being cold perhaps. Of course, there was +the usual crowd of hotel servants and loafers to see us off, and beyond, +standing as interested spectators on the steps, who but Jabez Barrow and +his handsome daughter. + +I tell you the perspiration decorated my forehead in beads when I'd +made a dozen fruitless efforts to start that family dragon, Eyelashes +maddening me the while with a series of idiotic suggestions. Even Miss +Randolph began to get a little nervous, and called out to me, "What +_can_ be the matter, Brown? I thought you were such a _strong_ man too. +Do let Monsieur Talleyrand try, as he's an expert." + +I could see Eyelashes didn't like that suggestion a little bit, +consequently I welcomed it. It's very well to dance about and give +advice, quite another thing to do the work yourself; but I gleefully +stood aside while he grasped the starting-handle. It takes both strength +and knack to start that car, and he had neither. At first he couldn't +get the handle round against the compression; then, exerting himself +further, there came a terrific back-fire--the handle flew round, knocked +him off his feet, and sent him staggering, very pale, into the arms of a +white-aproned waiter. I couldn't help grinning, and I fancy Miss +Randolph hid a smile behind her handkerchief. + +Eyelashes was furious. "It is a horror, that German machine!" he cried. +"Such a thing has no right to exist. Look at mine!" He darted to his +Pieper, gave one twist of the handle, and the motor instantly leaped +into life. Everyone murmured approval at this demonstration of the +superiority of France, or rather, Belgium, to Germany; but next moment I +had got our motor to start. The ladies dubiously took their places, and +under the critical dark eyes of Miss Barrow I steered out into the +streets of Blois. + +I will spare you the detailed horrors of the next few hours. It seemed +to me that to keep that car going one must have the agility of a monkey, +the strength of a Sandow, and the resourcefulness of a Sherlock Holmes. +Almost everything went wrong that could go wrong. Both chains +snapped--that was trifling except for the waste of time, but finally the +exhaust-valve spring broke. It was getting dusk by this time, and to +replace that spring was one of the grisliest of my automobile +experiences. To get at it I had to lift off all the upper body of the +car and take out both the inlet and the exhaust valves. As darkness came +on, Miss Randolph (who took it all splendidly and laughed at our +misfortunes) held a lamp while I wrestled with the spring and valves. +The Frenchman, who had kept close to us on his irritatingly perfect +little Pieper, I simply used as a labourer, ordering him about as I +pleased--my one satisfaction. After an hour's work (much of the time on +my back under the car, with green oil dripping into my hair!) I got the +new spring on, and we could start again. Then--horror on horror's +head!--we had not gone two miles before I heard a strange clack! clack! +and looking behind, saw that one of the back tyres was loose, hanging to +the wheel in a kind of festoon, like a fat worm. + +It was eight o'clock; we had lunched at one; the night was dark; we were +still miles short of Amboise; if the tyre came right off, it would be +awkward to run on the rim. I explained this, suggesting that we should +leave the car for a night at a farmhouse, which presumably existed +behind a high, glimmering white wall near which we happened to halt, +and try to get a conveyance of some sort to drive on to Amboise. + +But I had calculated without Eyelashes. Instantly he saw his chance, and +seized it. Figuratively he laid his Pieper at the ladies' feet. To be +sure, it was built for only two, but the seat was very wide; there was +plenty of room; he would be only too glad to whirl them off to the most +comfortable hotel at Amboise, which could be reached in no time. As for +the _chauffeur_, he could be left to look after the car. + +The _chauffeur_, however, did not see this in the same light. Not that +he minded the slight hardship, if any, but to see his liege lady whisked +off from under his eyes by the villain of the piece was too much. + +Think how you would have felt in my place. But the hideous part was +that, like "A" in a "Vanity Fair" Hard Case, I could do nothing. The +proposal was vexatiously sensible, and I had to stand swallowing my +objections while Miss Randolph and her aunt decided. + +I saw her move a step or two towards the Pieper silently, rather +gloomily, but Aunt Mary was grimly alert. Eyelashes had, I had learned +through snatches of conversation on board the car, been tactful enough +to present Aunt Mary with a little brooch and a couple of hat-pins of +the charming _faience_ made by a famous man in Blois. Intrinsically of +no great value, they rejoiced in ermine and porcupine crests, with +exquisitely coloured backgrounds, and the guileless lady's heart had +been completely won. She now emphatically voted for the Frenchman and +his car. But I have already noted a little peculiarity of Miss +Randolph's, which I have also observed in other delightful girls, though +none as delightful as she. If she is undecided about a thing, and +somebody else takes it for granted she is going to do it, she is +immediately certain that she never contemplated anything of the kind. + +This welcome idiosyncrasy now proved my friend. "Why, Aunt Mary," she +exclaimed, "you wouldn't have me go off and desert my own car, _in the +middle of the night_ too? I couldn't think of such a thing. _You_ can go +with Monsieur Talleyrand, if you want to, but I shall stay here till +everything is settled." + +I was really sorry for Aunt Mary. She was almost ready to cry. + +"You know perfectly well I shouldn't dream of leaving you here, perhaps +to be murdered," whimpered she. "Where you stay, I stay." + +She had the air of an elderly female Casabianca. + +As for Miss Randolph, I adored her when she bade me go with her to +investigate what lay behind the wall, and told Talleyrand off for +sentinel duty over Aunt Mary and the car in the road. + +At first sight the wall seemed a blank one, but I found a large gate, +pushed it open, and we walked into the darkness of a great farmyard. Not +a glimmer showed the position of the house, but a clatter of hoofs and a +chink of light guided us towards a stable, where a giant man with +aquiline face was rubbing down a rusty and aged horse. He started and +fixed a suspicious stare on me, and I daresay that I was a forbidding +figure in my dirty leather clothes, with smears of oil upon my face. His +expression lightened a little at sight of my companion, but he was +inflexible in his refusal to drive us anywhere. His old mare had cast a +shoe on her way home just now; he would not take her out again. Could +he, then, Miss Randolph asked, give us rooms for the night, and food? As +to that he was not sure, but would consult his wife. He tramped before +us to the big dark house, put down his lantern in the hall, opened a +door, and ushered us into a dark room, following and closing the door +behind him. The room was airless and heavy with the odour of cooking. +The darkness was intense, and from the midst of it came a strange sound +of jabbering and bleating which for the life of me I couldn't +understand. I felt Miss Randolph draw near me as if for protection, then +with the scratch of a match and a flicker from a lamp which the farmer +was lighting, was revealed the cause of the weird sounds. Seated by the +stove was a pathetically old woman, with pendulous chin and rheumy eyes. +Swinging her palsied head from side to side, she jabbered and bleated +incoherently to herself, being abandoned to this plague of darkness +doubtless from motives of economy. + +The farmer's wife appeared, and after much discussion it was arranged +that the ladies could have a double-bedded room, and there was a small +one that would do for Monsieur Talleyrand; but the _mecanicien_ would +have to sleep in the barn, where he could have some clean straw. Supper +could be ready in half an hour, but we were not to expect the luxuries +of a hotel. + +The farmer and I carried the ladies' hand-luggage upstairs into a +mysterious dim region, where all was clean and cold. I had a flickering, +candle-lit vision of a big white room, with an enormously high bedstead, +bare floor, a rug or two, a chair or two, a shrine, and a washhand-stand +with a knitted cover, one basin the size of a porridge-bowl containing a +thing like a milk-jug. Then I set down my burden and departed to wheel +the great helpless car into the farmyard, and wash my hands with +Hudson's soap in a trough under a pump outside the kitchen. + +Meanwhile preparations for supper went on, and as I was hungrily hoping +for scraps when my betters should have finished, who should pop out but +that Angel to say that supper was ready, and would I eat with them! I +had been working _so_ hard and must be starved. If she had guessed how I +longed to kiss her she would have run away indoors much faster than she +did. + +There was soup, chicken, an omelette, and cheese. Trust a +Frenchwoman--even the humblest--to turn out an excellent meal on the +shortest notice. Miss Randolph smiled and beamed on them, so that in +five minutes the farmer and his wife were her willing slaves. She was +delighted with the "adventure," as she called it, declaring that the +whole thing would be the greatest fun in the world. She was glad that +the horrid tyre had come off, as it gave her the chance, which she would +never have had otherwise, of studying French peasant life at first hand. +Aunt Mary was called in from outside and acquiesced, as she always did, +in the arrangements made by her impetuous niece; the farmer and I had +pushed the German car inside the gate and left it; but Talleyrand was +fussy about getting proper cover for his smart Pieper, and was not +satisfied until he had housed it in a dry barn near the house. + +After supper I strolled out into the night, trying, with a pipe between +my lips, to think out the details of an alluring new plan which had +flashed into my mind. + +"Flashed" there, do I say? Forced, rammed in, and pounded down expresses +it better. Will you believe it, during supper, that fellow--Eyelashes, I +mean--had had the audacity to urge upon Miss Randolph that she must now +continue the tour on his car! + +I was smoking and fuming in the dark, in a corner down by the gateway, +when I heard a whisper of silk (I suppose it's linings; I'd know it at +the North Pole as hers, now), and detected a shadow which I knew meant +Miss Randolph. She came nearer. I saw her distinctly now, for she was +carrying a lantern. At first I thought she was looking for me, but she +wasn't. She went straight to the car and stood glowering at it for a +minute, having set down the lantern. Then she took Something out of the +folds of her dress and seemed to feel it with her hand. "Oh, you won't +go, won't you?" she inquired sardonically. "You like to break your belts +and go dropping your chains about, just to give Brown all the trouble +you can, don't you, and keep us from getting anywhere? You think it's +enough to be beautiful, and you can be as much of a beast as you like. +But you're _not_ beautiful. You're horrid, and I hate you! Take that!" + +Up went the Something in her hand; it glittered in the yellow light of +the lantern. If you will believe it, the girl had got a hatchet and was +_chopping at the car_. Her poor vicious little stroke did no great +damage, but she chipped off a big flake of varnish and left a white +gash. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, as if it had hurt her and not her great lumbering +dragon. "Oh, you deserve it, you know, and a lot more. But--but----" and +she gave a little gurgling sigh. + +I had been on the point of bursting out with uncontrollable laughter, +but suddenly I ceased to find the thing funny. I couldn't lurk in ambush +and hear any more; I couldn't sneak away--even to spare her +feelings--and leave her there to cry, for I felt she was going to cry. +So I came out into the circle of lantern-light, shaking the tobacco from +my pipe. + +"Why, Brown, is that you?" she quavered. "I--I didn't want anyone to see +me, and I wasn't crying about the car, but just _Because_--because of +everything. I found that hatchet, and--I couldn't help it. I'm sorry +now, though. It was mean of me to hit a thing when it's down, even if it +is a Beast. It does deserve to be _killed_, though. It's simply no use +trying to go on with such a thing--is it?" + +Because of the Plan in my mind I replied gloomily that the prospect was +rather discouraging. + +"Discouraging! It's impossible!" she cried. "I've been hoping against +hope, but I see that now. I _won't_ ask poppa to buy me another; it's +too ridiculous. So there's nothing left except to go on by train +everywhere, unless--you heard how kind Monsieur Talleyrand was about +offering to take us on his car." + +In the lantern light I thought I saw that she was beginning to look +enigmatic, but I couldn't trust my eyes at this moment. There were a +good many stars floating before them--not heavenly--the kind I should +have liked to make Talleyrand see. + +"Yes, miss, I heard," I said brutally, "and, of course, if you and your +aunt would like that, I could wire to Mr. Barrow, the gentleman who went +round the Chateau with us to-day, that I was free to take an engagement +with him and his daughter." + +She turned on me like a flash. "Oh, is _that_ what you are thinking of? +Well--certainly you may consider yourself free--_perfectly_ free. You +are under no contract. Go! go to-morrow--or even to-night if you wish. +Leave me here with my car. I can go back to Paris, or--or somewhere." + +"But I thought you were going on with the French gentleman?" I said. + +"I should not think of going with him," she announced icily. + +"You said----" + +"I said he _invited_ me. I never said I meant to go; I couldn't have +said it. For I should _hate_ going with him. There would be no fun in +that at all. I want my own car or none. But that need not matter to you. +Go with your Barrows." + +"Begging your pardon, miss, I don't want to go with any Barrows." + +"But you said----" + +"If you wished to get rid of me----" + +"_I_ wish 'to get rid of' you! I don't repudiate my--business +arrangements in that way." + +"May I stop on with you, then, miss?" I pleaded at my meekest. "I'll try +and do the best I can about the car." + +"Oh, do you _really_ think there's any hope?" She clasped her hands and +looked at me as if I were an oracle. Her eyelashes are very long. I +wonder why they are so charming on her and so abominable on a Frenchman? + +"I've got an idea in my mind, miss," said I, "that might make everything +all right." + +"Brown," said she, "you are a kind of leather angel." + +Then we both laughed. And I am afraid it occurred to her that the ground +we were touching was not calculated to bear a lady and her _mecanicien_, +for she turned and ran away. + +It was not yet ten o'clock, and I had something better to do than crawl +into the bed of straw that had been offered me. It was not much more +than ten miles to Amboise, and opening the great gate as quietly as I +could, I stepped out upon the white road and set off briskly for the +town, my Plan guiding me like a big bright beacon. + +What I meant to do--what I was meaning and wanting at this present +moment to do--is this. + +Being now at Amboise, having knocked up the hotel porter on arriving, I +shall let poor old Almond sleep the sleep of the just until the earliest +crack of dawn. Then I shall wake him, have my Napier got ready--if that +hasn't been done overnight--pay him, press an extra tip into his not +unwilling palm, pack him off to England, home, and beauty, after which I +shall romp back to the sleeping farmhouse on my own good car. + +My story to Miss Randolph will be that while in Blois yesterday I heard +from my master. He is called back to England in a great hurry, wants to +leave his car, and would be delighted to let it out on hire at +reasonable terms if driven by a good, responsible man--like me. I +suppose I shall have to name a sum--say a louis a day--or she'll suspect +some game. + +She is sure to snatch at a chance, as a drowning man at a straw, and I +pat myself on the back for my inspiration. I am looking forward to a new +lease of life with the Napier. + +The window grows grey; I must call Almond. How the Plan works out you +shall hear in my next. _Au revoir_, then. + + + Your more than ever excited friend, + Jack Winston. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Amboise, + _November Something-or-Other_. + + Dear old Lamb, + +Did you know that you were the papa of a chameleon? An eccentric +combination. But Aunt Mary says she has found out that I am one--a +chameleon, I mean; but I don't doubt she thinks me an "eccentric +combination" too. And, anyway, I don't see how I can help being +changeable. Circumstances and motor-cars rule dispositions. + +I wrote you a long letter from Blois, but little did I think then--no, +_that_ isn't the way to begin. I believe my starting-handle must have +gone wrong, to say nothing of my valves--I mean nerves. + +Last night we broke down at the other end of nowhere, and rather than +desert Mr. Micawber, alias the automobile, I decided to stop till next +morning at a wayside farmhouse--the sort of place, as Aunt Mary said, +"where anything might happen." + +Of course, I needn't have stayed. The Frenchman I told you about in my +last letter offered to take us and some of our luggage on to Amboise on +his little car; but I didn't feel like saying "yes" to that proposal, +and I was sorry for poor Brown, who had worked like a Trojan. Besides, +to stay was an adventure. Monsieur Talleyrand stopped too, and we had +quite a nice supper in a big farm kitchen, but not as big as the room +which the people gave Aunt Mary and me--a very decent room, with two +funny high beds in it. I couldn't sleep much, because of remorse about +something I had done. I'm ashamed to tell you what, but you needn't +worry, for it only concerns the car. And then I didn't know in the least +how we were to get on again next day, as this time the automobile had +taken measures to secure itself a good long rest. + +I'd dropped off to sleep after several hours of staring into the dark +and wondering if Brown by some inspiration would get us out of our +scrape, when a hand, trying to find my face, woke me up. "It's come!" I +thought. "They're going to murder us." And I was just on the point of +shrieking with all my might to Brown to save me, when I realized that +the hand was Aunt Mary's; it was Aunt Mary's voice also saying, in a +sharp whisper, "What's that? What's that?" + +"That," I soon discovered, was a curious sound which I suppose had +roused Aunt Mary, and sent her bounding out of bed, like a baseball, in +her old age. I forgot to tell you that in one corner of our room, behind +a calico curtain, was a queer, low green door, which we had wondered at +and tried to open, but found locked. Now the sound was coming from +behind that door. It was a scuffling and stumbling of feet, and a +creepy, snorting noise. + +Even I was frightened, but it wouldn't do, on account of discipline, to +let Aunt Mary guess. I just sort of formed a hollow square, told myself +that my country expected me to do my duty, jumped up, found matches, +lighted our one candle, and with it the lamp of my own courage. That +burned so brightly, I had presence of mind to take the key out of the +other door and try it in the mysterious green lock. It didn't fit, but +it opened the door; and what do you think was on the other side? Why, a +ladder-like stairway, leading down into darkness. But it was only the +darkness of the family stable, and instead of beholding our landlord and +landlady digging a grave for us in a business-like manner, as Aunt Mary +fully expected, we saw two cows and a horse, and three of those silly, +surprised-looking French chickens which are always running across roads +under our automobile's nose. + +This was distinctly a relief. We locked the door, and laid ourselves +down to sleep once more. But--for me--that was easier said than done. I +lay staring into blackness, thinking of many things, until the blackness +seemed to grow faintly pale, the way old Mammy Luke's face used to turn +ashy when she was frightened at her own slave stories, which she was +telling me. The two windows took form, like grey ghosts floating in the +dark, and I knew dawn must be coming; but as I watched the squares +growing more distinct, so that I was sure I saw and didn't imagine them, +a light sprang up. It wasn't the dawn-light, but something vivid and +sudden. I was bewildered, for I'd been in a dozy mood. I flew up, all +dazed and stupid, to patter across the cold, painted floor on my poor +little bare feet. + +Our room overlooked the courtyard, and there, almost opposite the window +where I stood, a great column of intense yellow flame was rising like a +fountain of fire--straight as a poplar, and almost as high. I never saw +anything so strange, and I could hardly believe that it wasn't a dream, +until a voice seemed to say inside of me, "Why, it's _your car that's on +fire_!" + +In half a second I was sure the voice was right, and at once I was quite +calm. How the car could have got on fire of its own accord was a +mystery, unless it had spontaneous combustion, like that awful old man +of Dickens, who burnt up and left a greasy black smudge; but there was +no time to think, and I only kept saying to myself, as I hurried to slip +on a few clothes (the sketchiest toilet I ever made, just a mere +outline), how lucky it was that my automobile stood in the courtyard +where there was no roof, instead of being in the barn, like Monsieur +Talleyrand's. And I knew that Brown slept in the barn, so that, if it +had happened there, he might have been burnt to death in his sleep, +which made me feel as if I should have to faint away, even to imagine. + +But I didn't faint. I tore out of the room, as soon as I was dressed, +with my long, fur-lined motoring coat over my "nighty," and yelled +"Fire!" at the top of my lungs. But I forgot to yell in French, so of +course the farm people couldn't have understood what was the matter, +unless they'd seen the light from their windows. It was still dark in +the shut-up house, but somehow I found my way downstairs, and to the +door by which we'd all come trooping in the evening before. Nobody had +appeared yet (though I fancied I heard Aunt Mary's frantic voice), so I +concluded that the farmer and his wife must be outside in the fields +about their day's work, for these French peasants rise with the dawn, or +before it. + +I pulled open the door, and the light of the fire struck right at my +eyes, which had got used to the darkness in the passage. There was the +pillar of fire, as bright and straight and amazingly high as ever, not a +trace of the car to be seen in the midst; but silhouetted against the +yellow screen of flame was a tall black figure which I recognized as +Brown's. He was standing still, looking calmly on, _actually with his +hands in his pockets_, instead of trying to put out the fire, and I was +dumbfounded, for always before he had shown himself so resourceful. + +I stood still, too, a minute, for I _was_ surprised. Aunt Mary was +having hysterics in one of our windows which she'd thrown open; and +Monsieur Talleyrand had come close behind me, it seemed, though I didn't +know that then. + +I heard the queer clucking and roaring of the fire which was drinking +gallons of petrol, but the only thing I _really_ thought of was Brown +with his hands in his pockets while my car was burning up. I didn't love +it--at least I hadn't, and the night before I had behaved to it not at +all in a gentlemanly manner, but I couldn't have stood by like that to +watch it die without moving a finger. + +"Oh, Brown!" I gasped out, running to him, so close that the fire was +hot on my face. "Oh, Brown, how _can_ you? Anybody would think that you +were glad." + +"And he is!" cried a voice in French at my back. "It was he who set your +automobile on fire, mademoiselle. I myself, who tell you, saw him do +it." I whisked round, and there stood Monsieur Talleyrand, looking very +picturesque in an almost theatrical _deshabille_, with the firelight +shining on him, just as if it were a scene on the stage. + +Brown faced round too, and at the same instant, the fire having drunk +the last drop of petrol, the flame suddenly died down, and there fell a +curious silence after the roaring of the fire, which had been like a +blast. The woodwork of the car, the hood and the upper part, as well as +the wooden wheels, had all disappeared--the flame had swallowed and +digested them. Of my varnished and dignified car there remained only a +heap of twisted bits of iron, glowing a dull red. In the grey dawn we +must have looked like witches at some secret and unholy rite. The going +out of the light had an odd effect upon us three. When Monsieur +Talleyrand launched his accusation at Brown, he had thrown up his chin, +and the light, striking on his eyeballs, made them glow like red sparks. +But with the dying of the light, the flash in his eyes died too; and his +face changed to a disagreeable, ashy grey. At the same minute, when I +turned to Brown, it was _his_ eyes that glowed, but the light seemed to +come from inside. + +I forget whether I ever told you that Brown is a very good-looking +fellow; too good-looking for a mere _chauffeur_. His face is like his +name--brown; his eyes are brown too, and they can almost speak. One +can't help noticing these things, even in one's _chauffeur_. If he +weren't a _chauffeur_, one might certainly take him for a gentleman. +Some things really are a pity! But never mind. + +Brown looked at Monsieur Talleyrand, and then he said, "You are a liar." +Oh, my goodness, I expected murder! + +Monsieur Talleyrand gave a sort of leap. + +"Scoundrel, hog, _canaille_!" he stammered, trembling all over. "To be +insulted by an English cad, a common _chauffeur_, that a gentleman +cannot call out, an incendiary----" + +But here Brown broke in with a "Silence!" that made me jump. And the +funny part was that it was _he_ who looked the gentleman, and Monsieur +Talleyrand the cad--quite a little, mean cad, though he is really +handsome, with eyelashes you'd have to measure with a tape. That awful +"Silence!" seemed to blow his words down his throat like a gust of wind, +and while he was getting breath Brown followed up his first shot; but +this time it was aimed my way. + +"Do you believe what that coward says?" he flung at me, without even +taking hold of the words with "Miss" for a handle. Between the two men +and the excitement, I gasped instead of answering, and perhaps he took +silence for consent, though that is such an old-fashioned theory, +especially when it concerns girls. Anyway, he seemed to grow three or +four inches taller, and his chin got squarer. "So far from burning your +car," said he (and you could have made a block of ice out of each +word), "I have been to Amboise to hire a car for you, and thought I had +been lucky in securing my old master's. + +"As this expedition has occupied the whole night. I have really had no +time for plotting, even if there had been a motive, or if I were the +sort of man for such work. I hoped you knew I wasn't. But there"--and he +pointed to the road outside the open gate--"is my master's car, and the +motor is still hot enough to prove----" + +"I don't want it to prove," I found breath to exclaim. "Of course, I +know you didn't burn my car----" + +"But if I say I saw him," cut in Monsieur Talleyrand. + +"Pooh!" said I. It was the only word I could think of that went "to the +spot," and I hurried on to Brown. "All I minded was seeing you with your +hands in your pockets. It didn't seem like you." + +"You don't understand," said he. "Just as I opened the doors to drive in +the car I'd brought, I saw at a glance that there was something queer +about yours. The front seat was off; and as I came nearer I found the +screw had been taken out of the petrol tank. With that I caught sight of +a flame creeping along a tightly twisted piece of cotton waste--the +stuff one cleans cars with. Then I knew that someone had planned to set +fire to the car and leave himself time to escape. I sprang at it to +knock away the waste, but I was too late. That instant the vapour +caught, and I was helpless to do any good, because sand, and a huge lot +of it, was the only thing that might have put the fire out, if one +could have got it, and then gone near enough to throw it on. Since there +was none, the only thing to do was to stand by; and as I'd scorched my +hands a little, I suppose I instinctively put them in my pockets." + +Monsieur Talleyrand laughed. "You tell your story very well," said he, +"but----" + +He didn't get farther than that "but," for just then up came running the +farmer and his wife from the fields, where they had seen the flames. +They began chattering shrilly, in a dreadful state about their +buildings, but Brown quieted them down, pointing out that no harm had +been done to anything of theirs, and that the fire was out. "Now," he +said, "since I didn't burn the car, who did?" + +I looked at Monsieur Talleyrand because Brown was looking at him, or +rather glaring, when suddenly a loud exclamation from the farmer and his +wife made me turn to see what was going to happen next. What I saw was +the most wonderful old figure hobbling out of the house, through the +door I'd left open--a mere knotted thread of an old thing, in a red +flannel nightgown, I think it must have been, and a few streaks of grey +hair hanging from a night-cap that tied up its flabby chin. It was the +old woman who had breathed so much in the dark the night before; and no +wonder they exclaimed at seeing her crawling out of doors, hardly +dressed. + +Somehow I felt frightened; she was just like a witch--horrifying, but +pathetic too, so old, so little life left in her. She would have come +hobbling on into the courtyard, but the farmer stopped her; and there +she stood on the door-sill, raising herself up and up on her stick, +until suddenly she clutched the farmer's arm and pointed the stick +straight at Monsieur Talleyrand, gabbling out something which I couldn't +understand. + +The farmer had just been going to hustle her inside the house, but he +changed his mind. "She says _you_ set fire to the automobile," he +exclaimed; "she saw it from the window. She thinks you will murder us +all. Monsieur, my mother has still her senses. She does not tell foolish +lies. You must go out of my house." + +"Monstrous!" cried Monsieur Talleyrand. "Am I to be accused on the word +of a crazy old witch? I advise you to be careful what you say." + +"Here is something else, which speaks for itself," Brown said. "Look!" +and he pointed to the ground not far from the gnawed bones of my car. We +looked, and saw some wisps of the stuff he had called cotton-waste, +twisted up and saturated with oil. "That was used to fire the petrol," +he went on. "There was none like it on our car, but you carried plenty +in yours. I've seen you use it, and so, I think, has Miss Randolph." + +For an instant Talleyrand seemed to be taken aback, and he looked so +pale in the dim light that I was almost going to be sorry for him, when +with a sudden inspiration he struck an attitude before me. He had the +air of ignoring the others, forgetting that they existed. + +"Mademoiselle," he said in a low, really beautiful voice, that might +have drawn tears from an audience if he had been the leading man cruelly +mistaken for a neighbouring villain, "_chere mademoiselle_, I did what +these _canaille_ accuse me of. Yes, I did it! But they cannot understand +why. Only you are high enough to understand. It was--because of my great +love for you. All is to be forgiven to such love. Cheerfully, a hundred +times over, will I pay for this material damage I have done. I am not +poor, except in lacking your love. To gain an opportunity of winning it, +to take you from your brutal _chauffeur_, who is not fit to have +delicate ladies trusted to his care, I did what I have done, meaning to +lay my car, myself, all that I have and am, figuratively at your feet." + +If he had really, instead of "figuratively," I'm sure I couldn't have +resisted kicking him, which would have been unladylike. How _could_ I +ever have thought he was nice? Ugh! I could have strangled him with his +own eyelashes! Brown was right about him, after all. I wonder why it +doesn't please one more to find out that other people are right? + +"I don't want you to pay," said I. "I only want you to go away." + +I've a dim impression that I emphasised these words with a gesture, and +that he seized my hand before I could pull it back. I also have a dim +impression of exclaiming, "Oh, Brown!" in a frightened voice--just as +silly as if I'd been an early-Victorian female. I wished I hadn't, but +it was too late. Brown, evoked, was not so easily revoked. A whirlwind +seemed to catch Monsieur Talleyrand up, but it was really Brown. They +went together to visit a disagreeable, shiny green pond in the middle +of the farmyard. Brown stopped at the brink; but Monsieur Talleyrand +didn't stop--I suspect Brown knew why. He went on, and in. And, oh, Dad! +to save my life, I couldn't help laughing. All my excitement and +everything went into that laugh--the half-crying kind I used to call the +"boo-higgles" when I was a little girl--you remember? + +I was afraid the wretch might hear me, so I turned and fairly ran for +the house. Brown took some long steps, and reached me before I got +there, apparently not the least concerned in the splashing sounds which +so much interested everybody else. + +"About my master's car, miss," said he coolly. "Will you have it? He was +at Amboise. I'd heard from him there, that if I knew of anyone wanting +to hire a car, his was in the market for the next few weeks, as he was +suddenly called away, and didn't want to take it. It's a good car--the +best I ever drove--and he's willing to let it go cheap, as he trusts me +to drive, and it's an accommodation to him." + +"Oh, I'm delighted to have it," I answered, not stopping to ask the +price, because details didn't seem to matter at that moment. "It's--it's +just like the ram caught in the bushes, isn't it? And--I don't know how +to thank you enough for everything." I can't tell exactly what I meant +by that, except that I meant a lot. + +"There's nothing to thank me for, miss," said Brown, quite respectful +again; but a queer little smile lurked in the corners of his mouth. "You +must be hungry," he remarked. "Shall I ask them to have breakfast +prepared by the time you're--ready?" + +I believe he was going to say "dressed," and stopped for fear of hurting +my feelings. I only stayed long enough to throw a "Yes, please," over my +shoulder. But when I was upstairs with Aunt Mary, my face feeling rather +hot, I didn't begin to make my toilet; I went and "peeked" out of the +window. + +That unspeakable Frenchman was shaking himself like a big dog, and +sneaking towards the house, with the farmer at his heels. The farmer was +a big fellow, and dependable; still, I ran and locked the door. I +suppose the Beast finished dressing and packed his bag. I heard nothing; +but half an hour later (I'd bathed and dressed like lightning, for +once), when we were just sitting down to breakfast, and Brown had come +into the room to ask a question, there was a light pattering on the +stairs; the front door opened, and somebody went out. Two minutes later +came the whirring of a motor, and I jumped up. + +"Oh, Brown!" I exclaimed, "if he should have taken _your_ car!" + +"No fear of that," said Brown. "I know the sound just as I know one +human voice from another. That's his Pieper. It's all right." + +Still I wasn't at ease. "But he may have done something bad to yours. +He's capable of anything," I said. "Do let's go and see." + +Brown flushed up a little. "I'll go," he said. He was off on the word, +racing across the farmyard. I couldn't eat my breakfast till he came +back, which he did in a few minutes. I knew by his face before he spoke +that something was wrong. "I was a fool to leave the car for even a +second till he was out of the way," said the poor fellow. "Every tyre +gashed. No doubt he'd have liked to smash up the car altogether if he'd +had time, but his object was to do his worst and get off scot free. He's +done both. It's thanks to you and your quick thought that the damage is +so small." + +"If it hadn't been for me he wouldn't have been here," I almost wept. +"Now we're delayed again just when I began to hope that all might be +well." + +"All shall be well," answered Brown encouragingly. "We'll go 'on the +rims' as far as Amboise." + +I didn't know what it was to go on the rims, but when we'd settled up +with the farmer, and I'd said a last, long good-bye to my car's bones +(which I made the landlord a present of), I found out. It's something +like "going on your uppers." I don't need to explain that, do I? But the +car is such a beauty that seeing it with, its tyres _en deshabille_ +seemed an indignity. Brown couldn't help showing his pride in it, and I +don't wonder. He is certainly a "Mascot" to me, for he has got me out of +every scrape I've been in since he "crossed my path," as the melodramas +say. And now this lovely car! On the way to Amboise he told me what it +was to be let for. Only twenty francs a day. I protested, because +Rattray had said that good cars couldn't be hired for less than twenty +_pounds_ a week; but Brown explained that this was because his master +liked him to drive it, and that really it wasn't so cheap as I thought. +I suppose it's all right. Funny, though, that I should have the car of +that Mr. John Winston, whose mother--Lady Brighthelmston--I met in +Paris, and promised to meet again in Cannes. Fancy Aunt Mary and me +lolling luxuriously (I love that word "lolling") in a snow-white car +with scarlet cushions, all the brass-work gleaming like a fireman's +helmet--the rakiest, smartest car imaginable! There are two seats in +front and a roomy _tonneau_ behind. The steering and other arrangements +are quite different from those in the poor dead Dragon--rest its wicked +soul! There's a steering-wheel, and below it two ducky little handles +that do everything. One's the "advance sparking lever," the other the +"mixture lever." There are no horrid belts to break themselves--and your +heart at the same time, but instead a "change speed gear" and a +"clutch." I had my first lesson in driving, sitting by Brown on the way +to Amboise. He teaches one awfully well, and I was perfectly happy +learning, especially when I found that the faster we went the easier the +dear thing is to steer. I was so interested that I didn't know a bit +what the road was like, except that it was good and white and mostly +level, so that when Brown suddenly said "There is the Chateau of +Amboise," I was quite startled. + +Luckily he was driving again by that time, or I should probably have +shot us into the river instead of turning to the bridge; for we were on +the other side of the Loire looking across to the castle. + +You poor, dear, stay-at-home Dad, to think of your never having seen any +of these lovely places that you've nobly sent me to browse among! You +_say_ you admire Wall Street more than French chateaux, and that when +you want a grand view you can go and look at Brooklyn Bridge or the +statue of Liberty by night; but you don't know what you're missing. And +if travelling would _really_ bore you, why do you like me to describe +things, so that I can "give you a picture though my eyes"? + +I wonder if girls who have lived all their lives in old, old countries +can have the same sort of awed, surprised, almost dream-like feeling +that comes to me when I see these great feudal castles that are like +history in stone? Yes, in stone, and yet the stone seems _alive_ too as +if it were the _flesh_ of history; and as I think of all the things that +have happened behind the splendid walls, I can hear history's heart +beating as if it and the world were young with me. + +This chateau country of the Loire must be one of the most interesting +spots on earth, centring as it did the old Court life of France, and +Brown says it really is so. He has travelled tremendously and remembers +everything, though he _is_ nothing but a _chauffeur_. + +Each place we have come to I have thought must be the best; but I know +that no other castle will make me take Amboise down off the pedestal +I've set it on, in my mind. + +As I glanced up at it in the sunshine the great white carved _facade_ +dazzled me. It looked as if it had been cut out of ivory. The bridge +rests on an island in the middle of the wide, yellow, slow-moving stream +of the Loire, which has a curiously still surface like ice. Brown drove +slowly without my having to ask. He's wonderful that way. He always +knows what you are feeling, as if you had telegraphed him the news. And +there before us lay the little town of Amboise, sprinkled along the +river-bank as if each house were a votive offering on the shrine of the +Chateau towering above on its plateau of rock. + +I couldn't make out the architecture at first. The castle was just a +vast, dazzling complication of enormous round towers, bastions, +terraces, balconies, and crenellations. Oh, those balconies! Instantly I +could see poor little fainting Queen Mary held up by wicked Catherine de +Medici--the record wickedest mother-in-law of history--to watch the +execution of the Huguenots. And then the row of heads hanging from the +balcony afterwards, like terrible red gargoyles! When we went into the +Chateau later the custodian, or whatever you call him, showed us where +the fine ironwork was stained and rusted with the Huguenots' blood. + +I was very angry with Aunt Mary because she kept her nose in her +Baedeker, and preferred reading about the castle to seeing it when she +had the chance. I have my opinion of people who won't take their +Baedeker in doses either before or after meals of sight-seeing; but Aunt +Mary spreads it so thick over hers that what's underneath is lost. + +We drove to a nice little hotel tucked away at the foot of the Chateau, +for _dejeuner_, and to get rid of our luggage, for we'd have to stop at +Amboise till the four new tyres (which Brown now wired for) should +arrive from Paris. We had so many courses that I grew quite impatient, +for I wanted to be off to the castle. And to save time I insisted on +Brown lunching with us. That's happened before several times, so that it +doesn't seem at all strange now, though Aunt Mary fussed at first, and +even I felt rather funny. But the queer part is, it's so _much_ more +difficult to remember that Brown's not a gentleman than to make an +effort to be civil to him as if he were one. Rattray at the table was +beyond words, and so are a lot of Frenchmen who ought to know better; +but--you'll laugh at me--I don't see how a duke could eat any better +than Brown, or have nicer hands and nails; though how he does it with +the car to clean is more than I can tell. + +We came towards the castle, after _dejeuner_, from the back through the +town, which was gay with booths and blue blouses and pretty peasant +girls, because the market was being held. We went right through the +crowd, up, up a sloping path, where suddenly we were in a restful +silence, after the chattering and chaffering below. And I felt as if we +had got into a novel of Scott's; for if we'd been his characters he +would have brought us up short at a secretive door in a tower, just like +the one where we had to knock. One couldn't guess what would be on the +other side of that tower; and it was like walking on through the next +chapter of the same novel (walking slowly and with dignity, so that we +might "live up to" the author of our being) to wander up a steep road +leading to a plateau and reach the still, formal garden with the great +castle rising out of it. + +On this plateau a lovely thing simply took my eyes captive and wouldn't +let them go. It was the most perfect gem of a little chapel out of +dreamland. Brown said it was "a jewel of the pure Gothic, one of the +most precious of the florid kind in France." Comic to have one's +_chauffeur_ talking to one like that, isn't it? But I'm used to it now, +and feel quite injured if Brown happens not to know something I ask him +about. + +I never realised what an important lady Anne of Brittany was, till I was +introduced to her sweet little ermine at Blois. Brown hinted then that I +would keep on realising it more and more as we drove through the Loire +country, and so I do. This chapel was hers--built for her, and I envy +her having it. Couldn't you, Dad dear, just make a bid, and have it +taken over for our garden at Lennox? But no! that would be sacrilege. +It's almost sacrilege even to joke about it. Yet, oh, that carving of +St. Hubert and his holy stag over the door! I've no jewellery so lovely +as that cameo in stone; and I've got to leave it behind in Europe. + +Poor Charles the Eighth, too, seemed to come to us like a human, every +day young man one knew when we saw the low doorway where he knocked his +head and killed himself, running in a great hurry to play tennis. How +little he guessed when he started that he should never have that game, +and why! I wonder if Anne was sorry when he died, or if she liked having +another wedding and being a queen all over again when she married Louis +the Twelfth? + +I should have thought more about the ladies' love affairs, only I got +so interested in an _oubliette_, and in a perfectly Titanic round tower, +with an inclined plane corkscrewing up, round and round inside it, so +broad and so gradual that horses and carriages used in old, old days to +be driven from the town-level up to the top. "Only think what fun, +Brown," I couldn't help saying, "if we could drive the _car_ up here!" +"The idea!" sniffed Aunt Mary. "As if they'd allow such a thing!" But +Brown didn't answer; he just looked thoughtfully at the gradient. + +We went up, too, on the top of one of the great towers of the castle +itself, and it was glorious to stand there looking away over the +windings of the river. We were at a bend midway between Blois and Tours, +and ever so far off we could see two little horns sticking up over the +undulations of the land. They were the towers of the cathedral of Tours; +and in that same direction Brown showed me a queer thing like a long, +thin finger pointing at the sky--the Lanterne of Rochecorbon. They used +to flash signals from it all the way to Amboise, and so on to Blois, +when any horror happened with which they were particularly pleased, like +a massacre of Huguenots. + +Now, most patient gentleman, at last I've finished my harangue. I'm +ashamed to think how long it is, but I'm writing wrapped up in a warm +coat, under a _tilleul_ in the Chateau garden, where I've been allowed +to bring my campstool. Do you know what a _tilleul_ is? I don't believe +you do. I didn't till the other day; but I shan't tell you, except that +the very name suggests to me leisured ease and sauntering courtiers. +You must come over to France and find out--and incidentally fetch me +home--only not yet, please, oh, not yet. As for the _tilleul_, if you've +any romance left in your dear old body you'd love sitting under it, even +in winter. If it were summer, with the limes in blossom--well, the best +way to express my feeling is to remark that if, in June moonlight, under +a _tilleul_, a man I hated should propose to me, I'd believe for the +moment I loved him and say "Yes--yes!" But you need not be frightened; +it _isn't_ summer or moonlight, and there's no man except Brown within a +hundred miles of your silly + + Molly. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Tours, _December 3_. + + Three days since I wrote, blessed old Thing, but it seems three times +three, for all the hours have been as cramfull as you used to fill my +stocking at Christmas. + +We couldn't get away from Amboise, as we expected, because the tyres +didn't arrive till late in the evening. I knew it must be a long, +tedious business fixing them on, so I never dreamed of starting next +morning; but when morning came, and with it the chambermaid and my bath, +there was a note from Brown, written in a hand a lot nicer than my poor +"fist," announcing that the car was ready, and if I would like a +surprise, might he "respectfully suggest" that I should come downstairs +as soon as possible. You can imagine that I didn't "stand on the order +of my going." My hair crinkled with surprise at being done so quickly, +and I was in such a hurry that I nearly--but not quite--slid down the +balusters. + +Brown was at the front door, with the car all politely polished, and +seeming to stand upon tiptoe on its big new tyres. But smart as the car +was, it was nothing to the _chauffeur_. He looked like a sort of male +Cinderella just after the fairy godmother had waved her wand; only +instead of a ball dress she had given him, in place of his black +leather, a suit of grey clothes; one of those high, turnover collars I +love on a good-looking man; a dark necktie, and what _we_ call a "Derby" +hat and the English call a "bowler." He was nice! I don't know if I'm a +judge of a man's clothes, but to me they seemed as good form as any +tailor in the world could cut. Perhaps the Honourable John gave them to +him. Poor dear! he's far too fine a fellow really to have to wear +another man's cast-off garments; but I suppose Providence must know +best, and, anyhow, I'm sure the H. J. never looked half as nice in the +things. + +Brown had on also a mysterious air, which seemed to go with the clothes, +and he asked if I'd mind taking a short run with him, without knowing +beforehand where I was going. I said that, on the contrary, I should +_like_ it. That seemed to please him. He helped me in (not that I needed +it), the car started with a touch, and we began to thread the streets of +the town behind the Chateau, I wondering _what_ was going to happen. +When I had been in this car before, it was to travel "on the rims," you +know. Now, on our four-plump new Michelins from Paris it was like being +in a balloon, so easy was the motion even over the badly paved streets. + +We wound round under the high wall of the Chateau, and came in a few +minutes to a huge gateway. As we slowed down this gateway opened +mysteriously from within to show a dim corkscrew of a road winding +upward. I opened my mouth to ask an astonished question; then I thought +better of it and kept still, though I know my eyes must have been +snapping when Brown actually drove the car in. The gateway clanged +behind us, as if by enchantment, shutting us into a twilight region, and +behold, we were mounting the incline of the great tower, up which, +perhaps, nobody had ever driven since the days of Mary Stuart. + +Wasn't it _kind_ of Brown to remember my wish (which even I had +forgotten!) to drive up the tower? I could hardly thank him enough for +such a new and thrilling sensation as it was, twisting up and up, +seeming to float in the vast hollow of the passage, the exquisite carved +and vaulted roof giving back a rhythmical reverberation of the throbbing +of our motor. + +I couldn't even say "thank you," though, except in my thoughts, till we +got to the top (which we did much too soon), for somehow it would have +broken the charm to speak. But I think Brown understood that I +appreciated it all, and what he had done. + +At the top a big doorway stood open, and by it one of the delightful, +grizzled, dignified old dears who must have been made guardians of the +Chateau, because they fit so well into the picture. I thought, though, +that this one looked different from before, for some reason quite +flurried and almost scared. I suppose it must have been the car and the +unusualness that upset him; but Brown drove out splendidly, stopping in +the terrace-garden. + +"At that door," said the charming old fellow, "Francis the First of +France received Henry the Eighth of England, who with a train of a +hundred knights rode up the sloping way in the tower. To-day is the +first time that an automobile has ever been inside the doors; therefore, +mademoiselle, you have just been making history." And he bowed so +deliciously that I could have cried, because I hadn't my purse with me +to give him a "guerdon"; that would have been the only word, if I had +had it. Fortunately Brown had. Something yellow glittered as it passed +from hand to hand, and the old Frenchman (so dramatic, like most of his +countrymen) bowed again and took off his hat with a flourish. If the +something hadn't been yellow, but only white, I wonder if he would have +let us make that splendid, sweeping circle round the gardens before we +plunged back into the cool gloom of the tower? + +Oh, that descent! I feel breathless, just remembering it, but it was a +glorious kind of breathlessness, like you feel when you go +tobogganing--only more so. Brown took it at tremendous speed, but I +wasn't a bit afraid, for I trust him utterly as a driver. If he said he +could take me safely over Niagara Falls, and looked straight at me in a +way he has when he said it, I believe I'd go--unless, of course, you +objected! + +I found myself thinking of Poe's descent of the Maelstrom, and when I +said so to Brown afterwards, it turned out that he'd read it. He had the +car perfectly in hand, and steered it to a hair's breadth. We were down +in a moment--or it seemed so; and coming out into the bright little +streets was like waking up after a strange dream. In three minutes more +we were at the door of our hotel, and I really _was_ asking myself if I +had dreamed it. + +"Brown," said I, "I told you once before that you were a leather angel. +Now I believe you are a grey tweed Genie. This has been the nicest +morning of my life. But you really must tell me how much you paid that +custodian, and let me give you back the money at once." + +He interrupted himself in the midst of a beaming smile to wrinkle his +eyebrows together. "It's been a nice morning for me, too, miss," said he +quite humbly; "but it will half spoil it if you won't let it stand as it +is. It was only a few francs, and as you pay me a good screw, I can well +afford it. You're always so good, that I know you'd be sorry to hurt my +feelings." + +Well, of course I would; so I couldn't say any more, could I? Though +before all these motor-car wonders began it would have felt odd to take +a "treat" from one's servant. + +Now, Dad, I'm getting conscience-stricken, and keep wondering with every +paragraph (especially what I call my "descriptive" paragraphs) if I'm +boring you. I won't give you our daily programme _en masse_. I'll just +sum things up by saying that we've simply lived, moved, and had our +being in, on, or at castles. This country of the Loire is a sort of +fairyland, where everybody had a castle, or at the very least a lordly +dwelling-place that was more fortress than private house. You can't look +up or down the river but that on every hill you see a chateau, with +enough history clustering about it to make up a fat volume. How they +all escaped the Revolution is a marvel. But they have; and if they've +been much restored, it is so cleverly done that the most critical eyes +are deceived. + +If I could live in one of the "show" chateaux, I'd choose Chenonceaux. +We drove to it on the day of the Tower, as I've labelled it in my book +of memory, "taking it in" on our way to Tours. It's no use your making a +note of that wish of mine, though Dad, and trying to buy it, because +somebody else has done that already. But if you can find a river as +pretty as the Cher (an appropriate name for the little daughter of the +Loire, on which--_over_ which, literally, Chenonceaux stands), you might +build me one on the same pattern, so I'll give you a general idea of +what the castle is like. + +Let me see, what _is_ it like? To make a comparison would be giving to +an airy nothing a local habitation and a name. Not that Chenonceaux is +_nothing_--quite the opposite; but it leaves in the mind an impression +of airiness and gaiety, sweet and elusive as one of those quaint French +_chansons_ you like me to sing you, with my guitar, on a summer evening. +I think, even if I hadn't been told, I should have felt instinctively +that it must have been built to please a pretty, capricious woman. If +such a woman could be turned into a house, she would look like +Chenonceaux, and wouldn't suffer by the change. Perhaps Diane de +Poitiers isn't a proper object of sympathy for a well-brought-up young +lady like Chauncy Randolph's daughter; but I can't help pitying her, +because that horrid old frump of a Catherine de Medici grabbed it away +from her before Henry the Second was hardly cold in his grave. Think how +Diane, who had loved the place, must have felt to fancy that stuffy +Catherine in her everlasting black dresses, squatting in her beautiful +rooms! We saw those rooms, by the way, for we came on one of the days +when people are allowed to go through the Chateau (Brown had planned +that), and the clever millionaires who own it have had the sense and the +grace to leave everything just as it was, at least in Catherine's time. +And one can take the bad, Catherine taste out of one's mouth by thinking +of lovely little Mary Stuart singing like a lark through the rooms, and +living there and in the garden the happiest days that she was ever to +know. + +One wouldn't suppose that a gloomy, plotting mind like Catherine's would +have had a place in it for creating beauty; but it had its one +ornamental corner, or she couldn't have thought out the bridge-gallery +thrown across the Cher, springing from the original building and +spanning the river to the farther shore. + +There are two storeys over the bridge, long corridors, all windows, and +lovely green and gold river lights, netted over the floors and +walls--the most exquisite effect. I walked there, calling up the spirits +of vanished queens and princesses--the "dear, dead women," seeing "all +the gold that used to fall and hang about their shoulders." Oh, I've got +the quotation wrong, but it's Aunt Mary's fault, for at this very minute +she's reading aloud to herself in a guide-book about Rousseau and a lot +of other shining lights who used to visit Chenonceaux when it belonged +to Monsieur and Madame Dupin; but those days were comparatively modern, +so I don't take much interest. Nothing at Chenonceaux seems worth while +unless it happened before the days of Charles the Ninth. + +Tours looked at first sight very sedate and grey, after Chenonceaux, for +the airy picture of the castle had kept floating before my eyes during +our run. It seems to me we are always on the other side of the river +from things, and have to get to them by crossing long bridges. We did it +again at Tours, and it was particularly long, and very fine. But it was +evening, and dim and bitterly cold; and I'm afraid I shouldn't have paid +as much attention to it as I did if Brown hadn't said that Balzac called +it "one of the finest monuments of France." And then in a minute, at the +entrance to the town, we saw two ghostly white statues glimmering in a +wide, green _place_. "There, miss, are the two tutelary geniuses of this +part of France," said Brown; "Rabelais and Descartes." By that time we +had flashed past, but I screwed my neck round to look back at them till +I got a "crick" in it. Have you ever noticed that most of the things +people tell you to look at, or that you particularly want to see in +life, are always behind your back or on one side, as if to give you the +greatest possible trouble? It seems as if there must be a "moral in it," +as Alice's Duchess would have said. + +Tours appeared _that_ evening (I have a motive for the emphasis) to +consist of one long, straight street; and turning to the left at the +end, we pulled up at the door of a hotel. Just an ordinary-looking hotel +it was on the outside, and I little thought what my impressions of it +would be by-and-by. + +I was tired, not so much physically from what we had done, but with the +feeling that my capacity for admiring and enjoying things had been +filled up and brimmed over, so that a drop more in would actually hurt. +Do you know that sensation? It was just the mood to appreciate warmth +and cosiness. We got both. Aunt Mary and I had two bedrooms opening off +a sitting-room; dear, old-fashioned rooms, and, above all, _French_ +old-fashioned, which to me is fascinating. We made ourselves as pretty +as Nature ordained us severally to be, and went downstairs. The +dining-room was our first big surprise. It was almost worthy of one of +the chateaux, with its dignified tapestried and wainscotted walls, and +its big, branching candelabra. I'm sure if we'd been dining at a chateau +we shouldn't have got a better dinner. I don't think anything ever +tasted so good to me in my life, and I couldn't help wondering how poor, +tired Brown was faring while we lazy ones feasted in state in the _salle +a manger_. I thought of you, too, for you would have loved the things to +eat. They were rich and Southern, and tasted in one's mouth just the way +the word "Provence" sounds in one's ear. Aunt Mary had read in one of +her ubiquitous guide-books that Touraine as well as Provence is famous +for its "succulent cooking," and for once a guide-book seems to be +right. They had all sorts of tricky, rich little dishes for +dinner--_rillettes_ and other things which would have made your mouth +water (though if it did, and I were by, I'd shut my eyes), and the head +waiter told me when I asked, that they were specialties of Tours and of +the hotel. I think _he_ must be a specialty of Tours and the hotel too. +He has the softest, most engaging, yet dignified manner; and the way he +has of setting down a dish before you seems to season it and give you a +double appetite. There's another man in the hotel, too, who adds to the +"aroma"; he's like a "bush to wine," or something I've heard you say. By +day he's _valet de chambre_, in a scarlet waistcoat no brighter than his +cheeks and eyes; at dinner he's a waiter in correct "dress" clothes, and +then he goes back to valeting again till midnight. He would put me in a +good temper if I had started out to murder someone, and when he brought +us the wine list, waiting with a cherry-cheeked smile to see what we +would choose, nothing seemed worthy of him except champagne; but +champagne looked so dissipated for two lone females. However, I had +decided to have some, to drink the health of the new car, and perhaps--a +little--to shock Aunt Mary, when the diamond-eyed one respectfully +inquired, in nice Southern French, how we would like to try a "little +wine of the country, sparkling Vouvray; quite a ladies' wine." So we +compromised with Vouvray. It was too ridiculously cheap, but it had a +delicious flavour, and Aunt Mary and I, being merely females, agreed +that it was more delicate than any champagne we had ever tasted. We +drank your health and the car's, and then I had a sudden inspiration. +"To the 'Lightning Conductor'!" said I, raising my glass. + +"What lightning conductor? And what do you mean?" inquired Aunt Mary. + +"The one and only Lightning Conductor--Brown," I explained. "I have just +thought of that as a good name for him, now that he has a chance to spin +us across the world at such a pace with a new car." + +"I do hope, my dear Molly," severely remarked Aunt Mary, setting down +her glass with an indignant little thud, "you will not call that young +man any such thing to his face. He has already been allowed far too many +liberties, and though I must say he has not to any great extent taken +undue advantage of them so far, he may _break out_ at any moment." + +I'm sorry to tell you, Dad, that I said "Pooh!" and asked her if she +thought Brown were an active volcano. Anyway, whether I call him so "to +his face" or not, the "Lightning Conductor" he is, and will remain for +me, though perhaps he wouldn't be flattered at being "launched and +christened" with mere Vouvray. + +I didn't expect to like Tours half as much as I do. But we have been +here for three days, and though I thought at first there was only one +long street, we've found something interesting to see every hour of +daylight--so I write in the evenings in our cosy sitting-room. Or if I +don't write, I read Balzac. I never appreciated him as I do here, on his +"native heath." I have begged Brown to name his master's car "Balzac," +because it, too, is a "violent and complicated genius." I've gazed at +the house where Balzac was born; I've photographed the Balzac +medallion; I've stuffed my trunks with illustrated editions of Balzac's +books; and I've gone to see everything I could find, which he ever spoke +about. His _Cure de Tours_ is the most harrowing story I ever read; and +the strange little house in the shadow of the cathedral, with one of the +great buttresses planting its enormous foot in the wee garden, +fascinates me. There lived the horrible Mademoiselle Gamard, and there, +with her, lodged the wicked Cure, and the poor, good little Cure, over +whose childlike, gentle stupidity and agony I half cried my eyes out +last night. But Balzac's French discourages me. He must have had a +wonderful vocabulary. I am always finding words on every page which I +never saw before. + +I don't like cathedrals much as a rule, unless there's something really +extraordinary about them; but I love the big, grey, Gothic cathedral of +Tours. It seems a different grey from any other, not cold and +forbidding, but warm and very soft, as if it were made of sealskin. I +suppose that is partly the effect of the beautiful carvings of the tall, +tall front. I feel as if I should like to smooth and caress it with my +hand. And it is beautiful inside. Somehow it is so individual that it +gives you a welcome, as if it meant to be your friend. + +The streets of _old_ Tours are so intricate that Aunt Mary and I would +never have known where to go, but Brown, who has been here before, has +guided us everywhere. He took us to see the house of Tristan the Hermit, +and an adorable little convent, which is called the Petit St. Martin, +with lovely Renaissance carving, and actually a _tilleul_. He showed us +the oldest house in Tours, the quaintest building you could imagine, +standing on a corner, with lots of other very old houses on the same +street. And the Charlemagne Tower--I'm not sure, but I liked that the +best of all--and a marvellous fourteenth-century house, a perfect +lacework of carving, which has been restored, and is called the Maison +Gouin, after the rich man who lives in it. Oh, I forgot to tell you, +I have bought your favourite _Quentin Durward_, and am sandwiching +him with Balzac. Reading him over again in this country was Brown's +idea for me, and I'm obliged to him for the "tip." Speaking of tips +reminds me I really ought to give _him_ one--a very large one, I'm sure. +And yet it will be awkward offering it, I'm afraid. I know I shall +stammer and be an idiot generally; but I shall prop my courage with the +reflection that, after all, he _is_ a _chauffeur_, and perhaps has, in +his heart, been wondering why I haven't given him anything before. + +Yesterday I saw palm trees, growing in the _place_, and kissed my hand +to them, because they told me that we were on the threshold of the +South. Another thing in Tours which suggests the South, I think, is the +_patisserie_. Aunt Mary and I have discovered a confectioner's to +conjure with; but Tours seems to have discovered him long ago, for all +the "beauty and fashion" of the town go there for coffee and cakes in +the afternoon. We do likewise--when we have time; and yesterday Aunt +Mary ate twelve little cakes, each one different from the other. You +see, they are so good, and she said, as a conscientious tourist, she +thought she ought to try every kind in the shop, so as to know which was +nicest. But she felt odd afterwards, and refused one or two of the best +courses at dinner. + +The way that we have used our time at Tours is very much to our credit, +I think--or rather to the Lightning Conductor's. In the mornings Brown +has taken us on excursions outside the town, and in the afternoons, +before dark, we have "done" the town itself, as Aunt Mary would say, +though I hate the expression myself. But one whole day out of our three +we spent in running with the car to Langeais and Azay-le-Rideau. + +That new car is a treasure, and Brown drives as if there were a sort of +_sympathy_ between him and it. We go at a thrilling pace sometimes, but +that is only when we have a long, straight road, empty as far as the eye +can see. He is very considerate to "horse drivers," as he calls them, +and he says "for the sake of the sport" everyone driving an automobile +should be careful of the rights of other persons on the road. He slows +down at once, or even stops the car altogether, if we meet a restive +horse. Once he got out and pacified a silly beast that was nervous, +leading it past the car, and when it was quite quiet the old peasant who +was driving exclaimed that if all automobilists were like us there would +never be complaints. We managed to make up for lost time, though; and +when Brown "lets her out," as he calls it, until we are going as fast as +a quick train, I can tell you it is something worth living for. When +the country is very beautiful we drive slowly, and save our "spurts" +for the uninteresting parts. + +I know you've read Balzac's _Duchesse de Langeais_, in English, for it +was I who gave it to you. I don't suppose she ever lived, really, at the +Chateau de Langeais or anywhere else; but the thought of her made +Langeais even more interesting to me than it would have been if she'd +been erased from the picture. + +It's a great, grey, frowning, turreted and crenelated fortress-house, +and I felt so much obliged to it for having kept its practicable +drawbridge. We drove almost up to the door, through a clean, very old +little town, and just opposite the entrance was a quaint house where +Brown said Rabelais had lived. I don't believe Aunt Mary knew anything +about Rabelais. However, she eagerly Kodaked the house, and later, when +I gravely mentioned to her that Rabelais was the kind you wouldn't allow +_me_ to read, but of course _she_ might, if she liked, she gave a squeak +of dismay, and threatened to waste all her films rather than let a +photographer see that one when they went to be developed. I do hope _I_ +shan't be an old maid! + +The Parisian millionaire who owns the Chateau, and lives in it part of +the year, must be a wonderfully generous, public-spirited man. Only +think, he has spent thousands and thousands in restoring the castle, in +keeping up the lovely garden, and in having all the rooms exquisitely +furnished and decorated exactly in the period of wicked Louis the +Eleventh and Charles the Eighth. But instead of keeping these beautiful +things for himself and his family and friends, he lets everybody have +the benefit, not even making an exception of his own private rooms. Here +Anne of Brittany was very much to the fore again, for she was married to +Charles at Langeais, and we went into the room of the wedding. I should +have liked to take the splendid, dignified, old major-domo, who showed +us about, home with me; but I'm sure he'd pine away and die if torn from +his beloved Chateau. + +We bought quaint painted iron brooches, with Anne of Brittany's crest on +them, in the town; and then we drove away through pretty, undulating +country, which must be lovely in summer, to Azay-le-Rideau. Francis the +First built it; and he certainly had as good taste in castles as in +ladies, which is saying a great deal. + +This is a fairy house. It doesn't look as if it had ever been _built_ in +the ordinary sense, but as if somebody had dropped a huge, glimmering +pearl down on the green meadow, and it had rolled near enough to the +water to see its own reflection. Then the same somebody had carved +exquisite designs all over the pearl, and finally hollowed it out and +turned it into a king's house. + +As usual, we came to it across a bridge, not spanning the Loire this +time, but a branch of the river Indre; and it's in the Indre that the +pearly Chateau bathes its pearly feet. Almost I wished that I hadn't +gone inside the pearl. Not that the inside was worthless; there was a +mantel or two, and a great show staircase, with a carved, vaulted roof; +but it was an anti-climax after the outside and after Langeais. When we +came out from "viewing the interior," as the guide-books say, I walked +all round the Chateau again, looking up at the carved chimneys and the +sculptured windows, the charming turrets, and the sloping roof of blue +grey slate; all so light and elegant, seeming to say, "Come and live +here. You will be happy." Oh, they have some lovely things in Europe, +that we can never have in our new country! We've a good excuse for +wanting to come over here. But it's so good to feel that the things are +for us, and for everybody--not just for England, or France, or Italy, as +the case may be. + +To-morrow we are going to try and see three chateaux--Usse, and Luynes, +and Chinon. We'll come back to Tours and our dear Hotel de l'Univers; +but the day after--good-bye to both, and how-do-you-do Loches! I'll +leave this open, and put in a postscript. I haven't given you a real, +characteristic postscript for a long time. + + ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** + + _Evening_; and Loches. + + "Here I am again!" as Jack-in-the-Box says. And we've done all the +things I said we were going to. But I'm too full of Loches and too +excited about Loches to tell you anything of yesterday's three castles, +except to fling them an adjective or two, and pass on. Let me see, what +adjective, since I've confined myself to one, shall I give Usse? +"Splendid," I think. "Interesting" is all I can afford for Luynes, +though it deserves a lot more, if only for its history. And +well--"magnificent" must do for Chinon. Perhaps it has the most +beautiful view of all. But Loches--Loches! I had forgotten its existence +till I dug it up for myself in _Quentin Durward_, and the guide-books, +to which Aunt Mary is so faithful, don't do it any sort of justice. They +don't tell you to go to see it, _whatever_ else you must make up your +mind to miss. Why, Aunt M.'s particular pet devoted almost as much space +to the queer little rock village of Rochecorbon, whose lighted windows +glared at us like cat's eyes away high up above the road, one dark +evening (when we'd been belated after an excursion) getting back to +Tours. + +Luckily the Lightning Conductor appreciated Loches at its true value, +and told me it was well worth making a short detour--as we must--to see. +We had to go out of our way as far as a place called Cormery, but that +was nothing, and yesterday morning early we started. It was the first +sparkling blue-and-gold day we have had for a while; it seemed as if it +must have come across to us from Provence, as a sample, to show what we +might expect if we hurried on there. The air was like champagne--or +Vouvray--and we spun along at our very best on the smooth, wide Route +Nationale, our faces turned towards Provence as a graceful compliment +for the gift of the weather. + +We have a neat little trick of getting to places just in time for lunch, +and we managed it at Loches, as usual. We'd hardly driven into the town +before I fell in love with its quaintness; but I didn't fall in love +with the hotel until I'd been surprised with a perfectly delicious +_dejeuner_. Then I let myself go; and when I'd seen how pretty the +old-fashioned bedrooms were, I begged to stay all night instead of going +on. Brown seems to regard my requests as if they were those of +royalty--commands; and he rearranged our programme accordingly. I'm +writing in a green-and-pink damask bedroom now, but when I shut my eyes +I can see the castle and the dungeons and--Madame Cesar. Yes, I think I +can find my way back for your benefit, and return on our own tracks. + +First, like a promising preface to the ruined stronghold of the terrible +Louis, we went through a massive gateway, flanked with towers, and +climbed up a winding street of ancient, but not decrepit houses, to come +out at last upon a plateau with the gigantic walls of the castle on our +left. When I remembered _who_ caused those outworks and walls to be put +up, so high and grim and strong, and _why_, I felt a little "creep" run +up my spine at sight of the enormous mass of stonework. "Who enters here +leaves hope behind" might have been written over the gateway in the +dreadful days when Loches was in its wicked prime. Those walls are +colossal, like perpendicular cliffs. At a door in one of them we tinkled +a bell, and presently, with loud unlocking of double doors, quite a +pretty young girl appeared and invited us in. She was the daughter of +the _gardien_, she told us. It was almost a shock to see something so +fresh and young living in such a forbidding, torture-haunted den as +Louis' Chateau of Loches. She was like one of the little bright-coloured +winter blossoms springing out from a cranny of the grey walls. When she +had lighted rather a smelly lantern, we prepared to follow into the +"fastnesses" of the castle. If ever that good old double-dyed word could +be appropriate, it is to Loches. I never thoroughly realised before the +awful might of kings in feudal and mediaeval days. To think that Louis +XI. had the power to build such a place, and to hustle his enemies away +for ever out of the sunshine, behind those tremendous walls, and bury +them in the yard-square cells hollowed in the thickness of the stone! I +used to wish I'd lived in those stirring times, but I changed my mind +to-day--temporarily. + +In the middle of the fortress is an enormous square, white keep, so +heavy, solid, and imposing that it seems more like the slow work of +Nature than of man. Down steep, winding steps in a tower, we followed +our guide into the dungeons where that unspeakable Louis shut up the +people he was afraid to leave in the world. Waving her lantern in the +dusk, the girl showed us where the wretched prisoners had tried to keep +themselves from madness by painting on the roof and walls. In one cell a +bishop had cut into the solid wall a little altar, just where a slanting +ray of sunshine stole through a grating and occasionally laid a small +patch of light for a few minutes, only to snatch it away again. Several +of the cells were just black holes scooped out of the rock, and there it +seemed to have been Louis' delight to put some of the most important +prisoners--men who had lived like princes, and had power over life and +death in their own countries. + +Oh, do you remember wily Cardinal Balue? I've been refreshing my memory +of him in _Quentin Durward_, hating him dreadfully; but I did have a +spasm of pity when I saw the big, well-like place where he was suspended +for so many years, like an imprisoned canary, in a wooden cage, because +he betrayed Louis' secrets to the Duke of Burgundy. Henry James says, in +a fascinating Tauchnitz volume I bought in Tours (_A Little Tour in +France_), that Cardinal Balue "survived much longer than might have been +expected this extraordinary mixture of seclusion and exposure." Isn't +that just the _cunningest_ way of expressing it? + +Last of all we went up to the top of a high tower in the midst of the +Chateau, and there, as if we'd been on the mast-head of a ship, we had a +bird's-eye view of the pretty white town, with the Indre murmuring by in +sedgy meadows outside. There were some wonderful old cuttings in the +stone, made by the soldiers who acted as sentinels and prisoners' +guards; and Aunt Mary Kodaked me as I sat studying them. We could spy, +across the plateau of the castle, the tomb of Agnes Sorel, and decided +to go to it; but we left the poor girl till so late, finally, that we +could only see her glimmering white in effigy of marble, with a sweetly +resigned face, modest, folded hands, and a dear little soft sitting-down +lamb to rest her pretty feet on. She had, besides, two very pretty young +angels to watch over her and wake her up when it should be time. + +I'm sure it would have taken at least three such angels to wake me up, +until I had "slept out," after our long afternoon in the castle, and +later in the town. I went to bed early and slept ten hours. We hadn't +to start immediately, as our drive for the day wasn't long, so I +proposed to Aunt Mary that we should breakfast in our rooms and then go +out for a morning walk. The breakfast idea appealed to her; not so the +walk, and accordingly I had to go alone. I had no plan except perhaps to +buy a souvenir or two; but in the crooked street leading up to the +castle I met Brown. He was reading a notice on the great gateway, +directing strangers to some excavations lately made. He took off his cap +at sight of me, and I asked him if he thought the excavations would be +worth seeing. He had heard that they were, and I said that I should be +glad if he would show me how to go to the place. I didn't like wandering +about by myself. Everything is so horrid that one does by oneself in a +strange country, and then if Brown isn't useful in one way he always +proves to be in another. So he obeyed, of course, walking not too close, +as if to let me see that he recognized the distance between us. I've +often noticed him do that if we have to go anywhere together on foot, +and I think it's rather nice of him, don't you? Just a little pathetic +too, maybe. Anyhow, it seems that way to me, for he really _ought_ to +have been a gentleman. It's such a waste of good material, the Lord +using him up for a _chauffeur_ when any common stuff would have done for +that. + +Well, we went on a short distance until we saw a tiny cottage in a +wild-looking garden at the foot of the huge fortress walls. We rang a +gate-bell, when another notice told us we'd got to the right place, and +a little, smiling woman came out to welcome us. "Oh, yes!" said she +volubly. She would show us the excavations, and we would find them as +interesting as anything we could see in Loches. Already it was easy to +see that in _her_, at least, we had found something interesting. She had +the nicest, brightest old face, and she poured out upon us a kind of +benign dew of conversation. She introduced herself as Madame Cesar; +always talking and explaining, she lighted a candle, led us to the mouth +of an egg-shaped subterranean path, and bowed us down. She went, too, +down the steep steps, telling how this passage and many ramifications of +it had been discovered only recently, most of the excavations having +been the work of her husband. It was supposed that an underground +gallery led a long way from Loches to some distant spot, so that people +could come and go to the castle unseen, and so that the fortress could +secretly receive provisions if it were besieged. All sorts of things had +been found in the passages--rosaries, and old, old books, and coins, and +queer playing-cards; and some of the best of the relics she had in her +own cottage. We stopped to see them afterwards, and she reeled forth +yards of history in the most fascinating and vivacious manner, +accompanied by dramatic gestures, almost worthy of Sara Bernhardt. I +suppose she must have been down in the excavations oftener than she +could remember, but you would have thought it was perfectly new to her, +and she was seeing it for the first time. She gave us a rose each to +remember her by, and oh!--wasn't it comic, or tragic? which you +will--she quite misunderstood things, and suggested that _I_ should put +Brown's rose in his leathery buttonhole. He and I both pretended not to +hear, but I felt embarrassed for a minute. Nevertheless, I wouldn't have +missed Madame Cesar and her excavations for a good deal. + +There, _dejeuner_ is ready, and you'll be glad, maybe, dear, faraway +Dad, because it will spare you further descriptions. After _dejeuner_ we +shall proceed to be lightning-conducted again, and I shall duly collect +a few more adventures to recount. Good-bye, dear. How I wish you were +with me instead of Aunt Mary! + + Your everlasting + Molly. + + + + +JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Biarritz, _December 11_. + + My dear Montie, + +I have let you rest a good long time without a letter (not that I've +been taking a rest myself), and now I should think you are opening your +eyes with astonishment at the picture on my paper of a hotel at +beautiful, blowy Biarritz. Thereby hangs a tale of adventure and +misadventure. + +No doubt my fair employer believes me at this moment to be consorting +with couriers in the servants hall (if there be one) of her hotel. But, +as usual, I know a trick worth two of that; and having washed his hands +of Brown for the time being, your friend Jack sits smoking his pipe and +writing to you in what is known as the "monkey-house" of this hotel. As +you don't know Biarritz, you'll think that in exchanging all the +comforts of a servants' hall for a monkey-house I am not doing myself as +well as I might. But there are monkey-houses and monkey-houses. This one +is a delightful glass room built on to the front of the hotel, facing a +garden and tennis courts, commanding a glorious view of the sea and also +of every creature, human and inhuman, who goes by. One has tea in the +monkey-house; one writes letters, reads novels, smokes or gossips, +according to sex and inclination; one can also be seen at one's private +avocations by the madding crowd outside the glass house, hence the name. + +The air is luminous with sunshine and pungent with ozone. Great green +rollers are marching in, to break in thunder on the beach, and fling +rainbow spouts of spray over tumbled brown rocks. In the distance the +sea has all the colours of a peacock's tail; the world is at its best, +and I ought to be rejoicing in its hospitality; but I'm not. The fact +is, I'm upset in my mind. I'm over head and ears in love, and as there's +no hope of scrambling out again (I'm hanged if I would, even if I could) +or of getting my feet on solid ground, mere beauty of landscape and +seascape appear slightly irrelevant. + +I wouldn't bother you with my difficulties, which, I admit, are mostly +my own fault, and serve me right for beginning wrong, but you asked in +your letter if you could help me in any way; and it does help to let off +steam. You are my safety-valve, old man. + +You will have had my hasty line from Angouleme (birthplace of +witch-stories and of Miss Randolph's beloved Francis the First) telling +you how we got rid of Eyelashes. I don't think we shall ever encounter +that beautiful young vision again, and I sincerely hope that we shall be +spared others of his kind, but one never knows what will happen with an +American girl at the helm. I told you also of our doings among the +chateaux. Altogether, that was an idyllic time; and still, though I have +been grumbling to you just now, when I can shut my eyes to to-morrow, I +haven't much fault to find with Fate. You remember that weird story of +Hawthorne's, about the man who walked out of his own house one morning, +took lodgings in a neighbouring street, disguised himself, and watched +for years the agony of his wife, who gave him up for dead? At last the +desire for home came over him again; he knocked at his own door and went +in; there the story ends. + +My position is like that of Hawthorne's hero, without the tragedy. When +shall I return to my own home? I cannot tell. I have stepped out of my +own sphere into another, and sometimes I have an odd sense of +detachment, as if I were floating in a void. It is only when I am +writing to you or when I get letters from the world I have left that I +feel the link which unites me with the past. Since I left Paris I have +had only four letters from my world, which have fallen into Brown's +world like strange reminders of another existence. I have had your own +welcome words, and a letter from my mother at Cannes (I gave her my +address at Poitiers) telling me of the arrival there of Jabez Barrow +with his "one fair daughter," and urging me to haste. As if I should +rush from the society of the Goddess in the car to the opulent charms +(in both senses) of Miss Barrow! It appears that Jabez the Rich does not +care for Cannes, but sighs for Italy, and that my mother has promised to +"personally conduct" them to Rome. She wants me to reach Cannes before +they leave, or if that's impossible, to abandon my car and follow by +rail to Rome, lest I "miss this great chance." I am not surprised at +this move. My dear mother, when the travelling fit is upon her, is +nothing if not erratic. She is here to-day, and, having seen the charms +of another place advertised on a poster, is gone to-morrow. + +On getting this letter a happy inspiration came into my mind. It had +been the more or less vague intention of the Goddess, after inspecting +the castles of the Loire, to steer for Lyons, arriving at Nice by way of +Grenoble. I offered the wily suggestion, however, that it would make a +more varied and less "obvious" tour if we went down by Bordeaux and +Biarritz, snatched a glimpse of Spain, travelled along the foot of the +Pyrenees to Marseilles, and so reach the Riviera by this long detour. +The word "obvious" is a black beast to an American girl, who will be +original or nothing; therefore my suggestion is in the way of being +carried out. I've written to my mother that I can't reach Cannes before +she herself leaves for Rome; thus I gain time. Still, the day of +disclosure must come at last, and the longer it's put off the less I +like to think about it. + +The Goddess (alias Miss Randolph) is staying with her aunt at the +"Angleterre." I have slunk off here, having arranged matters with the +hall porter at the other place, who will, if my mistress wants me, send +a messenger post-haste. Meanwhile the car reposes in a _garage_, where +it is kept clean and in running order without any trouble to me. As I +have gradually drifted into the position of Miss Randolph's courier as +well as her _chauffeur_, I can plan these things as I like, for she +never glances at her bills, which I settle, giving an account every few +days. Do you recall your own story of the conscientious Yankee from the +country who failed in his efforts to eat straight through the _menu_ at +a Paris hotel dinner, and appealed to the waiter to know whether he +might now "skip from thar to thar"? Well, I would skip on my _menu_ from +Loches to Biarritz; but you were to have been my companion on this trip, +and you cry for details. + +From Loches we took a cross-country route which brought us out in the +main road from Tours to Bordeaux at Dange. There isn't much to say about +that run, except that it was through agreeable, undulating country with +wide horizons, like a thousand other undulations and horizons in France. +At La Haye-Descartes we struck a pretty picture when crossing a bridge +over the River Creuse. The setting sun had performed the miracle of +turning the water into wine, and, chattering and laughing as if that +wine had gone to their pretty heads, a company of girls and young women, +all on their knees, cheerfully did their washing in the stream. It was +one of those homely scenes that one is constantly coming across in this +"pleasant land of France" to leave a picture in one's mind. Miss +Randolph would have me stop the car on the bridge to watch it. + +A queer thing about France, by the way. You and I have both been +entertained right royally in jolly old _chateaux_ by delightful French +people of our own class. We know that life in such country houses can be +as charming as it is in England; yet if one had never seen it from the +inside, one would fancy in travelling that nothing of the sort existed. +Roughly, one might sum the difference up in a phrase by saying that +France presents a peasant's landscape, England a landlord's. In England +you see twenty good country houses for every one you pass in +France--excepting only the district of the Loire; and outdoor life as we +know it, on the road and on the river, doesn't seem to exist over here. +Somehow I was never so much struck with this contrast before, though I +know this country almost as well as I know my hat. Think of the English +roads and lanes, of the pretty girls and decent men one meets on +horseback or in smart dogcarts, the dowagers in victorias, the crowds of +cyclists, the occasional fine motor-car, knickerbockered men walking for +the pleasure of exercise! Here, though one knows there are more motors +than at home, one rarely comes across them out of towns; and as for +ladies and gentlemen, or, indeed, any sort of people out solely for +enjoyment, they're as rare as black opals. I look in vain for pretty +field paths and rural lanes, where workmen and their sweethearts wander +when the day is done. I suppose they prefer to do their love-making +indoors or in front of a cafe, or perhaps they sandwich it in with their +long hours of work, and that is the reason why the whole of France seems +so much more cultivated than country England--the reason why every acre +is turned to account, not a square yard of earth left untilled. It's +only the magnificent roads which aren't enough appreciated, apparently, +by the "nobility and gentry," as the tradesmen's circulars have it. And +what roads the Routes Nationales are--born for motor-cars!--varying a +little from department to department, but equally good almost +everywhere. You come to a stone marking the boundary of a department, +for instance, and crossing an imaginary line, find yourself on a +different kind of surface, each department being allowed to make it's +road after the manner which pleases it best--provided only it makes it +well. + +The Route Nationale from Paris to Bayonne, along part of which we've +lately travelled, is good nearly all the way. From Dange to Poitiers is +a splendid bit, and up to Poitiers one climbs a considerable hill. It's +a cheerful town, with a fine cathedral, and lively streets full of +red-legged soldiers, rather weedy and shambling fellows, like most +French conscripts. Beyond Poitiers the road is one long, exhilarating +switchback--you rush down one hill, climb another, swoop again into a +hollow, and so on, the road unrolling itself like a great white tape. +You try to drive faster than the tape unrolls, but somehow you can never +beat it. + +That we were getting into the south was shown by the fact that the road +was bordered by endless rows of walnut trees. Under a tumbled sky, and +with an occasional spatter of rain, we passed that day through a vast +stretch of rolling, cultivated land, with obscure villages at long +intervals. In a little town called Couhe-Verac we lunched rather late. +The regular _dejeuner_ was over, as it was nearly three in the +afternoon; but in ten minutes after we got into the house we sat down to +this luncheon: boiled eggs, roast veal, _b[oe]uf a la mode_, _puree_ of +potatoes, pheasant, a delicious _pate_, grapes, peaches, pears, sweet +biscuits, cream cheese, red and white wine, and bread _ad libitum_; all +for two francs fifty per head. Think of it! This was a homely village +inn, with no pretensions. What would have happened if we had turned up +unexpectedly at such a house in England? We should have been offered +cold beef and pickles, with the alternative of ham and eggs, or possibly +"chop or steak, sir; take twenty minutes." Truly in cooking we are +barbarians. The French dine; we feed. + +The landlord was a man of character. He had delightful manners, and +though he was young his hair was greyish, and cut low and straight +across a broad forehead. Through gold-rimmed glasses gleamed the blue +eyes of an enthusiast. He went with me to look at the car, and explained +that he was an inventor--that he had designed a new system of marine +propulsion more powerful than the screw. It followed the action of a man +in swimming, "regular in irregularity," and standing on his toes, he +flung out his arms, and beat them rhythmically in the air to illustrate +his theory. It was hard, he confided in me, to have to keep an inn in a +small town, when he ought to be in Paris, among engineers, perfecting +his invention. Did I, by any chance, know of a capitalist who would back +him? I sympathised and regretted; but who knows if he has not got hold +of an idea? At Blois they have a statue of Denis Papin, who, the French +say, invented the steam engine. Perhaps, years hence, if my +grandchildren pass through Couhe-Verac, they may see a statue to the +blue-eyed landlord of its little inn. + +Beyond Couhe-Verac we had our first dog accident. Dogs, you know, are as +great a nuisance to automobiles as they are to cycles, and they charge +at one's car with such vehemence that their impetus almost carries them +under the wheels. Sometimes they show their strength by galloping +alongside the car for a couple of hundred yards, barking so furiously +the while that their bodies are contorted by the violence of the effort. +I was driving at a moderate pace (something under thirty miles an hour) +when a beautiful collie which had been standing by the roadside walked +quietly out and planted himself with his back to me in front of the car. +The fact was that he saw his master coming along the road, and had gone +forward to greet him. The whole thing happened in an instant, so that I +had no time to stop. I think the dog must have been deaf not to hear the +noise of the car. I shouted, but he took no notice. To swerve violently +to one side was to risk upsetting the car; besides, there was no room to +do this as another vehicle happened to be passing. If there had been +only the car to sacrifice, I would have sacrificed it to save that +collie; but I couldn't sacrifice Miss Randolph. There was nothing for it +but to drive over the dog. With a sickening wrench of the heart, I saw +the nice beast disappear under the front of the car. Instantly slowing +down, I looked behind me expecting to see a mangled corpse. But there +was the dog rolling over and over on the road. Clearly some under part +of the car had struck him and sent him spinning. The noise, the +unexpected blow, the fierce, hot blast of the poisonous exhaust pouring +into his face, must have made the poor fellow think that he had struck a +travelling earthquake. But happily he was unhurt. As I looked he got on +to his feet, and with his tail between his legs, ran to his master for +consolation. Our last glimpse showed us that comedy had followed +tragedy, for the master was beating the dog with a cane for getting in +our way. I was afraid Miss Randolph would scream or faint, but she did +neither, only turned white as marble, and never looked prettier in her +life. Aunt Mary yelled, of course, but more in fear for ourselves than +for the collie, I think. She says she would like dogs better "if their +bark could be extracted." + +Angouleme is, like Poitiers, a town set upon a hill, a quaint old town, +worth seeing, but we were eager now to get to the true South, and merely +gave ourselves time to lunch (the waiter producing, with a flourish, +enticing but indigestible _pates de perdrix aux truffes_) and to drive +slowly along some of the famous terraced boulevards that form the +distinction and the charm of Angouleme. Certainly the place stands +romantically on its high and lonely hill, almost surrounded by the clear +waters of the Charante. At Angouleme we saw, I may say, the first +professional beggars we had met on the tour. A warm sun seems to breed +beggars as it breeds mosquitoes, or is it that Southern peoples have +less self-respect than the Northern? + +A drawback to automobilism in France is the fact that many of the great +direct main roads are _pave_. I believe that this is a remnant of the +old days of road-making, when these heavy cobbles formed the one +surface that would stand artillery. For ordinary traffic the _pave_ +roads are impossible, and their existence must be a drawback to trade +and intercourse. In France they sell special bicycling maps showing with +dotted lines all the _pave_ roads, and these I have carefully studied, +as it is worth making any _detour_ to avoid the awful jolting of the +_pave_. But somehow, between Angouleme and Bordeaux, I took a wrong +turning, and suddenly on ahead of us the good road ceased abruptly as if +a straight line had been ruled across it, and the detestable _pave_ +began. + +"Oh, let's try it as an experience," commanded my Goddess. "I hate going +back, and perhaps it doesn't last long." I trusted to this hope, for I +knew that in many places the _pave_ is being dug up, here and there only +short stretches of it being left, and I gingerly drove the Napier on to +the execrable surface of uneven stones. We rattled and tossed, and +steering became a matter of difficulty. The irritating thing was that +each side of this detestable road were wide belts of inviting grass, but +with malignant ingenuity these are cut up at frequent intervals by +oblique drainage gutters, which forbid the passage of anything wider +than a bicycle. For bicycles there are indeed special tracks kept in +order by the Touring Club de France, but all four-wheeled vehicles must +jolt and bump along the rough, uneven stones. By the time we reached the +first cross-road Aunt Mary begged for mercy, and I was glad to have the +order to get off the _pave_ at any cost. Soundly as the Napier is built, +it was a tremendous and unfair strain upon springs and tyres, and all +the while I was dreading that something would go. Threading our way +through endless vineyards by a labyrinth of by-ways, we ran through +Barbezieux and Libourne, and as day was falling crossed the noble bridge +over the Garonne into bustling Bordeaux. + +Next day we took a run on the car along the Quai des Chartrons and +through some of the chief streets and squares of Bordeaux, just to get a +glimpse of the handsome town, at which Miss Randolph turned up her +pretty nose because it was "new and prosperous"; then, guided by a +porter from the hotel who went before us on his bicycle, we threaded the +city on our way out to Arcachon. There was some unavoidable _pave_ and +many odious tramlines; but at last our guide left us on the outskirts of +the town, and we sped on to a curious little toy suburb called St. +Martin, studded with neat, one-storied, red-roofed cottages, like houses +in a child's box of bricks, and all with romantic names, such as Belle +Idee, Mon Repos, Augustine, Mon C[oe]ur, and so on. The whole place +seemed like an assemblage of dove cotes specially planned for honeymoon +couples, and gave the oddest effect of unreality. Then we passed into +the green twilight of the great pine forest which extends all the way to +the sea. + +A romantically beautiful road lay before us. For more than thirty miles +it runs straight and smooth through high aromatic pines, springing from +a carpet of bracken. Miss Randolph, I must tell you, has become an +expert driver, and at sight of the long, straight road said she would +take the wheel. So I stopped a moment, and we changed places. She put +the car at its highest speed, and we flew along the infinite perspective +of the never-ending avenue. This vast pine forest is a desert, and we +passed only through small and scattered villages. That flight through +the pine forest of the Landes will always be to me an ineffaceable +memory. None of us spoke; two of us felt, I think, that we were close to +Nature's heart. The heady, balsamic odour of the pines exhilarated us, +and the wind, playing melancholy music on the Eolian harps of their +branches, seemed like a deep accompaniment to the humming throb of the +tireless motor. As often as I dared I stole a look sideways at Miss +Randolph's profile. She sat erect, her little gauntletted hands resting +light as thistledown upon the wheel, but her fingers and her wrist +nervous and alert as a jockey riding a thoroughbred, her eyes intent on +the long, straight road before her, and a look almost of rapture upon +her face. + +We had raced silently through the forest for nearly an hour, when, +mingling with the balsam of the pines there came a pungent odour of +ozone floating from open blue spaces beyond the sombre girdle of the +pines. Miss Randolph threw at me a questioning glance. "It must be the +sea," I answered, and in a few moments more, after passing through the +ancient town of La Teste, we came out upon the edge of a vast lagoon, +semicircular, the distant shores almost lost in an indistinct blue haze. +"The Bassin d'Arcachon," I said. Still, no town was visible, only the +great expanse of landlocked sea, its shore dotted with the brown wooden +cabins of the oyster fishers. It seemed like coming to the end of the +world. + +Slowing down a little, we followed a raised causeway that skirted the +edge of the Bassin, and presently entered upon a long, straight +street--one of the oddest streets you have ever seen, one whole side of +it (that next the sea) being composed of fantastic bungalows and +pleasure-houses of all imaginable styles, each set in its own garden, +and the whole town drowned in an ocean of pines. At the outskirts I took +the helm again, for Miss Randolph scarcely trusts her skill in traffic. +Not that there was enough to be alarming in Arcachon, for the place +seemed under a spell of silence. We drove through the long main street, +past an imposing white chateau and a good many quite charming houses, +until we came to a hotel which the Goddess fancied, and turned into a +garden. I'd never been to Arcachon before, and supposed from the +guide-books that this was the place for "my ladies" (as the couriers +say) to stop. But the landlady came out, and welcoming us with one +breath, recommended us with the next to their winter house in the +forest. This place, looking over the sea, was for summer; the other was +now more agreeably sheltered. + +The "house in the forest" sounded well in the ears of the Goddess, so we +drove off to find it, according to the directions of Madame Feras. The +Napier spun us up a steep, winding road into a charming garden +surrounding an Alhambra sort of place, which Aunt Mary thought "real +gay," being bitterly disappointed to find it was not our hotel, but +Arcachon's casino. The garden proved to be, however, practically the +beginning of the _Ville d'Hiver_, a quaint and delightful collection of +villas which look as if they had been scattered like ornate seeds among +the crowding pine of the Landes. Of these seeds the "Continental" is the +most imposing, and, by-the-way, this climate would suit you, I should +think; it's an extraordinary combination of pine and sea air, which +would make a doctor's fortune as a tonic, if he could cork it up in +bottles. + +As both hotels are run by the same management, I feared gossip if I went +down to the "Grand" and did the Doctor Jekyll act; so I cautiously +remained Mr. Hyde, alias Brown, and was a serf among other serfs. After +dining in the society of maids and valets (whose manners and +conversation would have given me ripping "copy" if I were a journalist) +I stole out to cleanse my mind with a draught of pure air and a look at +the sky. A cat may look at a king, and a _chauffeur_ may walk on a +terrace built for his betters, especially if the betters elect to shut +themselves up in stuffy drawing-rooms, with every window anxiously +closed. I availed myself of this privilege, for the hotel has a fine +terrace. As it was apparently empty, I sauntered along with my nose in +the air and my eyes on the stars, letting my footsteps take care of +themselves. Suddenly there was a startled "Oh!" in a familiar voice, and +I became aware that I had collided with the Goddess, who had also been +thinking of the stars and not of her feet--which, by-the-by, _I_ very +often think of, as they are the prettiest I ever saw. + +I instantly clapped my pipe in my pocket, where it revenged itself on me +for neglecting to put it out by burning a hole through to my skin. I +apologised, and would have taken my humble chauffeury self away, but my +mistress detained me. "What is that wonderful, faraway sound, Brown?" +she asked in the delicious way she has of expecting me to know +everything, as if I were an encyclopaedia and she'd only to turn over my +leaves to come to a new fact. + +I stopped breathing to listen; I'd do it permanently to please her. And +there _was_ a sound--a wonderful sound. If I hadn't been thinking about +her and the stars, I should have been conscious of it before. Out of the +night-silence the sound seemed to grow, and yet be a part of the +silence, or rather, to intensify the _near_ silence by its distant +booming, deep and ominous, like the far-off roaring of angry lions never +pacified. At first I thought it must be a rush of wind surging through +the mighty pine forest; but not a dark branch moved against the spangled +embroidery of stars, though the air seemed faintly to vibrate with the +continuous, solemn note. Suddenly the meaning of the sound came to me; +it was the majestic music of the Atlantic surf beating on the bar ten +miles away. But it was too divine standing there in the night with Her +in silence. For a moment I had not the heart to speak and tell her of my +discovery. A faint light came to us from the stars and from the +curtained windows of the hotel. I could just see her face and her lovely +great eyes looking up questioningly in absolute confidence at me. Jove, +what wouldn't I have given just then to be Jack Winston and not Brown! +If I had been, that girl wouldn't have got back into the house without +being proposed to, and having another "scalp" to count, as they say +American beauties do. Not that I think she'd be that kind. I don't know +how long I shouldn't have tried to make the magic of the moment last, if +Aunt Mary hadn't bounced out of the hotel (done up in a shawl, like a +large parcel) to call "Molly! Molly, it's time you came in!" + +Molly didn't move, but Aunt Mary descended the steps, relentless as +fate; so I made the most of my information, and added a short +disquisition on Arcachon oysters and oyster fishing, for the sake of +retaining the Goddess's society. Unfortunately, however, I happened to +remark that the oyster women wore trousers exactly like the men, and +this so disgusted Miss Kedison that she incontinently dragged her niece +from the contamination of the _chauffeur's_ presence. + +Next day was Sunday. Miss Randolph went to the English church, which is +the prettiest I've ever seen in France, and afterwards, escorted by the +chaplain with whom she'd made friends, went forth to see the sights, +while I inquired as to how we might best proceed upon our way. While +Miss Randolph and Miss Kedison read their prayer-books, I studied that +useful volume, _Les Routes de France_, and was duly warned against the +impracticable roads of the Landes. The one thing to do, according to the +oracle, was to return to Bordeaux and make a long detour to Bayonne by +Mont de Marsan. I knew Miss Randolph would dislike this plan, for she +hates going back, and so do I. If I had been alone, or with you, I +would have chanced it without a moment's hesitation, making straight for +Bayonne by way of the forbidden Landes, with all its pitfalls. But I +funked the idea of perhaps getting Her into a mess--and hearing Aunt +Mary say "I told you so," as she invariably does when there's any +trouble. + +To my joy, however, plucky Parson Radcliff had actually advanced the +idea of the Landes, during their excursion, and the Goddess sent for me +on Sunday evening, full of enthusiasm. Far be it from me to dampen the +ardour of youth; and early on Monday morning we started to follow the +route La Teste, Sanguinet, Parentis, Yehoux, Liposthey, which names +reminded Miss Randolph of _Gulliver's Travels_. + +She and I were in fine spirits, expecting the unexpected, and bracing +ourselves to encounter difficulties. There was mystery in the very +thought of the Landes--that strange waste of forest and sand so little +known outside its own people. I felt it, and so did Miss Randolph, I +knew. How I knew I couldn't explain to you; but some electric current +usually communicates her mood to me, and I should almost believe from +various signs that it was so with her in regard to me, if I weren't a +mere _chauffeur_ in the lady's pay. + +For some distance the going was good, but we were only reading the +preface to the true Landes as yet; and when we reached the boundary post +between the department of the Gironde and the real Landes, there was one +of those sudden, complete changes I've mentioned in the quality of the +road. To drive into this dim, pine-clad region was like driving back +into the years a century or two. A motor-car was an anachronism, and if +we came to grief our blood was upon our own heads. The way became +grass-grown and rutty, and I was obliged to drive slowly. Deeper and +deeper we penetrated into the forest, and deeper and deeper also we sank +into the soft earth. Aunt Mary groaned and prophesied disaster as we +crawled along in ruts up to our axles; but I think Miss Randolph and I +would have perished sooner than retreat. I trusted in the Napier and she +trusted in me. In one place the road had been mended with a covering of +loose rocks rather than stones; we panted and crunched our way over +them, enormously to the astonishment of the road-menders and one or two +dark-faced peasants, perched like cranes on the old-fashioned stilts not +yet utterly abandoned as a means of navigating this sea of sand and +pines. Still, on we went, the engine labouring a little, like an +overworked heart; but it was a loyal heart, and the tyres were trumps. + +Miss Randolph said that if she were a tyre and condemned to such hard +labour, she would burst out of sheer spite. I think Miss Kedison nearly +did so as it was; but as for us (I suppose you can't conceive the +satisfaction to a poor _chauffeur_ of bracketing his lady and himself +familiarly as "us"), we were intoxicated by the heavy balsam of the +turpentine, for which every tree we passed was being sliced. On each a +great flake of the trunk had been struck off with an axe, and a small +earthen cup affixed to catch the resin, which is the heart's blood of +the wounded tree. There was something Dante-esque in the effect of these +bleeding wounds, among old, scarcely healed scars; and that effect was +intensified by the shadowy gloom of the dense forest, and the +never-ceasing sound of the wind among the high, dark branches, like the +beating of surf upon an unseen shore. + +At last, when the feeling was strong upon us that the ocean of pines had +engulphed us, like Pharaoh's chariot in the Red Sea, we came upon a +rambling village, called Parentis. As if to announce the arrival of the +first motor car ever seen in the dim, forgotten Landes, the off front +tire began to hiss. "I _told_ you so!" said Aunt Mary. My eyes and Miss +Randolph's met, and we both burst out laughing. It was a great liberty +in me, and though I couldn't have helped it to save my neck, and became +preternaturally solemn afterwards as a penance, I don't believe that the +lady I should like to have for an aunt-in-law will ever forgive me. She +ought, however, as this was our first accident with the Napier, while +with poor little Miss Randolph's late esteemed Dragon, one breakfasted, +lunched, dined, and supped on horrors. Besides, the Dragon invariably +schemed to do its worst, far from human aid, while my long-suffering +Napier had brought us to the very courtyard of the village inn before +(as Miss Randolph expressed it) "sitting down to rest." + +Inside this convenient courtyard I set about doing the repairs, jacking +up the car, taking off the tyre, patching it, and getting it on again in +twenty minutes; not bad for an amateur _mecanicien_. All the people of +the inn and many of the villagers gathered round to see the great sight, +and Aunt Mary consoled herself by showing off her somewhat eccentric +French to the landlady and her family. + +There were three generations in this group, I took time to notice. A +bowed and wrinkled old dame; her daughter, a strong, sad-faced woman in +black; and a golden-haired granddaughter, about the prettiest creature I +ever saw--bar one. And it was charming to see my Goddess laying herself +out to be nice to the trio. Her personality (which is the last word in +well-groomed, high-strung, vivacious American girlhood) contrasted +strikingly with these countrywomen, who had perhaps never been outside +their own forest. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she has the +most extraordinary way of always hitting on the right thing to please +and interest people, without departing from truth or descending to +flattery. All three gazed at her with delight and admiration, the little +beauty of the Landes with deepening colour and wistful eyes. No +Frenchwoman, no Englishwoman, no woman save an American of the best +type, could have exactly that manner, which is indescribable to one who +doesn't know. Strange for a vision like that to flash into these quiet +lives, then flash away, never to be seen again--only remembered. + +It was too early for luncheon, but as we had had the shelter of the inn +I wanted to order something for "the good of the house." I accordingly +asked for Bordeaux and biscuits, and the pretty rose of a granddaughter +brought a bottle of--what do you think? Pontet Canet! It was nectar, and +cost--three francs a bottle! + +When we drove away Miss Randolph was reflective. I would have liked to +offer a penny for her thoughts, but that sort of indulgence is not in +the sphere of a _chauffeur_. Presently she broke out, however. "Did you +ever see anything so lovely as that girl?" she exclaimed. "She's all +white and gold and rose. Her presence in that sombre place reminds me of +a shaft of warm, golden light breaking through the dark canopy of pines. +She's like a maiden in Hans Christian Andersen. And her name's Angele. +Isn't that perfect? It seems cruel that such a creature, who would make +a sensation in Paris or London or New York, must bloom and ripen and +wither at last, unknown, in that wilderness. Oh, how I should love to +snatch her away?" + +"What would you do with her, miss, if you could?" I ventured to ask, at +my humblest--which in Aunt Mary's eyes, is my best. "Would you take her +for your maid?" + +"A _maid_?" echoed my Goddess scornfully. "Why, if I meant such a crime +as that, I should expect white bears to come out of these woods and +devour me. No; I would give her pretty dresses, and arrange a good +marriage for her." + +"Is that what young girls in America like, miss," I meekly inquired, "to +have marriages arranged for them?" + +"No; they hate it, and go away from America to show that they hate +it--sometimes; but this would be different," said she. And I wondered +if she had accidentally betrayed anything. + +At Liposthey we struck the direct road, with good surface, from Bordeaux +to Bayonne. Thus on through Labouheyre to Castets, still walled in with +dark, balsamic forest, where we lunched. Just beyond, however, we found +that we were bidding the pines farewell, and we were regretting them +despite the beauty of the road--increasing every moment--when suddenly +we had a great surprise. At what precise point it came I don't quite +know, for I was snatched up out of the dull "flatland" of facts. Miss +Randolph was driving, and I was glancing interestedly about, as an +intelligent young man of the working-class may, when away to the left I +saw up in the skies a long chain of blue, serrated mountains looking far +too high to belong to this world. I started on my seat; then Miss +Randolph saw what I saw. "Oh--h!" she breathed, with a responsive sigh +of appreciation. Not an adjective; not a word. I blessed her for that. +Unfortunately, Aunt Mary seized this moment to awake, and she did not +spare us fireworks. She never does. She is one of those women who insist +upon your knowing that they have a soul for beauty. But she went to +sleep again when she had used up all her rockets, and left the Goddess +and me alone with the Pyrenees. Much nearer Bayonne we had another +surprise--a notice, in English, by the roadside: "To the Guards' +Cemetery." An odd sign to come across in France, _n'est ce pas, mon +brave_? And just as I was calling up the past, Miss Randolph exclaimed; +"I wonder if _your_ Napier is any relation to _that_ Napier?" which +shows that she has the Peninsular Campaign at her finger-ends; or else +Aunt Mary has been cramming her out of a guide-book. + +It was not late in the afternoon when we crossed the bridge over the +Adour (_she_ says the proverb, "Don't cross your bridges till you get to +them," can't apply to France, as you're always getting to them), but +already the sky was burnished with sunset; and if there's anything finer +than a grand and ancient fortified gateway turned to copper by the sun, +I don't know it. I advised Miss Randolph to come back one day from +Biarritz, if we stayed long enough, to see the exquisite old glass +window for which the Bayonne cathedral is famous; but it was too late to +pause for such details as windows then, so we flew on along the +switchback road over the remaining five miles to Biarritz. Here, in this +agreeable town, we play about till I have orders from headquarters to +proceed. Our programme is now to go straight along the Pyrenees to +Marseilles, and so to Nice. Ah, if only I can get Her to go on to Italy! +You had better address me next at the Riviera Palace, Cimiez. We are to +pause at Pau, call at Carcassonne, and honour other places _en route_ to +the Riviera, so there ought to be ample time for this long screed to +reach you and for you to send reproach or praise to Nice. Tell me about +yourself; how you are; what you read; what girl you love. + + Your sincere, but somewhat selfish friend, + Jack Winston. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Hotel Gassion, Pau, + _December 14_. + + Dear Universal Provider of Love and Cheques, + +Thank you a thousand times for both, which have just been forwarded +along the route of this "wild-goose chase," as you call it. Well, if it +is one, I don't know who the goose is, unless Aunt Mary. She is rather +like that sometimes, poor dear; but we get on splendidly. Oh, I would +get on splendidly with five Aunt Marys (which Heaven forbid!), for I'm +_so_ happy, Dad! I'm having such a good time--_the_ time of my life, or +it would be if you were in it. + +If you ever lose all your money and come a nice, gentlemanly cropper in +the street called Wall, we might come to Biarritz to live, just you and +I. We _would_ have fun! And we could stop in our pretty little cheap +villa all the year round, for one season only waits politely till +another is out to step in; it's always gay and fashionable, and yet you +needn't be either unless you like. And the sea and sky have more +gorgeous colour in them than any other sea and sky, and the air has more +ozone; and the brown rocks that go running a hippopotamus race out into +the beryl-green water are queerer and finer than any other rocks. So +you see everything is superlative, even the hotels, and _as_ for a +certain Confectioner; but he, or rather she, deserves a capital. There +are drives and walks, and curio-shops where I spent my little all; and +there's fox-hunting, which would be nice if it weren't for the poor tame +fox; and golf, and _petits cheveaux_ at the casino, where Aunt Mary +gambled before she knew what she was doing, and kept on a long time +after she did; and mysterious Basque persons with ancestors and costumes +more wonderful than anybody else's, who dance strange dances in the +streets for money, and play a game called La Pelotte, which is great +sport to watch. And you walk by the sea, with its _real_ waves, like +ours at home, not little tuppenny-ha'penny ones like those I saw in the +English Channel; and you look across an opal bay through a creamy haze +to a mystic land made entirely of tumbled blue mountains. And then, one +of the best things about Biarritz is that you're next door to Spain. Ah, +that door of Spain! I've knocked and been in through it, but just across +the threshold. The way of it was like this-- + +I'd been up early and out to the golf course for a lesson from the +professional; when I came home a little before eleven Brown was waiting. +He wanted to know if I wouldn't care to have a peep at Spain, and said +that we could easily go there and back by dinner-time. Aunt Mary and I +were ready in a "jiffy," so was the car, and we were buzzing away along +a beautiful road (though a little "_accidentee_," as the French say) +near the ocean. There were the most lovely lights I ever saw on land or +sea, over the mountains and the great, unquiet Atlantic; and St. Jean de +Luz, which we came to in no time, as it seemed, was another charming +little watering-place for us to come and live if you get poor. A good +many English people do live there all the year round, and whom do you +think is one of them? George Gissing. You know how I made you read his +books, and you said they seemed so real that you felt you had got into +the people's houses by mistake, and ought to say "Excuse me"? Well, he +has come to live in St. Jean de Luz, the all-knowing Brown tells me. His +master admires Mr. Gissing very much, so the Honourable John must be a +nice and clever man. + +As for history, Brown is an inexhaustible mine. I simply "put in my +thumb and pull out a plum." But I forgot--there _aren't_ usually plums +in mines, are there, except in the prospectuses? Anyhow, it was Brown +who made me realise what tremendously interesting things _frontiers_ +are. That imaginary line, and then--people, language, costumes, and +customs changing as if a fairy had waved a wand. The frontier between +France and Spain is a great wide river--on purpose to give us another +bridge. Doesn't the name, "Bidassoa," suggest a broad, flowing current +running swiftly to the sea? + +This time we would have none of the bridge. It was too much bother +paying duty on the car, and having a lot of red tape about getting it +back again in an hour or two; so we left Balzac, as I have named it, at +the last French town and rowed across, on past the first Spanish town, +Irun, to a much older, more picturesque one--Fuenterrabia. A +particularly handsome boatman wanted to row us, but Brown would do it +himself, either to show how well he can manage the oars, or else because +the boatman had abnormally long eyelashes, and Brown is rather sick of +eyelashes. + +Even crossing the river and going down towards the mouth of the stream +(with a huge, old ruined castle towering up to mark Fuenterrabia) was +quite thrilling, because of the things in history that have happened all +around. The estuary runs down to the sea between mountains of wild and +awesome shapes. One of them is named after Wellington, because it is +supposed to look like his profile lying down, and the other mountains +had a chance to see his real profile many times, though I'll be bound +his enemies never saw his back. He fought among them--both mountains and +enemies, and the latter were some of Napoleon's smartest marshals. He +took a whole army across the ford in the Bidassoa, attacked Soult, and +chased him all the way up the mountains to the very summit of La Rhune, +a great conical peak high up in the sky. Another thing was the Isle des +Faisans, right in the middle of the river, where Philippe and Louis the +Fourteenth fixed everything up about Louis' Spanish bride. It's the +smallest island you ever saw; you wouldn't think there would be room for +a whole King of Spain and a King of France to stand on it at the same +time, much less sign contracts. + +When our boat touched Spanish soil on the beach below Fuenterrabia, two +rather ferocious-looking Spaniards in uncomfortable uniforms were +waiting for us. They had the air of demanding "your money or your life"; +but after all it was only the extraordinarily high, ugly collars of +their overcoats which gave them such a formidable appearance. They were +custom-house officers guarding the coast, though how they see over those +collars to find out what's going on under their noses I don't know. +Brown says that soldiers at Madrid have to dress like that in winter to +protect themselves from the terrible icy winds, and as Madrid sets the +fashion for everything in Spain, the provincial soldiers have to choke +themselves in the same way. + +It did seem to me that the very air of Spain was different from across +the river in France. It was richer and heavier, like incense. It _is_ +nice to have an imagination, isn't it, instead of having to potter about +leading _facts_ by a string, as if they were dogs? Well, anyway, I am +sure people have bigger and blacker eyes in Spain. Just walking up from +the beach to the strange old town, I saw two or three peasant women and +children with wonderful eyes, like black velvet with stars shining +through--eyes that princesses would give fortunes for. + +I couldn't help humming "In Old Madrid" under my breath, and I fancied +that the salt-smelling breeze brought the snapping of castanets. The sun +was hot; but coolness, and rich, tawny shadows swallowed us up in a +silent street, crowded with fantastic, beautifully carved, +bright-coloured houses, all having balconies, each one more overhanging +than the other. Not a soul was to be seen; our footsteps rang on the +narrow side-walk, and it seemed rude of our voices when we talked to +wake the sleepy silence out of its afternoon nap. But suddenly a +handsome young man appeared from a side street, and stopping in the +middle of the road, vigorously tinkled a musical bell. Immediately the +street became alive. Each house door showed a man; women hung over the +gaily-draped balconies; children ran out and clustered round the +bell-ringer. He began to speak very fast in guttural Spanish, and we +couldn't understand a word he said, though Brown has a smattering of the +language--enough to get on with in shops and hotels. When he had +finished everyone laughed. All up and down the street came the sound of +laughter; deep, bass laughter from the men; contralto laughter from the +women. The handsome bell-ringer laughed too, and then vanished as +suddenly as he had come. All the life of the quaint street seemed to +fade away with him. Slowly the people took themselves indoors; the +balconies were empty; the street silent as in a city of the dead. It was +like something on the stage; but I suppose it's just a bit of everyday +life in Fuenterrabia and old, old Spain. + +We went on up to the castle we had seen from the beach, and I turned my +eyes away from a big, ugly round building, like a country +panorama-place, for that was the bull ring, and the one thing that makes +Spain hateful to me. I didn't want even to think of it. The gateway of +the palace--for it had been a palace--was splendid--an arch across the +street. But on the other side I burst out laughing at a sign, in what +was meant to be English, advertising the castle for sale. Capitals were +sprinkled about everywhere; the painter had thought they would look +pretty, and evidently it was held out as a lure to Britishers and +Americans that Charles the Fifth had built it and lived in it. I know +Mrs. Washington Potts would love to buy it, and then go home and mention +in an absent-minded manner that she'd "acquired a royal palace in Spain +as a winter residence." Can't you hear her? But oh, poor palace! It's as +airy a mansion now as most castles in Spain, though what's left of its +walls is about fifteen feet thick. Still, the glorious view of sea and +mountains from the roof would be worth paying for, and wouldn't need +thousands of dollars' worth of restoration, like the house. + +While we lingered in Fuenterrabia absorbing the atmosphere of old Spain, +the time was inconsiderate enough to run away and leave us with only a +twisted channel among sand-banks to remember it by. So we took an oddly +shaped carriage with a white tasselled awning on it and drove back to +Hendaye and our motor-car. But the day was a great success, and I +congratulated Brown, which Aunt Mary said it was silly to do, as it is +his business to think of everything for us. + +Now, as you see by the date of my letter, we're at Pau, to which we came +from Biarritz in a delicious morning's run through a pearl-coloured +landscape trimmed with blue mountains. As we got into the town the +Lightning Conductor, who was driving, whisked us through a few streets, +swooped round a large square, and suddenly stopped the car on a broad +terrace with an air as though he said, "There! what do you think of +_that_?" I think I gasped. I know I wanted to by way of saluting what +must be one of the most wonderful views in the whole world. + +We had stopped on a terrace not the least like a street. At one end was +an old grey chateau; then a long line of imposing buildings, almost too +graceful to be hotels, which they really were; a church sending a white, +soaring spire into the blue sky; an open, shady _place_, with a statue +of Henri Quatre; villas hotels, hotels villas in a sparkling line, with +great trees to cut it and throw a blue haze of shadow. That is one side +of the terrace. The other is an iron railing, a sudden drop into space, +and--the view. Your eyes travel across a park where even in this +mid-winter season roses are blooming and date palms are flourishing. +Then comes a hurrying river, giving life and music to the landscape; +beyond that a wide sweep of hills, with bunches of poplars, and valleys +where white villages lie half concealed; and further still, leaping into +the sky, the immense line of the Pyrenees, looking to-day so near and +sharply outlined that they seemed to be cut out of cardboard. When I was +able to speak I told Brown that the very first thing I should do would +be to walk to those delectable mountains. "I don't think you could quite +manage it, miss," he said, with his quiet smile, "for they are nearly +forty miles away." Then we turned round and drove into the courtyard of +the hotel, which faces the great view. + +It looked tremendously swell, and Aunt Mary and I tried to live up to it +by sweeping haughtily in as if we hadn't collected any of the historic +dust of France on our motoring coats and hats. Just as we were +acquitting ourselves quite creditably who should step out from a group +of the very people we were hoping to impress with our superiority but +Jimmy Payne! Oh, you wicked old man, I believe you must have wired or +written him a hint. You know you have a weakness for Jimmy, or rather +for his family. But I can't go about marrying the sons of all the pretty +ladies you were in love with in your vanished youth. Probably there were +dozens, for you're as soft-hearted as you are hard-headed, and you can't +deny it. + +Still, I don't mind confessing that I was rather pleased to see Jimmy, +not a bit because he is _Jimmy_, but because he seemed to bring a breath +of homeyness with him, and it is nice to have an old friend turn up in a +"far countree" when you've got dust on your hat and the other women who +are staring at you haven't. If only the friend doesn't proceed to bore +you by insisting on being something more than a friend, which I hope +Jimmy is by this time tired of doing, I think I shall rather enjoy the +encounter than otherwise. As for anything else, it doesn't appeal to +_me_ that he's his mother's son, or that he's clever in stocks, or that +he's got as much money as you have. So now you know, and I hope he does. + +Well, we talked a little, and then I found that Aunt Mary was chattering +like mad with the Garrisons (one "talks" oneself; other people +"chatter"; foreigners "jabber"); so we were all glad to see each other, +or said so, which comes to the same thing. + +"How's your automobile?" was almost the first thing I asked Jimmy, for +the last time I'd seen him it was the pride of his heart. "I suppose," I +said, "that, like us, you're making a tour around Europe on it?" + +I thought his face changed a little, though I don't know why it should. +"Oh," said he, "I've lent it to my friend Lord Lane; charming fellow I +met last year in Paris. He'll meet me with it a little later. Where are +_you_ going after this?" + +"We're working slowly on to the Riviera," said I. + +"Oh, isn't that funny," said Jimmy, "that's where Lord Lane and I are +going to meet! At Cannes, or Nice, or Monte Carlo; it isn't quite +settled yet which. I suppose you're going to all of them, as you're +driving about on a car?" + +I said that we expected to, and pointed through the glass door at my +automobile, with Brown superintending the hotel servants who were +lifting down the luggage. He looked hard at the car and the _chauffeur_, +as if he envied me both, and I think he had something more to say which +he considered important, but I was in a hurry to change and make myself +prettier--_much_ prettier--than the Garrison girls. + +By the way, they--the Garrisons--suggested that we should sit at a small +table with them, where they've already given a place to Jimmy. We +accepted the invitation, and now we've just dined together. My frock was +a dream; it's always nice to come to the sort of hotel where one can +wear something pretty, as here and at Biarritz. Afterwards we all put on +coats and cloaks and strolled in the moonlight on the terrace. Jimmy +tried to call up from the "vasty deep" of his broken (?) heart the +spirit of the Past, with a capital P, but I would force him into the +track of automobilism instead. I don't believe he knows a bit more than +I do about it, if as much, now that I've learned such a lot from the +Lightning Conductor, and if he takes to boasting I'll just _show_ him. + +Now, good-night, my dear old Dad. I shall treat myself to a "night-cap" +draught of mountain air before I go to bed on my balcony facing the +Pyrenees. + + Your + Molly-who-loves-only-you. + + + + +FROM JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Pau, _December 15_. + + Dear Safety Valve, + +After the recent budget from Biarritz I had no intention of inflicting +another upon you--at least, until we should reach Nice. But--there's as +much virtue in "but" as in "if"--you will be thinking in Davos that it +never rains but it pours letters; I am thinking in Pau that it never +rains but it pours young men--Miss Randolph's young men. We've got +another one now, in his way as objectionable as the first; and though I +don't regard this specimen as an active menace to the car, nor do I +believe he will resort to ripping up the tyres, he has his knife into +me. + +Well, we arrived in Pau, which I know of old, and in which I've had some +rather jolly times, as Miss Randolph would put it. Pau is the sort of +place where you meet your friends, and I scented danger, but we were +booked for only two days, and luck had befriended me so well thus far +that I trusted it once more. I came to a hotel at some distance from the +Goddess's. Between two evils I chose the less, and put my name down as +"J. Winston," hoping that if anyone knew me they wouldn't know Miss +Randolph, or _vice versa_. Besides, I took counsel with prudence, +engaged a private sitting-room, and ordered my meals sent up, to avoid +being on show in the _salle a manger_. All seemed serene, when suddenly +an adverse wind began to blow (as usual) from an unexpected quarter. + +Lured by fancied security, I took advantage of that idleness for which +Satan is popularly supposed to provide mischief to put in a little +private fun on my own account. On the morning after our arrival in Pau, +Miss Randolph informed me that the car and I would not be wanted, as she +had met some American friends and would be at their disposal during the +day. In an evil moment a golf rage overpowered me, and I yielded, seeing +no special reason why I shouldn't. The Pau links are the best on the +Continent, and I had retained my membership of the club from last year, +when I was here with my mother, so that was all right. I nicked into a +cab and told the man to drive to the golf club. + +The steward remembered me, so did the professional; but as it was fairly +early in the morning as well as early in the season there were only a +couple of men in the smoking-room. I sat down to write a letter at a +corner table, and as one of the fellows was talking in loud tones, +advertising all the wares in his shop windows, so to speak, I couldn't +help over-hearing what he said. He had one of those objectionable, +Anglo-maniac, American voices that get on your nerves; you know the +snobbish sort that, instead of being proud as punch of their own +country, want to appear more English than the English, and get up for +the part like an actor with all an actor's exaggerations. Well, this was +one of those voices; and for all the owner might have taken his accent +from his groom, he was mightily pleased with it. + +I hadn't looked at the chap at first, but when I heard him telling his +meek little exclamatory friend stories about a lot of my own friends +(invariably making his impression by mentioning their titles first, then +dropping into Christian names), I did take a glance at him over my +shoulder. + +I found him a curious combination of Sherlock Holmes and Little Lord +Fauntleroy. He might have "gone on" at a moment's notice as understudy +either for Mr. William Gillette in the one part, or for that clever +little What's-his-name who resurrected the latter in London lately; +though as for his dramatic talent, I've yet to judge, and may be called +upon to do so, as you shall hear. + +He went on gassing about all sorts of impossible feats he'd accomplished +on a Panhard car, which he alluded to as his. According to himself, +Fournier wasn't in it with him. Having heard to the end the tale of a +motor race in which Sherlock-Fauntleroy, in company with the Duke of +Bedford, had beaten King Edward the Seventh, the other man, deeply +impressed, inquired through his nose (which he, being frankly +Far-Western, didn't mind using as a channel of communication) whether +his magnificent acquaintance was at present travelling on the famous +Panhard, and had it with him. + +"No," was the answer; "fact is I got a bit tired of keeping the road, +and lent my car to my old friend Montie--Lord Lane, don't you know, +who's running it about the Riviera now." + +Aha, my boy, does that make you sit up? I assure you it did me. And if, +just before, I hadn't heard the gentleman discoursing on the pleasures +of a certain trip taken with Burford at a date when you and Burford and +I happened to be together, I should have sat still straighter. I might +have said to myself, "So all is discovered. My Montie--or rather his +Montie--has taken a leaf out of Brown's book, and instead of stuffing +himself with fresh air and eggs at Davos, is flashing about the Riviera +in his dear chum's Panhard, which he must have lately learnt to drive, +as he didn't know gearing from belts when I saw him last." As it is, +however, I assure you no such suspicions are at present keeping me +awake; I've enough worries of my own to do that. + +But Fauntleroy-Holmes was continuing, and I sat in my obscure corner +inhaling his tobacco smoke and his equally ephemeral anecdotes. + +"I am going on to Nice myself in a day or two, with some ladies, on +their motor-car," said he. "Very good car, I believe; one of the ladies +very handsome. She has a _chauffeur_, of course, but I shall drive and +let him do the dirty work. I fancy I shall be able to show my friend +something in the way of driving. She wants to learn, and ought to have +good instruction to begin with; one never recovers form if taught bad +ways at first." + +I lay low, like Brer Rabbit, but my ears were burning. He'd named no +names, and I had no reason to fit a cap on anybody's head. There were +plenty of ladies and plenty of motor-cars in Pau, any of which might be +going to Nice. I had never seen the man before, and didn't believe Miss +Randolph knew him from Adam; still, I had a sensation of heat in my +ears, and when I'd finished the letter I had begun (it was to Burford, +by the way, but I refrained from telling him how his name had been taken +in vain, less out of good nature than because I couldn't be bothered), I +got up, went out, and asked the steward who the young man was who looked +like Sherlock Holmes. + +He knew at once who I meant, grinned, and informed me that the gentleman +was a very rich American, named Payne, a great amateur automobilist, and +a keen golfer. How he had obtained all these particulars it wasn't +difficult to guess, when one reflected upon Mr. Payne's fondness for +talking of himself. By the way, have you ever met the man at all? + +A few minutes after questioning the steward, I was strolling on the lawn +thinking over what I had heard, when Sherlock walked out of the club, +his obtrusive eyeglass dangling from his buttonhole. + +He advanced towards me, somewhat to my surprise, and hailed me from +afar, seeing, I suppose, that I was inclined to move on. "I say, sir," +he began, "if you want a game, will you take me on? I've a friend just +gone, and there doesn't seem to be anyone here but you and me----" + +By this time he had stuck the big monocle in his eye, where it had +somewhat the effect of a biscuit. I fancied it was the addition of the +eyeglass which discomposed his expression, but almost immediately I +realised that the change was due to a cause more violent. + +"B--ah Jove!" he ejaculated. And then, "'Pon my word, what damned +impertinence!" He stood glaring at me through that eyeglass with such an +"I am the Duke of Omnium, who the devil are you?" sort of expression +that I thought he must be mad, and I stared also, in amazed silence. + +After looking me up and down he began again, "What do you mean by it, I +want to know, swaggering about here, among gentlemen, as if you were one +of Us? I'll have you put out by the waiters." With this extraordinary +outburst he turned on his heel, and was making off towards the +club-house; but as you know, my temper is not of the sweetest, and mad +or not mad, I didn't exactly yearn over Mr. Payne. I took advantage of +the long legs about which "my friend Montie" has occasionally chaffed me +and caught him up. I cannot conceal from you that I did more. I gripped +him by the shoulder. I held him firmly, apparently somewhat against his +will. I also shook him, and it now comes dimly back to me that his +eyeglass jumped out of his eye. + +"You damned cad!" I then remarked in a tone which some people might +consider abrupt; "what in h---- do you mean?" + +He took to stuttering--some men do in emergencies--and I knew from that +instant that he couldn't drive a motor-car. "L--et go," he stammered +like a schoolboy. "You--you--confounded _chauffeur_, you! I'll tell +your mistress of you, and have you discharged. You--you're Miss +Randolph's _chauffeur_, and you come here to pass yourself off as a +member at a gentleman's club." + +On the point of knocking him down, I decided I wouldn't, and dropped him +instead like a hot chestnut. You see, he "had me on the hip"; for I am +Miss Randolph's _chauffeur_, and there was no good denying it. In a +small way it was one of the nastiest situations of my life. What "A." in +_Vanity Fair_ would have done I don't know, and I didn't know what to do +myself for a minute. You see, my prophetic soul tells me that the time +hasn't come to confess all and throw myself on the Goddess's mercy, as I +hope it may some day; and I couldn't afford to be plunged into hot water +with her when the facts would look fishy and be impossible to explain. +Still, I couldn't eat humble pie with that Bounder; sooner I would have +quietly killed him, and stuffed him into a hole in the links. However, a +sweet little cherub of inspiration looked out for the fate of poor Jack, +and whispered an alternative in my ear. + +"Do you dare deny it?" Payne demanded, plucking up courage. + +"I 'dare' do a good deal," said I, looking him straight in the eyes. +"But I don't intend to deny it. I am Miss Randolph's _chauffeur_." How +he had found that out I couldn't imagine. + +"Then, I can tell you, you won't long remain so," blustered the fellow, +as cocksure as if he were her brother, or something nearer--hang him! "A +man who is capable of practising such deception isn't fit to be trusted +with a lady. I shall get you the sack." + +"You ought to be a good judge of deception," said I. "Have you told Miss +Randolph yet about that trip of yours with the Duke of Burford last +summer?" + +Sherlock-Fauntleroy got as red as a beet, and the Fauntleroy +characteristics predominated. I thought tears were about to start from +his eyes, but he merely relapsed into another fit of the stutters. +"Wh--hat d--do you mean?" he chattered. "Y--you don't know what you're +talking about." + +"Oh yes, I do," I said, growing calmer as he grew excited, "a good deal +more than you knew what you were talking about when you claimed the Duke +as your friend. I happened to be with him at the time last summer, when +you said you were driving him on your car." + +"_You_ with the Duke!" sneered Sherlock. "Who would believe that?" + +"Miss Randolph would," said I. "The Duke of Burford was driving his own +car last summer. Now you can guess how I happened to be with him. There +was just one other man on board; your friend Montie, Lord Lane, you +know. Lord Lane was another of my old masters." (Hope you don't object +to being referred to as an Old Master, and I _was_ your fag at Eton.) "I +know him very well. He can do a good many things, can Lord Lane, but he +can't drive a motor-car. And another little detail you've got wrong. He +isn't running about on the Riviera. He is at Davos Platz. I've had a +letter from him there the other day; he's very thoughtful of his old +servants. Miss Randolph would think it queer if you said you expected to +meet Lord Lane on the Riviera with your car, and I showed her a letter +from him which proved he'd been at Davos for the last six weeks. Or he +wouldn't mind telegraphing if I wired." + +"You're a regular blackmailer," gasped Payne. + +"Not at all," said I. "I suggest a bargain, but I don't want money. All +I want is not to lose my job. Don't you give me away, and I won't give +you away. Do you agree to that compromise and no more said?" + +We had been holding each other by the eye, but suddenly his wandered, +assisted by the monocle. So odd an expression sat on his face that I +followed his straying glance, and saw what he saw--Miss Randolph! Miss +Randolph at one of the long French windows of the club-house, with +several other ladies. Without a second's hesitation I gripped Payne by +the arm and dragged him across the lawn, using him as a screen. Once +round the corner of the house, I let him go; but I dared not wait to +chaffer. "Remember, it's a bargain," I reminded the fellow. "While you +keep to your part I keep to mine, and not a moment longer." With this I +darted into one of the waiting cabs. That was a narrow shave, but I +congratulated myself that I had come out of it "on top," joyful in the +hope that I should snatch Miss Randolph away in a day or two, and the +episode would be closed. But mice and men should go slow in +self-congratulation. Even a confirmed liar occasionally tells the truth +by mistake. Next day (which means to-day) I learned this through bitter +experience. Nothing had happened, and when I presented myself to Miss +Randolph in the morning for orders, her manner was so pleasant, so +exactly the same as usual, that I made sure Mr. Payne had chosen the +better part of valour and held his peace. Evening came, however; my +mistress sent for me, as I was informed through the invaluable +hall-porter. Coward conscience, or some other intricate internal organ, +gave a twinge. I asked myself blankly if I had been betrayed, if I were +in for a scolding, if I should have to choose between being +ignominiously chucked out of my precious berth, or prematurely owning up +to the trick I have played, with the consequent risk of losing my lady +forever. I felt pretty sick as I went up the servants' stairs to Miss +Randolph's floor at the "Gassisn" and knocked at the door of her private +sitting-room. + +The door was on the latch, and as I tapped I heard Aunt Mary exclaim in +a tone of extreme scorn, "Ask him '_if he objects_,' indeed! One would +think _you_ were the servant and he the master. You shall do nothing of +the kind." + +My knocking evidently cut short the argument. Miss Randolph called "Come +in!" and I obeyed, all black leather and humility. I hardly raised my +eyes to the ladies, yet I saw that She was looking adorable in a white +dress, with nothing but sparkling lacey stuff over the loveliest neck +and arms on earth. She smiled, so I hoped that my sin had not found me +out, but it was not precisely one of her own frank, starry smiles; +there was something new and constrained, and my heart still misgave me. + +"Brown," said she (and I observed that Aunt Mary had fixed her with a +threatening eye), "Brown, I thought I'd send for you to say that we'll +have another passenger to-morrow for a few days. Or that is we may have +to ask him to drive sometimes, out of politeness, for I believe he's a +good driver, and he might be hurt if we didn't; though I'm _sure_ he +drives no better than you." + +By this time I knew what was coming, and steeled myself to bear it, but +there might have been a certain involuntary elongation of countenance, +for the poor child rushed into explanations to save my battered +feelings. "You see," she went on, "this gentleman, Mr. Payne, is a very +old friend of the family, and he has been travelling in Europe a long +time, for a rest. He overworked himself or something, and broke down. +Now, he has lent his car to an English friend of his, Lord Lane, whom he +arranged to rejoin on the Riviera. But he doesn't feel well, and railway +travelling disagrees with him. His doctor here has just told him that he +must be continually in the open air if he doesn't want to have a +relapse; and Miss Kedison thinks my father would be annoyed if we didn't +ask him to drive with us, as we are going the way he must go. The Napier +is such a fine car, I suppose it can take four as well as three, and a +little more luggage?" + +"Oh yes, miss, there'll be no difficulty about that," I answered +grudgingly. + +"And you won't feel that it is lack of trust in you, if he drives part +of the time?" + +At this Aunt Mary glared, but that Angel paid not the slightest +attention. + +There is an unwritten law that a man shall not be a brute; and after her +sweet consideration of my chauffery feelings I couldn't show myself +ungracious. I assured her that I should not feel hurt, and that she was +very kind to think of me at all. I would do my best for the party, +unless, of course, my services would be superfluous, now that she was to +be accompanied by a friend who was a competent driver. + +I wonder what I _should_ have done in the unlikely event that she took +me at my word? Picture my feelings, bereft of my Goddess, bereft of my +Napier at one and the same time, constrained to resignation, while a +confounded impostor drove off with both from under my very nose! Miss +Randolph hastened to deny any such thought, and to impress upon me my +value as a _chauffeur_. But things are bad enough as they are. + +Here I am saddled with a fellow who hates me as a cur hates a man who +has thrashed him, and will snap if he dares. Instead of turning my back +upon him, I have to carry him away on it; and if a rod isn't in pickle +for me, I'm not + + Your old friend, + + Jack Winston. + + + + +FROM JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Toulouse, _December 16_. + + Dear Montie, + +I can't let you alone, you see. I must unburden myself, or something +will happen--something apoplectic. If I have sinned, I am punished; and +so far as I can see the worst still stretches before me in a long vista. +It was good of you to scrawl off that second letter, at midnight, as an +afterthought. It was forwarded, and has just reached me here, by grand +good luck. + +You say I would do better to make a clean breast of it; but that's +easier said than done. You're not here, and you can't see the "lie of +the land" as I can. I'll explain the position to you, from my point of +view, for I think you don't quite understand it. + +Not to mince matters, I am a Fraud, and Miss Randolph is the sort of +girl to resent being imposed upon, If this Payne, who rejoices in the +name of Jimmy, should find out the truth about me and tell her +to-morrow, she would be exceedingly angry, as she would have a right to +be, and would, I think, find it hard to forgive me. It is because I have +felt this instinctively that I have let things slide. I have drifted +down the stream of enjoyment, saying to the passing hour, like Goethe's +hero, "Stay, thou art fair," though too often the thought would present +itself that this could not go on for ever. Besides, there were +drawbacks, big or little, according to my mood. I have always kept it +before myself, more or less, that some day Miss Randolph would dispense +with me and my car, in the natural course of affairs, even if the event +were not hastened by some _contretemps_ or other; and that it might then +be as difficult to adjust matters as it is now. But in truth I hope it +won't be so. What I aim to do is to make myself so indispensable to her +as Brown that she can't bring herself to get on without me as Jack +Winston. I haven't done that yet, though it isn't for lack of trying; +therefore I'm not ready for the crisis, and therefore I'm afraid of +Payne. Yes, "afraid," that's the word. And my one consolation is that +he's equally afraid of me. + +Your ordinary, habitual liar can bear up if he's found out, and laugh it +off somehow, but your snob and boaster can't. This man could hardly +survive being stripped of his dukes and earls, with which he's covered +his untitled nakedness as with a mantle, for the eyes of Miss Randolph. +In this natural phenomenon lies my chance of gaining time, and other +things that I want. + +You would have had some pure enjoyment out of to-day if you had been the +fifth person on my Napier. If you could have heard Aunt Mary (who, in +common with a certain type of American, worships a title and rolls it on +her tongue as if it were a plover's egg out of season) asking "Jimmy" +questions about his grand English friends! Knowing that my cold and +venomous eye was upon him, and writhing under it, he had to answer her +questions. "What sort of looking man is the Duke of Burford, Jimmy? Did +you ever stay at any of his country places? Is it true that he often +entertains the Royalties? Were you ever asked to a house-party to meet +the King and Queen?" + +I could almost have found it in my heart to pity him; but my interests +at stake were too big for me to have derived the serene pleasure from +the situation that you might have enjoyed as an initiated outsider. But +with my attempted explanations and my chortlings I've digressed too +much, and I'll get back to "Hecuba." + +We started from the "Gassion." Miss Randolph announced that she would +drive at first. This was, I judged, a sop for me, as Cerberus. But Payne +was given the seat of honour beside her, and I was relegated to the +_tonneau_ with Aunt Mary and the other impedimenta. My day was over! + +Miss Kedison considers it _infra dig._ to converse with a servant, +though she has been content often enough to use me as a guide-book. She +doesn't like sitting in front, so she was obliged to put up with my +physical nearness, but she took pains to emphasise her soul's +remoteness. I think her opinion of me has been for some time that I am +"too big for my boots," and I was not surprised to learn that it was by +her advice Mr. Payne had been invited to join the party. No doubt she +thought it would put me in my proper place, and so it has. Besides, we +had not been long _en route_ when I gleaned from several indications, +small in themselves, that "Jimmy" is a great favourite with her, so +great that she would not object to becoming his aunt by marriage. They +are warm friends, and if he hasn't already poured into her ear +confidences prejudicial to me, there, I fear, lies danger for the +future. + +We had not been gone long from Pau before Miss Randolph glanced round at +me--a risky thing to do when you're driving; but the road was straight +and clear as far as the eye could see. I was half in hopes she would +request me to drive; but not so. "By the way, Brown," said she, "I +forgot to ask; didn't I see you at the golf club the other day?" + +From the form of the question I couldn't tell whether Payne had played +the sneak or not, nor could I guess from her face, as she had turned to +business again. As for him, he had ignored me haughtily since the start. + +"_Me_, miss, at the golf club?" I promptly protested, regardless of +grammar and not sure I wasn't in for an explosion which would blow poor +Brown sky-high; "why, a _chauffeur_ wouldn't be admitted there." + +"I suppose not," she answered over her shoulder. "But there was a man +very like you when my friends took me--and walking with Mr. Payne, too." + +"Now for it!" thought I. But then Jimmy's first words reassured me. "Oh, +I don't know all the strangers one talks to at a club," he replied in +haste; and then, by way of changing the subject, the bounder asked Miss +Randolph if she wouldn't let him drive. "It's over a hundred miles to +Toulouse, and you'll want a firm hand, for the days are short," he had +the impudence to add. + +At that I lost my head, and made a big mistake. I felt I couldn't stand +sitting still while he tried experiments with my car, and almost before +I knew what I was doing I blurted out, "Beg pardon, miss, but are you +sure this gentleman understands driving a Napier? My master expected +that _I_ was to drive his car when he let it out, and----" + +Such a look of reproach as the Goddess threw me! "But _I_ understand +that, while I hire the car it is mine to do as I like with, in reason," +she cut me short. "Mr. Payne tells me that he has often driven his +friend the Duke of Burford's Napier. And if anything happens to your +master's car while I have it, I will pay for the damage up to its full +value, so your mind may be at ease on his account." + +With this well-deserved, but none the less crushing snub she brought the +car to a standstill and inadvertently stopped the motor. After virtually +agreeing the night before to let Payne drive, I ought to have kept my +mouth shut; but you will admit that the temptation was strong. I +descended, like a well-conducted _chauffeur_, to help my mistress change +places with my hated rival, and of course it was my duty to start the +motor again, which I did. Before I could get out of the way, Payne +started--on the third speed, like the duffer he is, changing so quickly +to the second that I had to race after the car and hurl myself into the +_tonneau_ to avoid being left behind. In doing this I unfortunately trod +on Aunt Mary's toes. She groaned, glared, and muttered only half below +her breath, "Clumsy creature!" Thoroughly humiliated, and no longer in a +mood to care whether their Jimmy wrecked the car and killed us (all but +one) I took my seat. I do believe that Aunt Mary secretly thinks me +capable of having misjudged and ill-treated Eyelashes, who laid himself +out to "be nice" to her. + +Hardly had we started when I heard Miss Randolph telling Payne that this +car belonged to the Honourable John Winston, Lord Brighthelmston's son, +and asking him if he had ever met Mr. Winston. I suppose that, in the +excitement of managing a big machine which he knew little or nothing +about, Payne forgot that, since I "went with the car," the owner must +have been one of those (to him) fatal old masters of mine. He can't bear +to deny the soft impeachment of knowing anyone whom he thinks may be a +swell, and in the hurry of the moment habit got the better of prudence. + +"Oh yes, I know Jack very well!" he exclaimed; then drew in his breath +with a little gasp which he turned into a cough. In that moment he had +probably remembered me. + +"I suppose you know his mother, then?" said Miss Randolph. "I met her in +Paris. She's at Cannes now, and so you will see her there." + +"Ye--es," returned Jimmy. "Oh yes, I shall certainly see her. I know +Lord Brighthelmston better than I do her; but I shall call, of course." + +What with his fear of having committed himself anew, and the chill in +his marrow produced by my critical eye on his vertebrae, he grew more and +more nervous, wobbling whenever there was a delicate piece of steering +to be done or a restive horse to be passed. He changed speeds so +clumsily that the pinions went together with a crash each time, and +shivers ran up and down my spine when I heard the noise and thought of +the damage this conceited idiot might do to my poor gears. Could _you_ +stand by like Patience on the lee cathead, smiling at a wet swab, while +some duffer with a whip and spurs bestrode your favourite stallion, +Roland? Perhaps that simile will help you to understand how I've been +feeling all day. + +Payne is a rank amateur. I doubt if he ever drove a Napier before, and +would bet something he depended for his success to-day (such as it was) +on keen observation of everything Miss Randolph did before he took the +helm. He knows how to steer a moderately straight course and to change +speeds--that's about all; and I wouldn't trust his nerve in an +emergency. However, we bowled along without incident through Tarbes and +Tournay, thanks more to the fine car than the driver; but when mounting +a long stretch of steep road beyond a place called Lanespede, where a +great railway viaduct crosses the valley, Payne missed his change, and +then completely lost his head, failing to put on the brakes to prevent +us running down the hill backwards. Luckily I was sitting on the brake +side, and reaching out of the _tonneau_, I seized the lever of the +hand-brake and jammed it on. Next instant (to make quite sure) I jumped +out, ran to the front, and lowered the sprag. I don't think any of them +knew what a narrow escape we'd had, and Payne covered himself by +abusing the car. We started up again on the second, and came out on an +undulating plain overlooking a little watering-place called +Capvern-les-Bains, lying far below in a dimple of the Pyrenean +foothills. + +There was no other incident till we came to Montrejeau, where my +road-book showed that there was an uncommonly steep hill. So I ventured +to say over Payne's shoulder, "Better look out here, sir; a bad hill." +The cad had not the civility to notice my warning, but charged through +the long street of the town till he came to the verge of a dangerous +descent, dipping steeply and suddenly for a little way, then turning +abruptly to the left. He was taking the hill at a reckless pace, not +because he was plucky, but because he knew no better; and half-way down, +seeing a lumbering station-omnibus climbing slowly up, not leaving much +room, he began to get wild in his steering. Again I hung out, and gently +but firmly put on the hand-brake, steadying the car. The idiot didn't +even see how I had saved him, for when we got safely down he said to +Miss Randolph, "Took that hill flying, didn't I?" I can tell you I was +glad when we pulled up for luncheon at St. Gaudens, knowing that the +road here turns away from the Pyrenees to cross the great plain of +Languedoc. + +Blessed plain of Languedoc, which has been abused by some travellers for +its monotony! Sitting silently in the _tonneau_ with Aunt Mary, I +revelled in the long, straight level of wide, poplar-fringed road that +stretched as far as the eye could reach, running up to a point in the +distant perspective. "Here, at any rate," I reflected, "the duffer at +the wheel can't do us much harm." It was a beautiful scene, had I been +in tune to enjoy it, for the Pyrenees showed their blue outlines on the +far horizon, and the Garonne gave us many pictures near at hand. There +was in particular one sweet sylvan "bit" at a place called St. Martory, +which, though it was but a fleeting glimpse, framed itself in my mind +with all the precision of a stereoscopic view. + +It was a relief to me, when this evening, we ran into Toulouse; its many +buildings of brick lying along the bank of the broad and peaceful +Garonne, looking curiously rose-hued in the level rays of the declining +sun. + +But poor car! when I set to work at cleaning it after its ill-treatment +it seemed to reproach me for disloyalty. Its very lamps were like +mournful, misunderstood eyes. And this is only the first day of many. +How long, O friend, how long? I don't quite see what is to become of +your unfortunate + + Jack Winston. + + + Narbonne, _December 17_. + + I didn't post the beginning of this letter. I felt I should want to add +something. + +Another day has passed--a day of alarms and excursions. Payne has made +an ass of himself, and I have scored off him, winning my way back to the +front seat of the car, and relegating him to the _tonneau_ with Aunt +Mary. But I have not shaken him off. He's still in our pocket, and to +all appearance means to stick there. The situation, therefore, remains +essentially what it was yesterday. + +But for the incident of which I will tell you, this might have been one +of the most delightful bits of the whole tour. Even though at first I +was stuffed into the _tonneau_, I couldn't help finding pleasure in the +pictures through which we flashed in the earlier part of the day. + +There was a good deal of _pave_ to traverse before we were clear of +Toulouse, and then we came into a fine, open world, chasing and passing +many peasants' carts. These always occupy the middle of the road, and as +their drivers are often asleep, there is much blowing of the horn and +shouting before they pull over to their right side. Presently we found +out the meaning of this stream of carts, for we ran into a large village +with turkeys and geese all over the road, like carpet bedding, tied by +the legs and cackling loudly. There were crowds of peasants--old and +young; the old women with neat, black silk head-dresses framing their +brown, wrinkled faces; and through, the midst of this animated scene we +had to drive at a foot-pace, tootling on the horn. On the other side of +the long village we found ourselves on a wide, level road, that for +smoothness would shame a billiard-table, crossed the green Canal du +Midi, and ran for a while by its side, passing a queer obelisk erected +to Riquet, its constructor. + +Suddenly, on mounting a hill, an enormous view spread out before us. The +distant Pyrenees showed their serrated line far away to the right, +their snowy tops spectral over an intervening range of hills; to the +left stretched a vast, undulating tract of country, with towns and +church spires distinctly outlined in the clear, crisp air--for it was a +day of glorious lights. Beyond all was a range of vague, blue hills +which I knew to be the Cevennes, sacred to the memory of Robert Louis +Stevenson. + +We sped through village after village--a long street; children in +blouses playing strange games, disputing in shrill voices, wagging +little eloquent fingers under each other's noses; handsome men clothed +in blue, with red sashes and the universal _berret_ on their heads, +guiding with their cruel goads patient teams of yoked oxen; a group of +persons round a church door--a wedding, perhaps a funeral; old women +knitting in the sun, young women smiling from windows--all these +impressions follow each other like flickering pictures in a +cinematograph; and then with the last flicker one is out again on the +broad, white road, with the flying trees spinning by on either hand, and +the white, filmy clouds floating in an azure sky. It is only on the +motor-car that you get all these sensations. In a train you are in a +box; on a motor you are in a chariot of fire with the wide heavens open +above you. + +At Castelnaudary there was another scene of animation, for here also it +was market day; and though it was only twenty miles or so on to +Carcassonne (our intended destination), my betters decided that they +would take luncheon at the hotel in Castelnaudary. For the first time +since Payne has been with us Miss Randolph seemed to wish to restore me +to my old, lost footing. "You must lunch with us, Brown," she said, with +a smile that goes straight to one's heart. But I was not in a gracious +mood. I had had enough of Aunt Mary; I could not stand the haughty +Payne. I answered, therefore, rather shortly. There were certain +adjustments to be done on the car which would occupy some time, I said, +and I would take my luncheon later. Her poor little friendly smile went +out, like a lamp extinguished. For an instant she lingered, then turned +away without a word, and I could have bitten out my own surly tongue. + +To justify myself I pottered with the car, then went moping off to +another hotel, and tried to restore my lost spirits with _pate de foie +de canard_ and fresh walnuts, which would have delighted the palate of a +happier man. + +At it was I had neither the heart nor the stomach to linger over the +feast, and consequently got back long before the others were ready for +me. _They_ didn't hurry themselves. I promise you. While busying myself +in flicking dust off the car, a courteous little crowd assembled and +questioned me as to the make of the car (expressing surprise when they +heard it was all English, even to the tyres) and as to how far I had +come. When I said "From Dieppe _via_ Biarritz" a murmur of respect +rippled to the outer edge of the group, and at this moment my party +appeared. + +Payne wore a swaggering air, and looked now like Little Lord Fauntleroy +gone wrong. He was far too big a man to notice me, or any of the +kindly, simple people who had been admiring the car, and came up with +us, talking his loudest to Aunt Mary. He almost elbowed me aside, and +got into the driver's seat as a matter of course. Perhaps he had looked +upon the rich wine of the country when it was red, though I didn't think +of that at the time, and attributed his exaggerated insolence to natural +cussedness of soul. + +We swept away from the hotel with a curve, which isn't a line of beauty +for a motor-car, and as we left the town Jimmy's conception of his part +as driver became so eccentric that Miss Randolph looked worried--that +is, her pretty shoulders stiffened themselves; I couldn't often see her +face--and Aunt Mary more than once gave vent to a frightened squeak. +Once, in her extremity as we shaved the wheel of a passing cart, she +unbent so far as to throw an appealing glance at me. But I sat in stony +silence with crossed arms, looking oblivious to all that went on and +somewhat resembling, I flattered myself, portraits of Napoleon beholding +the burning of Moscow. + +On the high road Jimmy began to recover his form--if it be worth the +name--but, as if to show that he was all right, and never had been +otherwise, he put the car at its quickest pace, which was so far from +safe on a road dotted with carts that I began to expect trouble; and if +it hadn't been for Miss Randolph, to see my expectation fulfilled would +have pleased the baser part of me. Once or twice a cartload of peasants +scowled savagely at us as we rushed past on our headlong career, and at +length I had the satisfaction of hearing Miss Randolph rather stiffly +suggest that Jimmy should moderate the pace. He obeyed with a laugh, +which he meant to be recklessly brave, yet indulgent to the weaknesses +of women; but in my ears it only sounded silly. At this moment a +two-wheeled cart with five peasants in it--three men and two women--came +in sight. + +As soon as they saw us one of the men--a big, black-browed fellow--held +up his hand imperatively in warning. Another fine, muscular chap jumped +down and ran to the horse's head. Anyone with a grain of sense or +consideration, on seeing these signals, would have slowed down, and if +necessary have stopped the engine altogether; but though I heard Miss +Randolph beg him to go slow, Sherlock-Fauntleroy held right on at a good +twenty-five miles an hour. + +In a moment or two we had come level with the cart, and the horse +bolted. The man leading it was thrown violently to the ground, and the +cart went over him. Luckily he tucked in his head and drew up his feet, +or he would have been shockingly hurt, perhaps killed. He lay a moment +or two, half stunned with the shock, while the horse galloped away, +dragging after him the swaying cart, the two women screaming at the top +of their voices. The man driving managed to pull up the frightened +animals some way down the road, and the people in the cart scrambled out +to help their fallen friend, who meanwhile had picked himself up, and +pale with fright and passion, blood streaming down his face, was +limping after the car gesticulating violently. + +Payne had not turned his head, and the moment that a startled "Oh!" from +Miss Randolph told him there had been an accident he put on speed, +clearly with the intention of avoiding a row. The injured man stooped to +pick up a stone. At the same instant Miss Randolph, in her most +imperious manner (and she can be imperious), commanded Payne to stop +instantly and go back. "But we shall have the whole pack of them on us +like wolves," he objected. "_Go back!_" she repeated, stamping her +little foot. "I won't hurt a man and drive away." Suddenly Payne pulled +up, and putting in the reverse, we ran slowly into the midst of the +horde of angry peasants, swollen now by many others who had been passing +along the crowded road. + +As we backed into that sea of scowling faces I thought of the various +revolutions France has seen. It was like stirring up a wasps' nest. +Everyone was yelling at once. In the front rank stood the man who had +been knocked down, his trousers cut to tatters. He had lashed himself +into such a fury that he had become almost incoherent, and the flood of +speech which rushed from his white lips was more like the yells of an +animal than the ordered utterance of a human being. By his side were the +two women who had been in the cart, both sobbing and screaming, while +everyone else in the angry mob shouted simultaneously. Aunt Mary went +very pale; Payne looked upon his handiwork with a sulky grin; but Miss +Randolph took the business in hand with the greatest pluck. She had +whisked off her veil and faced the people boldly, her grey eyes meeting +theirs, her face white, save for a bright pink spot on either cheek. At +sight of her beauty the clamour died down, and in the lull she spoke to +the man who had been thrown under the horse. + +"I am very sorry you are hurt," she said, "and shall be pleased to give +you something to buy yourself new clothes. Are you injured anywhere?" + +At the sound of her correct but foreign-sounding French someone in the +crowd shouted out, "_A bas les Anglais!_" The girl drew herself up +proudly and looked in the direction of the voice. She didn't try to +excuse herself by denying England and claiming a nationality more +popular in France, and I loved her more than ever for this reticence. + +"Pay!" shouted the man who had been hurt, with one hand wiping a trickle +of blood out of his eye, with the other thumping the mud-guard of the +car. "Of course you shall pay. God only knows what injuries I have +received. _Mazette!_ I am all one ache. Ah, you pay well, or you do not +go on!" He pressed closer to the car, and his friends closed in around +him. + +"Pay them, Molly! pay anything they ask!" quavered Aunt Mary, "or they +will kill us! Oh, I always knew something like this was bound to happen! +What a fool I was to leave my peaceful home and come to a country of +thieves and murderers!" + +"Don't be frightened, Aunt Mary," said the girl, with more patience for +her relative's garrulous complaints than I had. Then she turned to me. +"Brown, is that man much hurt?" she asked briskly. + +"No," I replied. "He is merely scratched, and no doubt bruised. If he +had any bones broken, any internal injury or severe strain, he couldn't +rage about like a mad bull." + +"Still, it was our fault," she said. "We ought to have stopped. His +clothes are torn. How much ought we to pay?" + +"Nothing at all," said Sherlock. "Don't you let yourself be +blackmailed." + +She didn't answer or look in his direction, thus emphasising the fact +that she had asked her question of me, not of him. + +"Fifty francs would be generous," I said, "to buy the fellow a new suit +of clothes and pay for a bottle of liniment. With that to-morrow he +would be thanking his stars for the accident. But as Mr. Payne was +driving, hadn't you better let him talk to them? It isn't right that two +men should stand by and let the burden fall on a lady." + +"_You_ speak to them, Brown; I give you _carte blanche_," said she, and +we faced the mob together. + +"If you threaten us," I said, "you shall have nothing. We were going +fast, but your horse is badly broken, and is more of a danger on the +road than an automobile. If you behave yourself and tell your friends to +do likewise, this lady wishes to give you fifty francs to buy new +clothes in place of those which have suffered in this accident. But we +don't intend to be bullied." + +"Fifty francs!" shrieked the man. "Fifty francs for a man's life! Bah! +You aristocrats! Five hundred francs; not a sou less, or you do not stir +from this place. Fifty francs! _Mazette!_" + +"You are talking nonsense, and you know it," said I roughly. "Stand out +of our way, or we will send for the police." + +Now this was bluff, for the last thing to be desired was the presence of +the police. I had been careful to get in Paris the necessary _permis de +conduire_ from the Department of Mines, without which it is illegal to +drive a motor vehicle of any sort in France. But I had heard Payne +boasting to Miss Randolph that he never bothered himself about a lot of +useless red tape; it was only milksops and amateurs who did that. I, as +Brown, had kept "my master's" papers, but it would do more harm than +good to our cause, should it come to an investigation, if I attempted to +pass over my permit to Payne. Were the police to appear on the scene +their first demand would be for papers, and if the man who had been +driving were unable to produce any, not all our just complaints of the +peasants' unlawful threats would help us. Payne would be liable to +arrest and imprisonment; not only would he be heavily fined, but we +should all be detained, perhaps for weeks; and as French magistrates +have as strong a prejudice against the automobile as their English +brothers, especially when the offender is a foreigner, it might go hard +with everyone concerned. This would be a dismal interruption of our +tour, and if I hadn't felt sure that the enemy would be in as great a +funk of the police as we were, I wouldn't have ventured on so bold a +bluff. I trembled internally for an instant as to its success, but as +usual in life and poker, it paid. + +"No, you don't!" shouted not the one peasant, but many in chorus, as +unlike the merry peasant-chorus of light opera as you can imagine. "We +won't have the police. We attend to this affair ourselves." + +And it began to look as if they meant to. "Give the five hundred francs, +or you will be sorry!" they yelled, and again, in a second, they were +all surging round us, threatening with their fists, snatching out their +pocket-knives, and I saw things were getting hot. A French crowd barks a +good deal before it bites, but this one had come to the biting stage. We +were far from town and the police, even if the latter wouldn't have done +us more harm than good. Here we had Miss Randolph and Miss Kedison. If +Payne were as useless as I judged him, I was one man against forty. + +The two ladies were still on the car. Payne had got off at first, but +had slipped back when things began to be lively. I alone was on the +ground, close to the bonnet, so that if needful I could protect the +motor and Miss Randolph at the same time. + +The crowd consulted an instant, then stampeded the car. Aunt Mary +shrieked, and threw out her purse, as if she flung a live lamb to hungry +wolves. The motor was going still, but to charge into the crowd might +mean killing a dozen wretched peasants. It was out of the question, but +something must be done, and now was the moment for doing it. One fellow +tried to snatch a sable rug off Miss Kedison's knees; I struck his hand +away, and sent him staggering. Then I yelled to Payne to get into the +_tonneau_. There was no more pride left in him than in a rag, and he +crawled over, like a dog. Meanwhile, I'd made up my mind what to do, and +was going to try an experiment as our best chance to get out of the town +without bloodshed. + +I knew that a union which held the exhaust pipe in place on the silencer +had been working loose. I grabbed a spanner out of the tool-box, and +elbowing my way along the side of the car again, with two turns of the +spanner loosened the union, pushed forward the throttle-lever in the +steering-post, and gave the motor all its gas. + +The thing was done in a quarter the time it's taken me to write of it, +and you can guess the effect. Bang! bang! came a succession of +explosions quick and pitiless as a Maxim gun. Those peasants gave way +like wheat before the scythe. I don't doubt they thought they were shot +and on the way to kingdom come; and before they'd time to find out their +mistake I was up on the step, had seized the steering-wheel, and started +the car. We were on a slight decline, and the good steed bounded forward +at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. An instant later I slipped in the +fourth, and we were going forty-five. + +When the enemy saw how they'd been tricked, which they did in about six +seconds, they were after us with a howl. A shower of stones fell +harmlessly on the road behind us, angry yells were drowned in the +hideous noise of the exhaust. We could afford to laugh at the thought of +pursuit. But there was another side to the story. Now that there was no +one on the spot to complain of their threats of violence, they could +safely apply to the police and make a bold stroke for vengeance, just as +we had for escape. However, there was no use in thinking of that for the +moment; I had done the best I could and must go on doing it. No normal +tympanum could stand the racket of the exhaust for long, and Miss +Randolph and Miss Kedison were sitting with their hands over their ears, +the lower part of Aunt Mary's face under her mask expressing a comical +horror. I caught sight of her visage when I stopped the car (which I did +as soon as we were beyond danger of pursuit) to fasten up the silencer +again; and it was all I could do not to laugh. + +The fastening-up business was an affair of two or three minutes, and at +first the three sat in shocked silence, their heads dazed by the late +ear-splitting din. Then, the cool peace of welcome silence was broken by +Mr. Payne. "I consider," he said stiffly to Miss Randolph, "that your +_mecanicien_ has behaved with unwarrantable insolence in ordering +me----" + +"And I consider that he saved the situation," cut in the _mecanicien's_ +mistress. + +"I acted for what I thought the best, miss; there wasn't much time to +decide," said I, with a sleek humility which I assume on occasions. "If +I have given offence, I am sorry," I went on, looking at her and not at +Payne. + +"You haven't given offence," she said. "I am sure Mr. Payne, when he +comes to reflect, will see that you did yeoman's service. But what is +to happen now? I suppose we're not safe from trouble yet, and we don't +deserve to be." + +I thought it rather sporting of her to say "we," when all the bother was +due to the conceit and cocksureness of one person. + +"No, miss, we don't deserve to be, if you'll excuse the liberty," I +meekly replied. "We had no business charging along a crowded road the +way we did. I'm sure, until to-day, we've never had anything but +courtesy from people of all classes. It isn't often French peasants +misbehave themselves, and to-day most of the wrong was on our side, +though it's true that their horse was skittish; and being market-day, I +daresay they'd taken a little more red wine than was good for them. The +wine of this country is apt to go to the head." + +I spoke to Miss Randolph, but _at_ Jimmy, especially when I gave that +dig about the wine. I finished my tirade and my work on the silencer at +the same time, and it was then that my triumph came. Instead of getting +back on the car, I stood still in the road. + +"What are you waiting for?" asked Miss Randolph. + +"For Mr. Payne to take his place in the driver's seat," said I. + +At this he half jumped up in the _tonneau_, but Miss Randolph hurriedly +exclaimed, "Oh, I think you had better drive for a while, Brown. I want +to talk to you, and ask you what to do, and what will happen next." +Little Lord Fauntleroy, with every Sherlockian characteristic +temporarily obliterated, sat down again in the _tonneau_ pouting. + +We had not wasted five minutes, and now we sprang forward at a good +speed for Carcassonne. + +"What will happen next," I said, answering Miss Randolph's question, +"may be this. If the peasants are angry enough to take the trouble and +risk, all they have to do is to go to the police-station in the nearest +village and give information against us, when a wire with a description +of us and the car will raise the whole country so that we shall not be +safe anywhere." + +"Oh, my gracious!" the poor child exclaimed. "What are we to do? Aunt +Mary and I have other hats and jackets and things in our car-luggage. +Couldn't we change, so as to look quite different, and buy a lot of--of +Aspinall, or something in the next village before they've had time to +give the alarm, and paint the poor car a bright scarlet? Then we should +get through and no one would know." + +I couldn't help laughing, though really her suggestion wasn't so +fantastic as it may sound, for I know a man who did that very trick in +somewhat similar circumstances; but her earnestness combined with the +childlike guile on her face was comic. + +"It would be too long a job to paint the car before we could be +spotted," I said. "I think we must just hope for the best, and show a +bold face. I shouldn't be surprised if we'd get through all right +somehow. Perhaps, if there was much money in your aunt's purse, miss, +the peasants would prefer keeping their mouths shut and sticking to that +than mixing themselves up with the police and perhaps losing what they +might have had, like the dog with his meat in the fable." + +"There were about a hundred francs in my purse," announced Aunt Mary. + +"If they do catch us, what then?" the girl asked. + +I explained the state of the case as I had argued it out to myself. + +"Oh, well," sighed Miss Randolph, "I suppose we can't do better than +take your advice, but this isn't a nice adventure. I do hate feeling +guilty--like an escaping criminal, with every hand against me. And I +_loathe_ suspense; I always want to know the worst. When shall we be +sure what the peasants have made up their minds to do?" + +"Well," I said, "in less than an hour, if all goes well, we ought to be +at the _octroi_ station outside Carcassonne, and if we are 'wanted' by +the police we shall know it fast enough, because they will--er--try to +stop us there." + +"Then I hope all _won't_ go well," moaned Miss Randolph. She who had +been so brave when forty peasants threatened us with words, stones, and +even knives, was crushed under the vague menace of the law. "If only we +could arrive after dark we might flash through before the _octroi_ +people knew. _Let's_ arrive after dark," she exclaimed eagerly. "It's +getting on towards four now. Let's stop--since we've been perfectly +certain for ages that no one was attempting to follow us--and--and +deliberately have tea by the roadside. If we do that we can easily pass +the time, so as not to arrive at the _octroi_ until half-past five, when +it will be dark. It's moonlight, but the moon doesn't rise now till six +or after." + +"We could do that certainly" I said, "and we might get through without +being nabbed. If we succeed, we might rush on through Carcassonne, +instead of stopping there to-night; for the farther away we get and the +more towns we can say we've passed through without being detained, the +better for our chances of ultimate escape." + +"But I don't want to miss Carcassonne," she objected. "You've told me so +much about the place that I've been looking forward to it more than to +almost anything else." + +So had I, if the truth were known, but I had looked forward to visiting +Carcassonne with her before I had "drunk and seen the spider." In other +words, before Mr. Payne had joined our party. However, I couldn't bear +to have her disappointed, for his fault, too; besides, I'm vain enough +to like hearing from her lips the flattering words, "Brown, you are so +resourceful!" Therefore I stirred up my brains in the effort to be +resourceful now. + +"We might hide the car in Carcassonne if we could once get in," I +mysteriously suggested; "then you could steal up on foot to the _cite_ +by moonlight, and when you'd had your fill of sight-seeing steal back to +the car again and make a rush for it." + +"Splendid!" cried Miss Randolph, clapping her hands. Behold, I had made +a hit! + +The car was stopped, the tea-basket got out, and who so indispensable as +the late despised Brown? Brown it was who went to a cottage hard by and +procured drinking-water, since, not expecting to stop, we had come out +unprovided. Brown it was who saved the methylated spirit from upsetting, +and Brown was rewarded presently with an excellent cup of tea, into +which Miss Randolph had dropped two lumps of sugar with her own blessed +little pink-tipped fingers. As a matter of fact, in ordinary +circumstances sugar in tea is medicinal to my taste; but when that angel +sat with a lump between her fingers asking how many I would have, though +she had just let Jimmy Sherlock put in his own, I would have said half a +dozen, if that would have left any over for her. And if the taste was +medicinal, why, it had a curative effect on my injured feelings. + +Refreshed, invigorated by more than tea, I felt ready for anything. +Darkness was falling, but I didn't light the lamps. The road was empty, +a torch of dusky red blazing along the west. We started, going +cautiously; our tongues silent, our eyes alert. By-and-by, from afar +off, we caught the twinkle of low-set, yellow lights. We were coming to +the neighbourhood of the _octroi_. Luckily it was cold; the door and +windows of the house would certainly be shut, unless the men were +engaged in transacting business in the road. I now hurriedly explained +to Miss Randolph the exact method I meant to adopt, and the word was +passed round to be "mum." While the tea-things were being packed away, a +short time ago, I had well oiled the wheels and chains; the car moved as +silently as a bat, except for the chuff! chuff! of the motor. About a +hundred yards from the lights I put on speed, and when we had begun to +scud along like a ship with all sails set, I took out the clutch and let +the motor run free. By this time we were within thirty yards of a +building which I now felt certain was the _octroi_. The car, which had +been going extremely fast, dashed on, coasting past the little lighted +house by its own impetus. Not a sound, not a creak of a wheel, not the +grating of a chain. + +On we sped for full forty yards past the _octroi_ before we lost speed, +and I had to slip in the clutch. + +"Oh, _Brown_!" breathed my Goddess ecstatically. Just that, and no more. +But if I had been Jack Winston and asked her to marry me at this moment, +I believe she would have said "yes," in sheer exuberance of grateful +bliss. + +So far, so good, but we were not yet out of the wood. We drove quietly +on into the town, expecting every moment to be challenged for not +lighting our lamps, though we were within our rights, really, dark as it +was, for it was not yet an hour after sunset. But nothing happened; not +even a dog barked. We crossed the high bridge spanning the Aude, and the +old _cite_, which we had come to see, loomed black against the dusky +sky. No one molested us; no fiery _gendarme_ leaped from the shadows +commanding us to stop. My small trumps were taking all the tricks, but I +had a big one still in my hand. We were now--having crossed the bridge +and left the new town behind us--in a comparatively deserted region. + +"My idea," I said quietly to Miss Randolph, "is to drive the car into +some dark, back street, far from the ken of the _gendarme_. It is six +o'clock. People are sitting down to dinner. That is in our favour. I +shall, if possible, find a place where the car may stand for several +hours without being remarked, while your visit is paid to the _cite_. +Here, now, is the very place!" I broke short my disquisition to remark; +for as I elaborated my plan, driving very slowly, we had arrived before +a dingy mews with a waggon standing, shafts down, on the cobbles. I +turned in and stopped both car and motor. + +"This shelter might have been made for us," I said, beginning to find a +good deal of pleasure in the situation. "The only difficulty is" (out +with my big trump) "that of course someone must stay with the car. It is +my place, miss, to do so. But, unfortunately, it is after hours for +showing the ramparts, the interior of the towers, the dungeons, and so +on, which are really the attractions of the wonderful, old restored +mediaeval city. I have been here before. I know the _gardien_, and might, +if I were in the party, induce him to make an exception in your favour. +Still, as it is, the best I can do will be to write a note and ask him +to take you through." + +Jimmy laughed, or I should say, chortled. "I should think a _banknote_ +would appeal to the _gardien's_ intelligence better than any other +kind," said he, "and I will see that he gets it." + +"I advise you not to do that, sir," I remarked quietly. "The _gardien_ +here isn't that sort of man at all. He would be mortally offended if you +tried to bribe him, and would certainly refuse to do anything for you." + +"I'm sure a letter would be of very little use," said Miss Randolph. "I +think we must manage to have you with us somehow, Brown. Couldn't we +hire a man to look after the car?" + +"I shouldn't like to take the risk," said I. "And remember, miss, we are +in hiding." + +"_I_ don't want to see the old thing," protested Aunt Mary. "I've gone +through so much to-day I feel a thousand years old. I'm not going to +climb any hills or see any sights. I want my dinner." + +"I think we'd better get on," advised Sherlock. "Not much fun poking +about in a lot of old ruins in the dark." + +"They're not ruins, and it isn't dark," said Miss Randolph. "Look at the +sky! The moon's coming up this minute. If you don't want to see the +_cite_, Jimmy, you might just as well sit here in the car while the rest +of us go." + +"I shall sit with him," announced Aunt Mary. "And if you _must_ go on +this wild goose chase, do for pity's sake hurry back, or we shall be +frozen." + +I began to fear that the scheme would fall through, with so much against +it, but Miss Randolph kept to her resolution despite the moving picture +of her relative's suffering. + +"Oh yes, we will hurry back. We shan't be long," she said cheerfully, +"we" meaning herself and her courier _mecanicien_. "You can't be cold in +your furs; it's very early yet; you had a good tea; and Brown and I will +whisk you off to some dear little village inn in time for an eight +o'clock dinner." + +I knew we should do nothing of the kind, but mine not to reason why, +mine but to do or die--with her. + +I daresay, my dear Montie, that even to you "Carcassonne" expresses +nothing in particular. To those who have been there the name must, I +think, always bring with it an imperishable recollection. Carcassonne is +one of the unique places of the world. Years ago--as far back as the +Romans, probably much further--there was a fortress on this hill, which +commanded one of the chief roads into Spain. Afterwards it was used by +the Visigoths, and in the Middle Ages it reached its highest importance +under St. Louis. Then gradually it sank again into insignificance, and +early last century there was a proposal that the ruins should be +destroyed. By this time hardly anyone lived in the old city on the hill, +a new and flourishing modern town (laid out in parallelograms) having +sprung up in the plain. The demolition of the ancient ruins was +prevented by one Cros-Mayrevieille, a native of Carcassonne, who +succeeded in whipping up such enthusiasm on behalf of his birthplace +that the city was made into a _monument historique_, and money was +granted for its complete reconstruction by Viollet le Duc. A large sum +has been spent, great works have been carried out, and the result is one +of the most extraordinary feats of restoration in the history of the +world. + +From afar off this city upon a hill makes a vivid appeal to the +imagination. Its great assemblage of towers, walls, and battlements, +rising clear-cut and majestic against the sky, suggests at the first +glimpse one of those imaginary mediaeval cities that Dore loved to draw +as illustrations to the _Contes Drolatiques_. So extraordinary is the +apparition of this ancient, silent, fortified city existing in the midst +of the railway epoch that one is tempted to think it a mirage, some +strange trick of the senses, which, on rubbing the eyes, must disappear. +And the nearer one draws, the more vivid does this impression become. +Everything perfect, marvellously perfect, yet with no jarring hint of +newness. It is well-nigh impossible at any time to tell where the +original structure ends and where Viollet le Duc's restoration begins, +and on what a grand scale it all is. + +By moonlight the effect was really glorious. My Goddess and I walked +over a drawbridge and entered the silent, grass-grown streets of the +old, old city, where quaint and ancient houses, given up now to the +poor, huddle under the protecting walls of the great fortress. We were +in a perfect mediaeval city, just as it existed in the time of the +Crusades. In thus exactly realising the life of a garrisoned fortress of +those stirring days, I found much the same dramatic interest I feel on +stepping into the silent streets of Pompeii, where the ghosts seem more +real than I. + +We stopped at the house of the _gardien_, and I made an excuse for +leaving Miss Randolph at a little distance, as I talked to him, reminded +him of my last visit, and begged that, as a favour, he would show us +about, although it was now "after hours." He is a very good fellow, +courteous and intelligent, speaking with the noticeably distinct +enunciation which seems to be the mark of all these guardians of +_monuments historiques_ in France; and when he understood that there was +a lady in the case, he readily consented to oblige, though I suspect he +left his supper in the midst. He took off his cap to Miss Randolph's +beauty, etherealised by the moon's magic, and we all three started on +our expedition. We were conducted into huge, round towers and out upon +lofty, commanding battlements, whence we could gaze through a haze of +moonlight over a great sweep of country, with here and there the sparkle +of a winding river, like a diamond necklace flung down carelessly on a +purple cushion. Our guide conscientiously pointed out the stations of +the sentries and the guards, the disposition of the towers for mutual +defence (each a bowshot from the other), the sally-ports, the secret +passages communicating with underground tunnels for revictualling the +city in time of siege; and so realistic were our surroundings that I +fancied Miss Randolph once or twice actually caught herself listening in +vain for the tramp of mailed feet, the hoarse word of command. At all +events, I'm sure she forgot for the time being all about Aunt Mary and +Jimmy Payne waiting in the car, and I didn't think it incumbent upon me +to remind her of their existence or necessities. We lingered long enough +in the splendid region of towers, battlements, and ramparts to do them +full justice. Then, when I had slipped something of no importance into +the _gardien's_ hand, we reluctantly departed, often looking back as we +went down the hill. As we left the old city we did not leave it alone. A +group of young men and women of a humble class were hurrying down just +before us on their way to the new town. We were so near that we couldn't +help over-hearing their eager talk of a spectacle they were on their way +to see, and judging from the fragments we caught, this was to be a kind +of Passion Play. Although I had been at Carcassonne before, I didn't +know that such a thing existed in France, or, indeed, outside +Oberammergau and a few villages in the Tyrol. Miss Randolph questioned +me about it, but I could tell her nothing, and she exclaimed rather +shamefacedly, "Oh, _how_ I should love to go!" + +"Would you let me take you there, just to look on for a few minutes, +miss?" I doubtfully asked. + +"I should like it above anything," said she. "Only--we've already kept +those poor people waiting too long, I'm afraid." + +"This needn't keep them very much longer," said I, "and it may be the +last chance you will ever have of seeing such a thing." + +"Oh, well, I can't resist," she cried. "We'll go--and I'll take the +scolding afterwards." + +We did go, following our leaders until we came to a good-sized booth +with a crowd round it. The admission was twopence each, but the best +seats cost a franc. We went in and found ourselves in a long, canvas +room, with sloping seats and a small stage at one end lighted by oil +lamps. + +The place was dreadfully hot, and smelled strongly of humanity. +Presently a bell rang; there was solemn music on a tinkling piano and a +young actor, bare-faced and dressed in a white classical dress, took his +place near the stage, beginning to recite in a clear, sympathetic voice. +He was the choragus, explaining to us what was to happen in the play. +The curtain went up, to reveal a tableau of Adam and Eve in very +palpable flesh tights, with garlands of fig leaves festooned about their +bodies. + +Adam, with an elaborate false beard, slept under a tree. Then to the +accompaniment of the choragus' explanation a mechanical snake appeared +in the branches with an apple in its mouth. An unseen person off the +stage made the snake twist and writhe. Eve put out her hand, took the +apple, and ate a bit. Adam waking, she pointed to the tree and to the +fruit, offering him a piece. He demurred in pantomime, but accepted and +swallowed what was left of the apple. Instantly there appeared at the +wing an angel with a long, flaxen wig, who threatened the guilty pair +with a tinsel sword. They cowered, and then shading their eyes with +their hands, were walking sadly away when the curtain fell. It was +tableau number one, showing the fall of man. + +The audience on the whole received the exhibition with devotional +reverence, but a knot of young men openly tittered and jeered, +commenting satirically upon the deficiencies in the stage management. +Then, with more music, began the scenes from the New Testament. One was +rather pretty, introducing the woman at the well, Christ being +impersonated by a sweet-faced young man in white, with a light brown wig +and beard. The girl who played the Virgin was not more than twenty, and +had a serene prettiness, with an air of grave modesty, which were very +attractive. She wore her own long hair falling like a mantle over her +dark dress, as far down as the knees. + +Each scene lasted perhaps five minutes, the characters on the stage +speaking no word, but opening their mouths and moving their bodies in +time with the recitation of the choragus. We had the betrayal in the +garden, the trial before Pilate, the scourging, the crucifixion, and the +resurrection, all given with feeling and surprising dignity, and in the +crucifixion scene, with pathos. Most of the women in the audience were +in tears, their compassion spending itself noticeably more upon the +Virgin's sorrow than upon her Son's agony; and all through the +representation the same irreverent knot of scoffers continued to laugh, +to whistle, to mimic. From many parts of the tent there were indignant +cries of "Shame!" and "Silence!" but the disturbers went on to the end, +quite regardless of good taste and the pious feelings of the majority. + +I heard whispers which informed us that this company of players had no +repertoire; such a thing they would have considered sacrilegious, but +they travelled all over France in caravans, carrying their own scenery +and costumes. We dared not stay till the very end of the performance, +but had to get up and steal quietly out, with Aunt Mary heavy on our +consciences. + +I believe poor little Miss Randolph really was afraid of that scolding +she had prophesied. But behold, vice was its own reward, and the enemy +was delivered into our hands. We arrived at the mews, and there was the +car; but there was not Aunt Mary nor yet Sherlock-Fauntleroy. In their +place, curled up in the _tonneau_, reclined a callow French youth, +comfortably snoozing, with his coat-collar turned up to his ears. We +roused him, learned that he had been caught _en passant_ and hired at +the rate of two francs an hour to await the return of a lady and +gentleman; also that he had been in his present position for nearly an +hour. One lady and gentleman seemed to his mind as good as another, for +when offered a five-franc piece he showed no hesitation in delivering up +his charge to us, although, for all he could tell, we might have been +the rankest of rank impostors. After the departure of this faithless +guardian, Miss Randolph and I sat enthroned in the car for some twenty +minutes before Aunt Mary and Jimmy came speeding round the corner of the +mews. They brought with them an atmosphere of warmth and good cheer, and +at first sniff it was evident that they had dined where dining in both +solid and liquid branches was a fine art. + +In my part of servant I was not "on" in the ensuing comedy; but I +listened "in the wings," and chuckled inwardly. Well did Miss Randolph +fill the role of injured virtue which she had taken up at such short +notice. Her surprise that Aunt Mary and Jimmy could have been capable of +betraying her trust in them, that they should have gone off and left a +valuable car, which wasn't even hers, to the tender mercies of a stupid +little boy, a perfect stranger, was bravely done. It was represented as +a miracle that the Napier and everything in it had not been stolen +during their absence; and the good dinner the culprits had enjoyed at +the neighbouring hotel could not fortify them against the blighting +sense of their own depravity so vividly brought home. + +Not a reproach for us; all the wind had been taken out of their sails. +A sadder and wiser Jimmy and Aunt Mary meekly allowed themselves to be +driven on through the cold moonlight, with distant gleams of towered +towns, to Narbonne, where I am writing to you, after having dined and +cleaned the car. Our hotel is not an ideal one; yet on my hard pillow my +head, I ween, will lie easier than on a downy one last night. We arrived +late, and will leave early, to lessen the chances of being pounced upon +by the clutches of the law. But I begin to hope that, after all, those +peasants decided to let well alone, and that we shall escape scatheless. + +When I was a little boy we used to have honey in red-brown earthenware +pots labelled "Finest Narbonne Honey," and for years the place figured +in my imagination as a smiling region of brilliant flowers. But the +disillusioning reality is a dusty, rather noisy, very commercial town, +paved with stones the most abominable; and between Carcassonne and here +the roads grow more abominable with every kilometre. I am tired, but not +unhappy; and so, good night. + + Your fraudulent friend, + Brown-Winston. + + + + +JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Hotel du Louvre, Marseilles, + _December 18_. + + My dear Montie, + +We have just been passing through some of the most interesting parts of +France, therefore in the world, and I have derived a certain rarefied +enjoyment from it all, as I should have been only half a man not to do. +But Brown stock has gone down a little since Carcassonne, why, I know +not, though I suspect; and there is depression, if not panic in the +market. Jimmy, having made his peace and promised caution, has again +been promoted to the post of driver, and from the Jehu point of view I +must confess that during a large part of the journey he has covered +himself with as much credit as dust. This is saying a good deal, for, +owing to the slight rainfalls in these southern departments, the roads +are often buried inches deep under a coating of grey, pungent dust, +enveloping all passing vehicles in a noisome cloud. They have also, set +in their surface at irregular intervals, large pans or dishes with +perpendicular walls from an inch to three inches in depth. These dishes +being concealed by the all-pervading dust, it is impossible--at least +for a Jimmy Payne--to know where they are until the wheels bump into +them. Sometimes one of our wheels would drop in, sometimes all four. You +may imagine the strain of this sort of work upon the tyres, frame, and +springs. But in a whole day's run of a hundred and thirty miles we +punctured only one tyre, which I mended in fifteen minutes. + +Beziers, seen from a distance, set strikingly upon a hill, looked an +imposing town, but turned out to be an ordinary and dirty place when we +came to ascend its long, winding streets. Beyond, we ran for a while +along the edge of a great lagoon, and knew, though we could not see it, +that the Mediterranean lay close at our right hand. + +At Montpellier we did not stop, and I delivered no lecture on the +subject of the gorgeous, all-conquering Duchess, as I might have been +tempted to do if we'd had no addition to our party. It's a large, +bright, and stately town, very liveable-looking; but nothing was said +about lingering, though there are some things worth seeing. We had an +impressive entrance into the ancient city of Nimes, running in by early +moonlight, across a great, open plain, under a spacious, purpling dome +of sky, the sun dying in carmine behind us, the evening star a big, +flashing diamond in the moon-paled east. The old Roman amphitheatre +stood up darkly and nobly in the silver twilight; but we passed on to +our hotel, the programme evidently being to satisfy the senses at the +expense of the soul. They do one very well at the hotel in Nimes, but I +looked forward hopefully to a request to play courier among the sights +of the dear old town next morning. It did not come, however. The two +ladies went forth with Jimmy, and as I saw them go I could but +acknowledge my rival to be a personable fellow. Sherlock Holmes and +Little Lord Fauntleroy were both personable fellows in their way, and it +is useless to deny Jimmy's possession of the picked attributes of each. + +For some reason the word seems to have gone forth that we are to hurry +on to Cannes. In the circumstances I am inclined to change my mind, and +instead of wishing my dear mother to have departed before our arrival, +I'm not sure it wouldn't be wiser to hope that she'll still be there. +Miss Randolph "hasn't decided what she'll do after reaching the +Riviera." I can't help feeling that Jimmy Sherlock has succeeded in +getting in some deadly work of a mysterious nature. It's on the cards +that I may find at Cannes or Nice that the trip is finished, and Brown +is finished too. Then, as I can't and won't part from my Goddess without +a Titanic struggle, I might find it convenient to tell my mother all, +throw myself on her mercy, and get her to intercede with Miss Randolph +for me. You may argue that her views regarding the fair Barrow are +likely to militate against co-operation in this new direction; but I can +be eloquent on occasion, and even a mother must see that a Barrow is +nothing beside a Goddess. + +Altogether, I am nervous. The future looks wobbly, and it is not a +pleasant sensation to feel that one is being secretly undermined. Jimmy +had better look out, though. The first shadow of proof I get that he's +breaking his half of the bargain he shall learn that even a _chauffeur_ +will turn. And I look upon Cannes, somehow, as the turning-point in more +senses of the word than one. + +But to our muttons. No pleasant dallying for me in beautiful old Nimes +or Arles, either one of which would repay weeks of lingering. What +dallying there was, Jimmy got--confound him!--and my only joy was in his +hatred of early rising. They had him up at an unearthly hour for a +glimpse of the amphitheatre and the Maison Carree at Nimes, and by nine +we were on the road to Arles, Payne driving with creditable caution. We +crossed the Rhone and completed the eighteen flat miles in little more +than thirty minutes. When we arrived at the end of this time in the +astonishing little town of Arles, halting in a diminutive square with +two great pillars of granite and a superb Corinthian pediment (dating +from Roman occupation) built into the walls of modern houses, Miss +Randolph announced that they would walk about for half an hour and look +at the antiquities. "Half an hour!" I couldn't help echoing; "why, Arles +is one of the most interesting places in France. It is an open-air +museum." + +"I know," said she, looking up at me with an odd expression which I +would have given many a bright sovereign for the skill to read. "But +maybe I shall have a chance to see it some other time, and the others +don't care much for antiquities or architecture. We really _must_ hurry +as fast as possible to Cannes." + +Now, why--why? What is to happen at Cannes? Is Jimmy's loathly hand in +this? Or--blessed thought!--is all sight-seeing for her, as well as for +me, poisoned by his society? Is she regretting her rash generosity in +promising to carry him to the Riviera (to say nothing of _Lord Lane_!) +and is she panting to rid herself of him? I daren't hope it. But write +me your deduction. Perhaps in your enforced inaction at Davos it may +amuse you to piece together a theory and account for the actions of +certain persons in France, whom possibly you know better than if you had +ever met them. + +While the three went off to bolt in one bite such delicate morsels as +the sculptured porch of the cathedral of St. Trophinus and the Roman +theatre I gloomily played Casabianca by the car, Ixion at the wheel, or +what you will. I waited their return before the hotel, and no sooner did +they come back, at the end of their stingy half-hour, than we started, +taking the road across the great plain of La Crau towards Salon. + +A most extraordinary region that plain of La Crau. It is as flat as a +pancake, only far away to the north one sees a range of brown, stony +mountains. Formerly it was a forbidding, stony desert, the dumping-place +for every pebble and boulder brought down by the Rhone and the Durance. +But all over the vast wilderness there has been carried out a wonderful +system of irrigation, and now it yields sweet herbage for sheep, while +figs, mulberries, and cypresses are dotted in green oases. The surface +of the land is thickly veined with the beneficent little canals, +carrying life-giving water from the Canal de Craponne, which has its +origin at La Roque, on the Durance. + +Across this vast plain we raced towards Salon, along a road straight as +if drawn by a ruler, and bordered by small poplars standing shoulder to +shoulder like trees in a child's box of toys. We met no other vehicles; +we seemed to have the world to ourselves; but once, far along the road, +we spied a black dot which seemed to come towards us with incredible +speed, growing larger as it came. In less time than it takes to write we +saw that it was an enormous racing automobile, probably undergoing a +test of speed. We were running at our own highest pace, perhaps +forty-five miles an hour; the thing approaching us was coming at seventy +or more. You may imagine the rush of air as we passed each other. One +glimpse we had of a masked automobilist like a figure of death in an +Albert Durer cartoon, or the familiar of a Vehmgericht, and then we were +gasping in the vortex of air caused by the speed of the gigantic car. +Almost before we could turn our heads it was a black dot again on the +horizon. Perhaps it was the great Fournier himself. + +Beyond Salon the road becomes interestingly _accidentee_. One climbs +among the mountains which fold Marseilles in their encircling arms, and +has spacious views over the great Etang de Berre to the glittering +Mediterranean. The Napier crested the hills without faltering, and from +the top we had a long run down (over bad _pave_ at the last) into the +lively, noisy streets of gay Marseilles, Payne guiding the car very +decently over intricate tram lines, finally turning across the pavement +to circle into the white, airy court of a large hotel. When my +passengers had got down I drove the car to a _garage_ and went quietly +off to another hotel, where, warned by past experience at Pau, I entered +myself in the register modestly as James Brown. + +Now I shall hurl at your devoted and friendly head this enormous letter, +and presently shall begin another to tell of the Further Adventures on +the Riviera of + + Your much-enduring Friend, + The Amateur Chauffeur. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Grand Hotel, Toulon, + _December 20_. + + My Wingless Angel, + +It's lucky your poor dear hair is getting conspicuous by its absence, or +it would stand up on end, I don't doubt, when you read a few lines +farther. So, you see, even baldness is a blessing in disguise. + +I won't keep you in suspense. The worst shall come first; after all +that's happened I don't mind such a little thing as an anti-climax in +writing to my indulgent and uncritical Dad. + +Now for it. + +I have deserted Aunt Mary and Jimmy Payne in a gorge. I am alone in a +hotel--with Brown. Yet I ask you to suspend judgment; I have not exactly +eloped. + +It is all Jimmy Payne's fault. + +I wired you yesterday from Marseilles, because I hadn't written since my +second letter from Pau, when I told you how Aunt Mary had persuaded me +that it would be perfectly caddish not to invite Jimmy to drive with us +to the Riviera, as his car was there and he was going that way. I felt +in my bones to an almost rheumatic extent that to ask him would be a big +mistake; still, in a weak moment I consented, when Jimmy had been +particularly nice and had just paid you a whole heap of compliments. I +lay awake nearly all night afterwards, thinking whether 'twere nobler in +the mind of Molly to hurt Brown's feelings or Jimmy's, since injury must +be dealt to one. Finally, I tossed up for it in the sanctity of my +chamber. Heads, Brown drives; tails, Jimmy; and it was tails. Well, I'd +vowed that should settle it, so I wouldn't go back on myself; and, +anyhow, Jimmy was the guest, so that French copper had the rights of it. +I did my best to make all straight with the Lightning Conductor, who +behaved like the trump he is. + +Jimmy had spared no pains or expense in advertising himself as an expert +driver, nevertheless I knew him well enough not to be surprised at +finding out he didn't know much more than I did. I soon saw that, though +the first day everything went well enough. The second day he nearly +landed us in a dreadful scrape with some peasants, but since Brown +brought us safely through, I won't tell tales out of school, especially +as the tables were rather turned on the poor fellow at Carcassonne--the +most splendid place. I send you with this a little book all about it, +full of pictures, and you are to be sure to read it. I was rather sorry +for Jimmy afterwards; he was so humble, and besides, he took a cold in +his head waiting in the car while I went sight-seeing. He promised to be +very prudent if I would only trust him again, and cleverly took my mind +off his late misdeeds by exciting my curiosity. At breakfast in +Narbonne, where we'd unexpectedly stayed the night, he hinted darkly of +most exciting events in which we were intimately concerned, which would +in all probability take place at Cannes, if we could only arrive there +soon enough. I couldn't get him to tell me what they were, but I fancy +Aunt Mary is at least partly in his confidence. She wouldn't betray him, +but she assured me that to miss the treat in store for us would mean +lasting regret. And she was bursting with importance and mystery. Now I +don't believe much in Jimmy's show; nothing of his ever does come off, +except his hat when he drives. Still, a little of Jimmy's society goes a +long way in the intimate association of a motoring journey; what it +_would_ be in married life I don't know and don't want to know; and as I +too began to think I shouldn't be sorry to get to the Riviera, I +consented to be whirled through some lovely places, just to satisfy Aunt +Mary and Jimmy's craving for haste, and lack of love for ancient +architecture. + +We arrived at Marseilles, Jimmy doing well. I _would_ see something of +the place, for I was true to my Monte Cristo, and insisted upon having a +glimpse of the Chateau d'If. We got in at night, and stayed at a +delightful hotel. Early in the morning I was up, and rather than I +should take Brown as courier, Jimmy (who resents Brown) was up early +too. We had breakfast together--for Aunt Mary stayed in bed--and went +out to walk. But it wasn't like going about with the Lightning +Conductor, who knows everything and has been everywhere before. We had +to inquire our way every minute, and shouldn't have known which things +were worth seeing if Monsieur Rathgeb, the landlord, hadn't told us to +be sure and go up the hill of Notre Dame de la Garde for the view; so we +went up in a lift, and it was glorious. Some soldiers marching on a +green boulevard below looked like tiny black-beetles, and the music of +their bugle band came floating faintly to us like sounds heard through a +gramophone. The Ile d'If and all the others were splendid from there, +and I would have liked to stay a long time, if Jimmy hadn't begun to be +tiresome and harangue me about the confidential way in which I treat +Brown. "Social distinctions," said he didactically, "are the bulwarks of +society." Ha, ha! I couldn't help laughing--could you in my place? I +told him I thought he would make a fortune as a lecturer, but lectures +weren't much in my line; and I asked if he'd ever read Ibsen's _Pillars +of Society_, which of course he hadn't. Then we went down in the lift, +and back to the hotel for Aunt Mary, who naturally wanted to shop; and +by the time she had finished buying veils and cold cream it was time for +lunch, which we had in one of the most charming restaurants I was ever +in, on the Corniche Road. I don't care so very much about good things to +eat; but I do think that oysters, _langouste a l'Americaine_, +_bouillabaisse a la Provencale_, perfectly cooked and served, and mixed +with a heavenly view, may be something to rave about. Oh, there's a lot +to see and do in Marseilles, I assure you, Dad, though one's friends +never seem to tell you much about it; and it was three o'clock in the +afternoon before I would consent to be torn away. Of course, so far +south the daylight lingers long; still, we knew we had but an hour and +a half more of it when we started. There had been a shower of rain while +Aunt Mary and I were packing, and we had not been out of the hotel many +minutes when we had a surprise. + +Jimmy was driving along a paved street, slimy with fresh mud, and +confusing with the dash and clash of electric street cars, which Jimmy +is English enough to call "trams." He tried to pass one on the off side, +but just as he was getting ahead of it another huge car came whizzing +along from the opposite direction. I didn't say a word. I just "sat +tight," but I had the queerest feeling in my feet as if I wanted to jump +or do something. It looked as if we were going to be pinched right +between the two, and I'd have given a good deal if Brown had been at the +helm, for I would have been sure that somehow he'd contrive to get us +through all right. But Jimmy lost his head--and indeed there are only a +few men who wouldn't, for the drivers of both cars were furiously +clanging their bells, and the whole world seemed to be nothing but +noise, noise, and great moving things coming every way at once. He +jammed on the brakes suddenly, which was just what Brown in the +_tonneau_ was trying to warn him not to do, and before I knew what had +happened our automobile waltzed round on the road with a slippery sort +of slide, the way your foot does when you step on ice under snow. + +I thought we were finished, and I'm afraid I shut my eyes. "Just like a +girl!" O yes, thank you; I know that; but I didn't know it or anything +else at that minute. There was loud shouting and swearing, then a bump, +a noise of splintering wood, another bump, and we were still alive and +unhurt, with a buzz of voices round us--quite _unkind_ voices some of +them, though I never felt more as if I wanted kindness. It occurred to +me to open my eyes, and I found that we had brought up against the +curbstone, while one of our mud-guards had been smashed by the iron rail +of the electric street car, now stationary. Our Napier had turned +completely round. The conductor of the tram was scrutinising his +scratched rail and saying things; but Brown, who had jumped out to +examine into our damage, slyly slipped something that looked like a +five-franc piece into his hand. This reminds me, I must pay Brown back; +he can't refuse such a thing as that, though it seems he has taken a +sort of pledge against accepting tips in his professional career. Funny, +isn't it? "For a touch of new paint," I heard him murmur to the +conductor in his nice French, and that man must have been in a great +hurry to try the effect of the "touch," for no sooner did the coin +change hands than he stopped scolding, and away buzzed the big electric +bumble-bee. + +"For _mercy's_ sake, what was it that happened?" gasped Aunt Mary. + +"Side-slip, miss," said Brown in a tone dry enough to turn the mud to +dust, "from putting on the brakes too quickly. A driver can't be too +careful on a surface like this." Which was one for Jimmy. + +The poor fellow took it with outward meekness, though I saw his eyes +give a flash--and, do you know, our blond Jimmy can look quite +malevolent! He didn't speak to Brown, but turned to me, and said the +side-slip wasn't really his fault at all; it might happen to anybody in +greasy weather; but he would be still more cautious now than before. I +didn't like to humiliate a guest by superseding him with a servant, +capable as the servant is, so I said that I hoped he _would_ be very +careful, and we started on again, somewhat chastened in our mood, +driving slowly, slowly, through interminable suburbs to a place called +Aubagne. + +There was a splendid sunset after the rain, with a wonderful effect of +heavy violet cloud-curtains with jagged gold edges, drawn up to show a +clear sky of pale beryl-green; and sharp against the green were cut out +purple mountains and white villages that looked like flocks of resting +gulls. We were in wild and beautiful country by the time the thickening +clouds compelled us to stop and light our two oil-lamps and the huge +acetylene Bleriot. + +There was a good deal of wind, and Aunt Mary began to shiver as we +started on, still going slowly. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed crossly, "we +shall never get anywhere to-night if we crawl like this. Surely there's +no danger now?" + +That was enough for Jimmy. He said that certainly there was no danger +now, and never had been. Opening the throttle, he began to tell me +anecdotes of a trip he had made with his Panhard over the Stelvio with +snow on the ground. If I weren't afraid now of a decent pace, he'd get +us into Toulon in no time. + +I do hate to have people think I'm afraid, so of course I denied it +sharply, and we began to fly down hill. Our lamps seemed to have shut +the night down closely all around us. We didn't see much except the road +with the light flying along it; but suddenly, circling round a curve, +there appeared--dark within the brilliant circle of our Bleriot--a +great, unlighted waggon lumbering up the hill we were descending, and on +the wrong side of the road. + +We were close on to it, and oh, Dad, that was a bad moment! It was made +up of lightning-quick impressions and feelings, no reasoning at all. +Jimmy was frantically blowing the horn, though it was too late to be of +much good. I had a vision of a startled Jack-in-the-box man appearing +from the bottom of the waggon to snatch wildly at the reins; the next +instant our car waltzed round just as it had in Marseilles, twisted off +the road, and, with a loud shriek from Aunt Mary, who had clutched me by +the arm, we all pitched headlong into darkness. + +It felt as if we were falling for ever so long, just as it does in a +dream before you wake up with a great start; but I suppose it really +wasn't more than a second. The next thing I knew, I was on my hands and +knees among some stones; and evidently I'm vainer than I fancied, for +among other thoughts coming one on top of the other, I was glad my +_face_ wasn't hurt. I've always imagined that it must be terrible for a +girl to come to herself after an accident and find she had no face. + +I scrambled to my feet and began calling to the others. I think I called +Brown first, because, you see, he is so quick in emergencies, and he +would be ready to look after the others. But he didn't speak, and the +most awful cold, sick feeling settled down on my heart. "Oh, Brown, +Brown!" I heard myself crying, just as you hear yourself in a nightmare, +and it hardly seemed more real than that. Into the midst of my calling +Aunt Mary's voice mingled, and I was thankful, for it didn't sound as if +she were much hurt. + +Our lamps had gone out, and it was almost pitch dark now, for clouds +covered the moon. But there came a glimmer, which kept growing brighter; +and looking up I saw a man standing with a lantern held over his head, +peering down a steep bank with a look of horror. The same glimmer showed +me something else--Brown's face on the ground, white as a stone, his +eyes wide open with an unseeing stare. I ran to him, and found that I +was pushing Aunt Mary back, as she was trying to get up from somewhere +close at hand. She caught at me, and wouldn't let me go by. "Oh dear, oh +dear!" she was sobbing, and I begged her to tell me if she were hurt. + +"No, thank Heaven! I fell on Brown," she said, "and that saved me." + +I could have boxed her ears. One would have thought, to hear her, that +he was a sort of fire-escape. I snatched my dress out of her hands, and +knelt down beside poor Brown, who was perhaps dead, all through my +fault--for I saw now that I ought never to have let Jimmy Payne drive +the car. By this time the man with the lantern (it was the carter who +had made the trouble for us) had slid down the steep bank, and come +straight to where I was kneeling. "_Ah, mademoiselle, il est mort!_" he +exclaimed. How I did hate him! I screamed out, "He isn't, he isn't!" but +it was only to make myself believe it wasn't true, and I couldn't help +crying--big hot tears that splashed right down into Brown's eyes. And I +suppose it was their being so hot that woke him up, for he did wake up, +and looked straight at me, dazed at first, then sensibly--such a queer +effect, the intelligence and brightness taking the place of that +frightened stare. The first thing he said was, "Are you hurt?" And I +said "No"; and then I discovered that I was holding his hand as fast as +ever I could--only think, holding your _chauffeur's_ hand!--but such a +brave, faithful _chauffeur_, never thinking of his own face, as I had of +mine, but of _me_. + +That made me laugh and draw back, and we both said something about being +glad. And I wanted to help him, but he didn't need any help, and was up +like an arrow the next second. And then, for the first time, I saw the +car, standing upright with Jimmy Payne, sitting in it, hanging on like +grim death to the steering-post, which he was embracing as if he were a +monkey on a stick. + +I _did_ laugh at that--one does laugh more when something dreadful has +nearly happened, but not quite, than at any other time, I think--though +into the midst of my laugh came a sudden little pain. It was in my left +wrist, and it ached hard, one quick throb after another, as if they were +in a hurry to get their chance to hurt. But I didn't say anything, for +it seemed such a trifle. Brown assured me that he was "right as rain," +that he'd only been dazed and perhaps unconscious for a minute through +falling on his head. I wondered if he knew about Aunt Mary. But it was +too delicate a subject to raise. Anyway, she hadn't a bruise. And wasn't +it extraordinary about Jimmy? The car had "fallen on its feet," so to +speak, and he had hung on to the steering-post so hard that not only had +he kept his seat, but he had wrenched the steering-gear. Brown +discovered this in peering into the works by the light of one of our own +oil-lamps, relit from the carter's lantern. If the Napier hadn't been a +magnificent car it would have been frightfully damaged, although, +finding itself compelled to take a twelve-foot jump off the road, it had +cleverly chosen comparatively smooth, meadow-like ground to descend +upon. Not even a tyre was punctured; no harm whatever appeared to have +been done except that, as I said, owing to Jimmy's savage contortions in +search of safety, the steering-gear was wrenched. + +There's a thing called a worm in steering-gear, it seems, also a rod; +and new ones would have to be fitted in ours before we could go on +again. When I heard this I felt rather qualmish, for my wrist was aching +a good deal, and had begun to swell. Brown and the carter were talking +together, and according to them the best thing seemed to be to carry +luggage and rugs to the nearest village, Le Beausset, and try to get +accommodation there for the night. Brown would go on to Toulon, he said, +and try to get new parts for the car, with which he'd come back early in +the morning. + +Still I didn't say anything about my wrist. Aunt Mary and I scrambled +up the bank, and Brown, Jimmy, and the carter went back and forth for +our things. The latter had been going away from Le Beausset, not towards +it when the accident happened, but he agreed to turn round and take our +luggage on his cart to the village. He made room for Aunt Mary too, +sitting on bags and portmanteaus like Marius on the ruins of Carthage, +and the rest of us walked, about a mile. + +Le Beausset proved to be a tiny place, and at the solitary inn there was +but one small bedroom to let, the rest being taken by some rough, +selfish-looking commercial travellers, who were having an early dinner +in a hot and smelly _salle a manger_, with every breath of air +religiously excluded. + +I thought that without being fussy I might draw the general attention to +myself. I announced a wrist, and demanded a surgeon lest I had cracked a +bone. Brown vanished like a pantomine demon, but returned almost +immediately with a long face, and the intelligence that Le Beausset had +neither surgeon nor resident doctor. There was no vehicle, not even a +bicycle, to be had for love or money at this time of day, but he would +make all haste to Toulon and send back a competent man. The worst of it +was there might be delay, as it was about ten miles to Toulon. Halfway +between Le Beausset and the big town was a small one called Ollioules, +and there, it appeared, one could take an electric tram into Toulon; but +it was a long way for a doctor to come, and it might be several hours +before he could arrive. + +"Then I'll go to Toulon with you," said I. "I don't feel as if I could +stand much waiting; the walk will take my mind off the pain, and I can +have my wrist attended to the minute I get there." + +Instantly Aunt Mary burst into a cataract of objections, and I only +dammed the flood (quite in the proper sense of the word, because, like +Marjorie Fleming, I was "most unusual calm; I did not give a single +damn") by suggesting that, once in Toulon, I might send back a +comfortable carriage and engage rooms in a good hotel for us all for the +night. + +"Well, I can't and won't stay here alone, that's flat," pronounced my +dear aunt; and despite all her lectures against "liberty, fraternity, +and equality" in my treatment of poor Brown, she was willing to let me +go unchaperoned save by him, for the sake of retaining Jimmy Payne's +protecting presence herself. As for Jimmy, it was easy to see that he +didn't like the idea at all; but he had jarred himself a good deal in +his eccentric fall, and evidently funked another tramp. He had limped +ostentatiously every step of the way to Le Beausset. Brown was afraid +that I wasn't up to the walk, but I assured him it would be much less +uncomfortable than indefinite waiting, and I think he saw by my face +that I was right. After all our delay it was only half-past five when we +set off, and would scarcely have been thoroughly dark if it hadn't been +for the clouds which had been boiling up from the west all over the sky. + +I had no idea what kind of a walk we were in for when we started, +neither had Brown, for he had never been over exactly this part of the +world either walking or driving, but only in the train. We hadn't been +gone long when we plunged downwards into a deep and winding mountain +gorge, the kind of cut-throat place where you'd expect brigands to grow +on blackberry bushes. Oh, but it was dark, with only now and then a +fitful gleam of moonlight cutting its way through a rent in the inky +clouds! Hardly had the word "brigands" crept into my mind with an +accompaniment of heart-beats something like the plink! plink! plink! +villain entrance-music on the stage, when two indistinct forms loomed +out of the blackness before us. A perpendicular wall of rock shot up +from the road on one side, and on the other, in some unseen depth below, +roared a torrent, which drowned my voice when I whispered to Brown, so I +clutched his coat-sleeve instead of speaking. + +The two men were chattering loudly in Italian. "Ah, _Italian_ brigands, +worse and worse!" thought I; but Brown said "Good-evening" to them +boldly, and they answered as mildly as a pair of lambs, falling behind +to let us pass on. I skipped along, expecting at any instant to feel a +knife in my back, but the blade did not penetrate any part more vital +than my imagination, though the pair hung on our footsteps till we +emerged from the mountain defile into the town of Ollioules. + +I never knew what an attractive object an electric tram could be, until +I saw one there awaiting our convenience, glittering with hospitable +light. We jumped in, and were flashed into Toulon in no time, stopping +close to the best hotel. We found that they could accommodate our party, +but Brown quite took the upper hand; wouldn't allow me to stop and +talk, had me swept off to a very nice room, and said that not only would +he see about a surgeon for me, but would arrange for a carriage to drive +back for Aunt Mary and Jimmy. + +Till we got into the electric car at Ollioules I hadn't noticed in the +dark that Brown was carrying anything. But he put down on the car seat +quite a heavy bag of mine and a sort of big dressing-case of his own, +which is his only baggage on the automobile. "Why _did_ you lug all +that?" I exclaimed. "Oh, I thought you might need something before the +others arrived," said he, "and I didn't like to trouble them to look +after mine." Wasn't he thoughtful? And I was glad to have my +bag--without waiting. But just think of the state of that poor fellow's +muscles! + +It was a quarter to seven when I got into my rooms at the hotel, and ten +minutes later the doctor arrived. If he had had bad news to give me +about my wrist, I shouldn't have written the tale of this adventure so +frankly; but I can leave a good impression on your mind in the end by +telling you that all's well with your "one fair daughter." It's a +sprain, no worse; and the stuff which the clever man prescribed has +soothed the pain wonderfully. I'm so thankful it's my left wrist, not +the right; and so ought you to be, or you would have to do without +letters. This is the time when I miss my maid; but a dear little _femme +de chambre_ of the hotel helped me dress, and it is wonderful how well +you can get on with only one hand. + +Now I've something else to break to you, Dad. + +The hotel was rather full, and all the private sitting rooms were gone, +otherwise I might have had dinner upstairs; but I drew the line at +dining abjectly in a bedroom. Still, I didn't quite like the idea of +sailing into a big _salle a manger_, alone, with a bound-up wrist, and +perhaps making an exhibition of myself cutting up meat in a one-handed +way. So before Brown went to call the doctor I just said to him casually +that it would be an accommodation if he would dine in the _salle a +manger_ with me this once. He looked surprised, and seemed to hesitate a +little before he said that he would do so with pleasure, if I thought it +best. I was almost sorry I'd asked, but I wouldn't go back; and, anyhow, +what else _could_ I have done? He is extraordinarily gentlemanly in his +looks and manner, and never takes the least advantage; so I hope you'll +agree with me that of two evils I chose the less. And when I made the +arrangement I supposed Aunt Mary and Jimmy would be arriving before +bedtime, so that I should only be a lone, unprotected female for a few +hours. But we hadn't been in the hotel five minutes before it came on to +rain again, a perfect deluge this time, with thunder and lightning; and +while the nice _femme de chambre_ was helping me into a ducky little +lace waist which was in the bag Brown had carried, to my great surprise +a telegram was brought to my door. At first I thought there must be a +mistake, but it really was for me. Brown had mentioned the name of the +best hotel in Toulon, where we would try to get rooms before he and I +left the others at Le Beausset; and the telegram was from Aunt Mary. +"Don't send carriage. Prefer stay here to driving in such storm. Feel +sure you are safe without us." + +I knew the carriage was already ordered, but thinking it might not have +started, I scribbled a line in pencil to Brown, and enclosed the +telegram. Aunt Mary is such a coward in thunderstorms; but it was silly +of her, for it couldn't have gone on thundering all night. I was rather +cross, but I had to laugh when I thought of Jimmy. He must have been +wild. + +If I'd known in time, perhaps I should have stayed ignominiously in my +bedroom, but I wouldn't make a change then; it seemed such a tempest in +a teapot. So when I was ready I went down as if nothing had happened, +and looked around for Brown where I'd told him to meet me at half-past +eight, in the hall. My goodness! I _was_ surprised when I saw him in +evening dress--a jolly dinner-jacket and a black tie. He might have been +a prince. I wouldn't have said a word if I'd stopped to think; but I +exclaimed on the impulse, and was dreadfully ashamed of myself, for he +got rather red. He said quite humbly that he hadn't wished to discredit +me, since I'd done him the honour of allowing him to serve me in a +somewhat different capacity this evening (that was a nice way of putting +it, wasn't it?), so he had decided to wear a suit of clothes which Mr. +John Winston had left him; and he hoped I wasn't displeased. + +After all, why should I have been when you come to think of it? So we +dined at a little table all to ourselves, with pretty shaded candles and +some lovely flowers. People were already beginning to leave the room, +and nobody noticed anything strange about us as a couple; we appeared +just like everybody else, only rather better looking, if I do say it +myself. I had a very interesting talk with Brown, and he told me several +things about his life, though I had to _draw_ them out, as he is more +modest than Jimmy Payne. He is far above his work, though he does it so +well. I wish so much you could do something nice for him. Can't you? + +This is the next morning, and I am writing in my room, waiting for the +car to arrive. Aunt Mary and Jimmy will come in it; they've telegraphed +again. + +I am looking forward to the Riviera now, but I have such a queer, +unsettled feeling--sort of half sad, without knowing why, which is +stupid, as I'm having a splendid time. I suppose it's my wrist which has +made me nervous. + + Your loving + Molly. + + + + +FROM JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Grand Hotel, Toulon, + _December 19_. + + My good Montie, + +It is getting on towards eleven o'clock at night, and as Payne has +treated us to a smashup and I have walked some miles carrying I don't +know how many pounds of luggage, you might think that I would be more +inclined for bed than letter-writing. But, on the contrary, I have no +desire for sleep. A change has come o'er my spirit. I am happy. I have +dined alone with my Goddess. I almost took your advice and the +opportunity to make a clean breast of things, but not quite. Presently I +will tell you why, and ask if you don't think I was right in the +circumstances. + +The said circumstances I owe indirectly to Payne--also a lump on the +back of my head; but that is a detail. I am in too blissful a frame of +mind to-night to dwell on it or any other detail belonging to the +accident, though maybe I'll give you the history of the affair in a +future letter. Suffice it to say, before getting on to pleasanter +things, that the car reposes in a lonesome meadow below a steep +embankment about a dozen miles away, where it is perfectly safe till I +can get back to its succour early to-morrow; Aunt Mary and Jimmy +Sherlock are enjoying each other's society at a country inn rather +nearer; Miss Randolph and I are here. She came on because she had to +have a sprained wrist treated by a competent doctor; I came to buy new +parts for the car; naturally we joined forces. The others were to have a +carriage sent back to them from Toulon, but Aunt Mary funked the long +drive on account of a furious storm. Miss Randolph could get no private +sitting-room, and as, with a disabled wrist, she didn't care to face the +ordeal of a _salle a manger_ alone, she suggested that I should attend +her at dinner. Not as a servant, mind, but "for this occasion only" as +an equal. + +For an instant I was doubtful, for her sake; but to have put a thought +of impropriety into her sweet mind would have been coarse. Besides, the +request from mistress to man was equivalent to a royal command. I hope, +however, that had there been any fear of unfortunate consequences to +her, I should have been strong enough to resist temptation. + +I told her that, if she thought it best to condescend to my +companionship, I should be highly honoured. And I added that I had with +me a decent suit of black. We then parted; I went to find a doctor for +Miss Randolph, and to see about a carriage to go back for the others to +the village of Le Beausset. It also occurred to me that it would be nice +to have a few flowers with which to deck the table for the happiest +dinner of my life. The shops were not yet all closed, and at one not far +from the hotel I selected some exquisite La France roses and a dozen +sprays of forced white lilac, which I had once heard Miss Randolph say +was among her favourite flowers. When I came to pay the bill, +however--three francs a spray for the lilac, and a franc for each of the +twelve roses--there were only a few coppers in my pocket. I remembered +then that I had spent my last franc in Marseilles, without attaching any +importance to the matter, as I'd wired for remittances to arrive at +Cannes, and my "screw" due to-night would see me through till then. Now +the situation was a bit awkward. I wanted to take the flowers with me +and give them to the head waiter to place on the table where Miss +Randolph and I would dine. I could not have them sent over and ask the +hotel people to settle, because then they would appear on her bill +to-morrow morning, as now she would certainly not pay my wages this +evening. I couldn't bear to give up the bouquet; besides, I would need +more ready money to-night. I had visions of ordering first-rate wine, +and letting the Goddess suppose it was _vin compris_ with the _table +d'hote_ dinner. I therefore confessed my pennilessness to the shopman, +and asked if I should be likely to find a _mont-de-piete_ still open. He +replied that the pawnshops did their busiest trade in the evening about +this time, told me where I could find the best, and agreed to keep the +flowers until my return. + +The one thing of value I had with me was my monogrammed gold repeater, +which my father gave me when I went up to Oxford, and I didn't much like +parting with it, especially as I can't get it back to-morrow, but will +have to send back the ticket for it from Cannes, when I'm in funds. +However, I had no choice, so I put my poor turnip up the spout, and got +a tenner for it. With this in French money I retraced my steps to the +florist's, and bore off my fragrant spoils in triumph to the hotel. +Hardly had I given the flowers to the head waiter, ordered an extra dish +or two on the _menu_ and a bottle of Mumm to be iced, when a pencilled +note from Miss Randolph was handed to me. It contained a wire from Aunt +Mary, saying that she and Jimmy would not leave their present quarters, +on account of the storm. I sent word to have the carriage stopped, and +luckily for the driver the message was just in time. Then it struck me +that in the circumstances I had better put up at another hotel for the +night. I made all arrangements, had my bag taken over to a little +commercial sort of house near by, and left myself just twenty minutes to +bathe and change. Gladstone could do it in five, I've been told. But it +was all I could manage in fifteen, for I had decided to do myself well, +not to shame my dinner-companion. + +Thanks to my little trick of going to a different hotel from the party +when we are stopping anywhere longer than one night, I can always +indulge in civilised garb of an evening therefore in the dressing-case, +which is my little all on the car, I carry something decent. Our mutual +tailor, Montie, is not to be despised; and when I'd got into my pumps +and all my things, I don't think there was much amiss. + +I arrived at our rendezvous--the hall of the hotel--just one minute +before the appointed time; and five minutes later I saw Her coming +downstairs. + +I have sometimes caught a glimpse of her in the evenings, dressed for +dinner at good hotels, and her frocks are like herself, always the most +perfect. To-night she had no luggage except a bag I had carried, +nevertheless she had somehow achieved a costume in which she was a +vision. Perhaps if I were a woman I should have seen that she had on her +day-skirt, with an evening bodice, but being merely a man over his ears +in love, I can only tell you that the effect was dazzling. In admiration +of her I forgot my own transformation until I saw her pretty eyebrows go +up with surprise. + +I felt my heart thump behind my rather jolly white waistcoat. On the +second step from the bottom she stopped and exclaimed, "Why, Brown, how +nice you look! You're exactly like a----" There she stopped, getting +deliciously pink, as if she'd been a naughty child pinched by a +"grown-up" in the midst of a malapropos remark. I could fill up the +blank for myself, and was highly complimented by her opinion that I was +"exactly like a gentleman." I explained that the clothes were Mr. +Winston's, and had been donned with a highly laudable motive. It was +evident that she approved both cause and effect; and we went in to +dinner together. + +I can't describe to you, my boy, the pure delight of that moment; the +pride I felt in her beauty, the new and intoxicating sense of possession +born of the _tete-a-tete_. But if you could have seen the lovely shadow +her eyelashes made on her cheeks as she sat there opposite to me at our +daintily appointed little table, you might partly understand. + +Fortunately there was a small bunch of flowers on each table, so that +ours was not conspicuous, save in superiority. She admired it, took out +a spray of lilac and tucked it into the neck of her dress, the stem +lying close against her white satin skin. Then, as she ate the _hors +d'[oe]uvres_, she sat silent and apparently thoughtful. It was not until +we had begun with the soup that she spoke again. + +"I do hope you won't think me rude or inquisitive, Brown," was her +curiosity-provoking preface. "I don't mean to be either. But, you know, +you interest me a good deal. In America we haven't precisely a middle +class. It's all top and bottom with us, just like a tart with the inside +forgotten. There, one wouldn't--wouldn't be apt to meet anyone quite +like you. I--oh, I don't know how to put it. I'm afraid I began to say +something that I can't finish. But--let me see, what _shall_ I say? +Isn't it a pity that with your intelligence and--and manners, and all +you've learned, you can't get a position which would--would give +you--er--better opportunities?" + +At the moment I thought that no position could give me a better +opportunity than I had; in fact, as I began to tell you in the first few +lines of this letter, I was inclined to believe it sent by Providence as +an unexpected way out of my difficulties. Here we were together in no +danger of being disturbed by outsiders (one doesn't count a waiter); +here was she in a benignant mood, interested in me, and inclined to +kindness. In another second I would have blurted out the whole truth, +when a voice seemed to say inside of me, "No, she is alone in this hotel +to-night with you. She is, in a way, at your mercy. You will be doing an +unchivalrous thing if, when she is practically deserted by her people +and thrown upon your protection, you proclaim yourself a lover in place +of a servant." That voice was right. Even you can't say it wasn't. + +I swallowed my confession with a spoonful of soup, and nearly choked +over the combination. + +"The fact is," I said desperately yet cautiously, "since you are kind +enough to take an interest, that I--er--am not exactly what I seem +to-day. My parents were gentlefolk, in a humble way." (I didn't go +beyond the truth there, did I? And as for the "humble way," why, +everything goes by comparison, from a king down to a mere viscount.) +"They gave me an education" (they did, bless them!), "but owing +to--er--strong pressure of circumstances" (the effect of Her beauty, +seen in a Paris _garage_) "I decided to make use of my mechanical +knowledge in the way I am doing at present." + +"I suppose," commented my Goddess, with the sweetest sympathy, "that you +had lost your money." + +"Well," I said, thinking of my late penniless condition and my watch at +the pawnshop, "I have a great deal less money now than I was brought up +to expect." + +"That is very sad," she sighed. + +"And yet," I remarked, "it has its compensations. I consider my place +with you a very good one." + +"It can't be better than many others you have had," said she. + +"In some ways it is much the best I have ever enjoyed," I responded. + +"At all events, it isn't half as good as you deserve," the Angel cried +warmly. "I should like to see you in one far more desirable." + +"Thank you," said I meekly "So should I, of course, though I should wish +it still to be in your service." + +"If that could be," she murmured, with a slight blush and a flattering +air of regret. "I don't quite see how it could. But if you wouldn't mind +going to America, perhaps my father might help you to something really +worth while." + +"Nothing could be better for me than to have his help in obtaining what +I want," said I boldly, knowing she wouldn't suspect the double meaning. +"You are very good. I can't thank you enough." + +"Wait till I have done something to be thanked for," said she. "I will +write to my father. But even if anything comes of it, it can't be for +some time. Meanwhile, I suppose you will be taking Mr. Winston's car +back to England, when we part at Cannes." + +"Part at Cannes!" The words were a knell "You aren't thinking, then, of +going further for a trip into Italy?" I ventured. + +"No, I haven't thought of it," she said. + +"It does seem a pity, with Italy next door, so to speak," said I. +"Unless, of course, you're tired of motoring and would like to settle +down and have some gaiety." + +"I'm not tired of motoring," she exclaimed, "and I'm not pining for +gaiety. I think this sort of free, open-air life, with big horizons +round one, spoils one for dancing and dressing and flir--and all that. I +should love just to have a glimpse of the Riviera, and then go on. But I +hadn't thought of it, and I'm not sure if it could be managed. I'd have +to reflect upon the idea a little, and cable my father to see if he were +willing. Not that there'd be much trouble about that. He trusts me, and +almost always lets me do what I like. But supposing--just _supposing_ I +changed my plans--would Mr. Winston be willing to let me keep his car +longer?" + +"As much longer as you choose," said I eagerly. "He doesn't want it in +England till next summer. I'm certain of that." + +"Well, then, I must think it over," she answered. "Oh, it would be +glorious! Yet--I don't know. Anyway, we must take Lady Brighthelmston, +Mr. Winston's mother, a drive on her son's car when we get to Cannes. +She is staying there." + +"Oh, is she?" I said aloud. And inwardly I prayed that I might see the +lady in question in private before that invitation was given. But +perhaps she will have flitted. I wonder? + +Well, I have given you the principal points of our conversation enough +to show you why I am happy to-night. But if you could have seen me +cutting up the Goddess's _filet mignon_! I could have shed tears of joy +on it. + +Now I must be off to my own hotel, and to-morrow I shall be up with the +dawn in search of a mechanic and new parts for the car. + +Good-bye, old man. Wish me luck. + + Yours ever, + Jack Winston. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Hotel Angst, Bordighera, + _December 25_. + + Merry Christmas, my dear Santa Klaus, merry Christmas! This morning I +sent you a long cable, expressing my sentiments. It does seem strange to +think that by this time you have it. A thousand thousand thanks for your +letter and the enclosure at Cannes. You are the dearest Dad! + +Our first Christmas apart! and may it be the last. Christmas isn't +Christmas without you and a stocking to hang up, and I'm awfully +homesick. Still, if one can't be spirited away home on a magic carpet, +this is the sweetest place to spend Christmas in you can imagine. + +Speaking of magic carpets recalls the _Arabian Nights_, and gives me a +simile. For a whole week I've been realising what Aladdin must have felt +when the Genie took him into the wonderful Cave of Jewels. Oh, the +Riviera! But you know it, dear. You spent your honeymoon with the +beautiful little mother whom I never knew in the Riviera and in Italy. +That is one reason why I want to see Italy--why I sent that question to +you by cable the other day. Your one journey abroad, dear, dear old Dad! +I can guess now why you have never been keen to come again, though you +have always pretended you preferred Wall Street to all Europe. Now I am +seeing these fairy-like places I know how you have wished to keep the +memory unspoiled; for they would never, never be the same if you saw +them for the second time, even with me, though you do love me dearly, +don't you? It's _first_ times that are so thrilling; and I'm having my +first times now, though they're different from yours. I don't suppose I +shall ever have such a love in my life as you had, or if I do, it will +be sad and broken. Either the man I could care for would be divided from +me by an impassable barrier, or something else horrid will happen. I +feel that. I shall never write like this again, but I can't help it +to-night. There! I won't go on about your past and my future any more; +but just about the "winged present." And, oh, its wings are of rainbows! + +Elderly people I've talked to at hotels during the last few days tell me +the "Riviera is being ruined." You would say so too perhaps; but it +seems heaven to me, from Hyeres to Bordighera--as far as we've gone. +Just here I must stop and thank you for your answer to my cable and +saying "Italy by all means." If it hadn't been for that, we shouldn't be +here. + +I thought that we couldn't see anything more beautiful than on the other +side of Marseilles; but the Riviera is a thing apart. I'm gratefully +glad to have come into such an enchanted land of sunshine and flowers on +an automobile instead of a stuffy train. There's nothing in the world to +equal travelling on a motor-car. You can go fast or slow; you can stop +where you like and as long as you like; with a little luggage on your +car you're as independent as a bird; and like a bird you float through +the open air, with no thought for time-tables. When will the poet come +who will sing the song of the motor-car? Maeterlinck has sung it in +prose, but the song was too short. + +Of course, after that horrid affair the other side of Toulon I couldn't +let Jimmy drive any more. He realised that I distrusted him and rather +sulkily resigned the wheel, blaming the car for the accident and +declaring that it could not have happened to his Panhard, which, of +course, is silly. So Brown took the helm again, and Jimmy sat in the +_tonneau_ with Aunt Mary, where they whispered and chuckled a good deal +together, appearing to have a real live mystery up their sleeves, which +I suppose had something to do with the promised surprise at Cannes. + +It was quite late in the day before the steering-gear was mended and we +could take the road again, and then we all thought it a pity to run +through the dark to Cannes, so we decided to stay a second night in +Toulon, at the same hotel where I had dinner with Brown; he, poor +fellow, being this time banished to some invisible lower region, or +another hotel, for Aunt Mary and Jimmy would have had fits if I had +proposed that he should make a fourth at our table. I thought the people +of the hotel and the head waiter looked curiously at me; for one night +they saw me dine with a gentleman who the next night drives to the door +as my _chauffeur_ (I assure you, Dad, it's no stretch of language to +speak of Brown as a "gentleman," and you really must get him a +gentleman's berth, even if it's way off in Klondyke). + +Early next morning we started for what proved to be the most beautiful +drive we have yet had, as warm as summer, and sparkling with sunshine. +We bowled along at a gentle pace through a fairyland of flowers and +rivers, with billowy blue mountains rising into the sky, and showing +here and there a distant ethereal peak of snow. Very soon we passed +through Hyeres, which Brown called the gate of the Riviera, and I should +have liked to turn aside for a peep at Costebelle, which Brown thinks +one of the loveliest places of all. But Aunt Mary and Jimmy both opposed +me, saying that we ought to get on as soon as possible to Cannes--"to +Cannes" was their constant cry. + +Beyond Hyeres the road became more and more superb. We were travelling +now along the mountains of the Moors, gliding through groves of oak and +woods of shimmering grey-green olives, with glimpses of the glittering +sea on our right hand. Presently the way dipped to the verge of the sea +as far as Frejus, from which place it rose again to wind up and up into +the heart of the Esterels. Though we mounted many hundreds of feet, the +road was so well engineered that gradients were not very trying. Our +agreeable Napier, at any rate, made nothing of them, but simply flew up +at twelve or fourteen miles an hour. And the descent on the other side! +My heart comes into my mouth when I think of it. "It's quite safe," said +Brown; but it looked the most breakneck thing in the world, and my very +toes seemed to curl up, not with fear, but with a kind of awful joy. I +think when a bird takes its great swoops through the air it must feel +like we felt that day. The car bounded down the long lengths of looped +road, slowed up a little at the turns (where we all had to throw our +bodies sideways, like sailors hanging over the gunwale of a racing +yacht), bounded forward again so that the wind rushed by our ears like a +hurricane, slowed up once more, and so by a series of these magnificent +bird-like swoops reached the level ground. It was a fine piece of +driving on Brown's part, needing nerve, judgment, and a perfect +knowledge of the capabilities of his car. I had scarcely recovered from +the tingling joy of this wild mountain descent when we were in Cannes, +driving up an avenue to our hotel. + +It was a charming house, and I fell in love with Cannes at first sight; +but would you believe it? Jimmy's wonderful surprise never came off at +all!--and he wouldn't even tell me what it was. Aunt Mary wanted to; but +he got quite red, and said, "No, Miss Kedison, it may make me a great +deal of trouble if you say anything--at present. The whole position is +changed." I think mysteries are silly. + +By the way, you remember my telling you about the nice Lady +Brighthelmston I met in Paris, on her way to the Riviera--the mother of +the Honourable John who owns our Napier? She was going to stay at this +very hotel, and I thought it would be rather nice to see her again. I +meant to ask, when we arrived at the hotel, if she were there; but to my +surprise Aunt Mary remembered to do it before I did, and she and Jimmy +both seemed eager to find out. We had hardly got into the big, beautiful +hall, when they began to ply the manager with questions, and Jimmy +looked quite crestfallen when he was told that she had just gone on to +Rome. He _is_ rather fond of what he calls "swells," but I hadn't +fancied from what he said before that he knew Lady Brighthelmston very +well, or cared particularly about meeting her. + +"Most annoying!" he exclaimed crossly, glaring at the manager as if it +were his fault. "And has the Honourable John Winston, her son, been here +also?" + +"No," said the manager. "Lady Brighthelmston was with friends, an old +gentleman and his daughter. But I understood that her ladyship's son was +expected and that she was disappointed he did not arrive before she and +her party went away. Lady Brighthelmston left a letter for Mr. Winston," +and he pointed to a letter in the rack close by the office addressed in +a large handwriting to the Honourable John Winston. + +I was quite frightened when I heard that the owner of my car was +expected to arrive in Cannes, for Brown was so certain that he was in +England; yet here he might walk in at any moment to say that he'd +changed his mind and wanted back his Napier. Just as I was thinking of +going on to Italy in it, too! Why, the very thought that maybe I should +have to lose the car made me long to keep it all the more. + +I was gazing reproachfully at the letter and wondering if we hadn't +better hurry away from Cannes before the H. J. turned up, when I saw +Aunt Mary lay her hand on Jimmy's arm in a warning kind of way, as if +she wanted to keep him from saying something he had begun to say. At +that moment I found that Brown was at my elbow, though whether Aunt +Mary's warning to Jimmy had anything to do with him or not I don't know. +I don't see why it should, but she did look rather funny. Brown had come +in to bring me my dear little gold-netted purse with my monogram in +rubies and diamonds that you gave me just before I started. I'd dropped +it off my lap when I got out of the car, so you see I'm as bad about +that as ever. I thanked Brown, and then drawing him aside a little, I +told him about Mr. Winston and what I was afraid of. He was as sure as +ever that his old master wouldn't turn up to spoil sport, though I +pointed out the letter; and it's a funny thing that the Hon. J.'s +ex-_chauffeur_ should be kept more in touch with his movements than his +own mother. However, that's not my business. + +That afternoon Aunt Mary, Jimmy, and I had a lovely walk in Cannes by +the sea. We had tea at a fascinating confectioner's called Rumpelmayer, +and a long time afterwards dined at a perfect dream of a little +restaurant built out into the sea--the Restaurant de la Reserve, +something like the one in Marseilles. I wonder if they were here in your +day, Dad? There are pens in the water built up with walls, and lobsters +and other creatures are swimming unsuspectingly about in them. You +select your own fish, and in a few minutes the poor thing, so happy a +little while ago, is on the table exquisitely cooked with its own +appropriate sauce. It seems sad. Still, one does give them honourable +burial, and they couldn't expect to live for ever. I let Jimmy choose +mine, though, and while he and Aunt Mary discussed the _langouste_ I +leaned on the railing looking out over the bay. You will remember that +scene--all the twinkling lights of the town, and the tumbled mass of the +Esterel mountains, sombre and strange, across the sea. + +At dinner I began to hint to Aunt Mary about going on to Italy, but I +was rather sorry I'd said anything, for Jimmy caught me up like a flash, +and exclaimed that if we did make up our minds to such a trip, he would +like to keep us company on his Panhard, which he should no doubt find +waiting for him at Nice. Aunt Mary asked if we should be likely to meet +Lord Lane, as she had heard Jimmy talk so often of his friend Montie +that she quite longed to know him. She loves a lord, poor Aunt Mary, and +her face fell several inches when Jimmy answered that Montie was a very +retiring chap, shy with ladies, and might make a point of keeping out of +the way. When we got home to the hotel I had such a start. The +Honourable John's letter was gone out of the rack. I made sure that all +would now be over between the Napier and me, unless I could get so far +away with it that he'd sooner hire another than follow up his; and +anyway, if we disappeared he wouldn't know where to find us. I suppose +that was very bad and sly of me, wasn't it? I sent word to Brown that +we'd start at nine o'clock next morning; and wasn't it a joke on me, +after we'd been on the road for a while I told him what had happened, +and it turned out that _he'd_ taken the letter to re-address to his +master? + +Just before we started Jimmy said he'd had a wire from Lord Lane that +his car was waiting for him at the _garage_ in the Boulevard Gambetta at +Nice, and we went there after our splendid drive from Cannes, as Brown +knew about the place, and thought it would be convenient to leave our +Napier there. + +We sent our luggage by cab to our hotel, lunched at a delightful +restaurant, and in the afternoon, said Jimmy gaily, "I'll race you to +Monte and back with my Panhard." I knew in a minute what he meant, but +Aunt Mary thought he was talking about his everlasting Lord Lane, and +was so disappointed to find it was only Monte Carlo. _His_ Montie, he +explained, was seedy and confined to bed but he hoped we wouldn't +mention this before Brown, as Lord Lane didn't want his friend Jack +Winston to hear that he had come to the Riviera without letting him +know. + +So after lunch we started away from glittering, flowery blue and white +and golden Nice by the most glorious coast road for Monte Carlo. But you +know it well, dear Dad. I suppose there can be nothing more beautiful on +earth. And Monte Carlo is beautiful; but somehow its beauty doesn't seem +real and wholesome and natural, does it? It's like a magnificently +handsome woman who is radiant at night, and doesn't look suitable to +morning light, because then you see that her hair and eyelashes are dyed +and her complexion cleverly made up. If Monte Carlo could be +concentrated and condensed into the form of a real woman, I think she +would be the kind who uses lots of scent and doesn't often take a bath. + +We wandered about among the shops and saw the most lovely things, but +somehow I didn't "feel to want" any of them, as my nurse used to say. I +couldn't help associating all the smart hats and dresses and jewels in +the windows with the terrible hawk faces painted to look like doves, +which kept passing us in the streets or the Casino gardens, instead of +thinking whether the things would be pretty on me. + +Jimmy knows "Monte" very well, and was inclined to swagger about his +knowledge. There's one thing which I am compelled to admit that he can +do--order a dinner. He took us to a restaurant, led aside the head +waiter, talked with him for a few minutes, and announcing that dinner +would be ready when we wanted it, pioneered us across to "the rooms." +I'd seen so many pictures of the Casino that it didn't come upon me as a +surprise. The first thing that struck me was the overpowering deadness +of the air, which felt as if generations of people had breathed all the +oxygen out of it, and the ominous, muffled silence, broken only by the +sharp chink! chink! of the croupiers' rakes as they pulled in the +money. + +Jimmy insisted on staking a louis for me and another for Aunt Mary, who +was enraptured when, she won thirteen louis, and would have given up +dinner to go on playing if she hadn't lost her winnings and more +besides. + +When we sat down to our table at the restaurant she was quite depressed, +but everything was so bright and gay that she soon cheered up. Our +tablecloth was strewn all over with roses and huge bluey-purple violets, +and the dinner was _plu_perfect. There was a great coming and going of +overdressed women and rather loud young men, which amused me, but I +think it would soon pall. I can't imagine any feeling of rest or peace +at Monte Carlo, not even in the gardens. To stop long in the place would +be like always breathing perfume or eating spice. + +We had finished dinner, and Jimmy was paying the bill (I couldn't help +seeing that it was of enormous length), when the scraping of chairs +behind us advertised that a new party had arrived at the table back of +ours. A noisy, loud-talking party it was--all men, by the voices, and +one of those voices sounded remotely familiar. The owner of it seemed to +be telling an amusing story, which had been interrupted by entering the +restaurant and taking seats. "Well, she simply jumped at it like a trout +at a mayfly," the man was saying, as I sat wondering where I'd heard the +voice before. "I couldn't help feeling a bit of a beast to impose on +Yankee innocence. But all's fair in love and motor-cars. This was the +most confounded thing ever designed; a kind of ironmonger's shop on +wheels. And the girl was deuced pretty----" + +The word "motor-car" brought it all back, and in a flash I crossed +Europe from the restaurant in Monte Carlo to the village hotel at +Cobham. I looked round and into the face of Mr. Cecil-Lanstown. + +Aunt Mary looked too, for the bill was paid, and we were getting up to +go. Our eyes met in the midst of his sentence; the man half rose, but +dropped down again with a silly smile, and I gave him one of those +elaborate glances that begin with a person's boots and work slowly up to +the necktie. Just as we were sweeping past Aunt Mary said in a loud +aside to me, "Did you ever _see_ such a creature? And I took him for a +duke." I think he heard. + +In the Casino gardens we saw the moon rise out of the sea, and never +shall I forget the glory of it. But just the very beauty of everything +made me feel sad. So stupid of me. I really don't think I can be well +lately. I must take a tonic or a nerve pill. We went back to Nice for +the night, and next morning we drove to Mentone, where I decided that I +would rather stay for a long time than anywhere else on the Riviera. It +is just the sweetest, dearest little picture-place, with the natural, +country peacefulness that others lack, and yet there's all the gaiety +and life of a town. We drove to it along the upper road, which is almost +startlingly magnificent. I asked Brown to go slowly, so that we might +sip the scenery instead of bolting it. Though the Napier could have gone +romping up the steep road out of Nice to the Observatory, and on to +quaint La Turbie, I chose a pace of six or seven miles an hour, often +stopping at picturesque corners to drink in sapphire draughts of sea and +sky. Coming this way from Nice to Mentone we skipped Monte Carlo +altogether, only looking down from La Turbie on its roofs, on the +glittering Casino, and the gloomy, rock-set castle of Monaco. + +And, oh, by the way, Jimmy wasn't with us on that drive, nor has he +joined us yet, though he threatens to (if that word isn't too +ungracious) a little farther on in Italy. He stayed behind in Nice to +take care of Lord Lane. Aunt Mary thinks that shows such a sweet +disposition; but I'm not sure. I believe that Montie is a marquis. + +We stopped near Mentone, at Cap Martin, which of course you don't know, +as it's rather new. And it was lovely there, up high on a hill, among +sweet-smelling pines. It was pleasant to be alone with Aunt Mary again, +and I was nicer to her than I have been, I'm afraid, since Pau and +Jimmy. I should have loved to stay a long while (and it would be jolly +to come back for the carnival, though I don't suppose we shall), but +there was such a thrill in the thought of Italy being near that I grew +restless. Italy! Italy! I heard the name ringing in my ears like the +"horns of elfland." + +Now we are in it--Italy, I mean, not elfland, though it seems much the +same to unsophisticated me for mystery and colour; and it is good to +have warm-hearted Christmas for our _first_ day. The one jarring note in +the Italian "entrance music" was at the frontier. I think I wrote you +how, when we landed at Dieppe from England, about a hundred years ago, +I had to pay a deposit to the custom-house for the right to take my car +into France. That money I should have got back at Mentone on leaving the +country if the late-lamented Dragon had still been in existence, but as +it vanished in smoke and flame the money has vanished too. Brown, +however (or, rather, Brown's master), paid a similar deposit on the +Napier, and passing the French custom-house on the outskirts of Mentone, +the Lightning Conductor asked my permission to stop, that he might +present Mr. Winston's papers and get the money back to send to England. + +So far, so good; but it was dusk when we left the Cap Martin (as we'd +spent the day in exploring Mentone), and the custom-house people have +detained us some time; it was dark, cloudy, and windy when we moved on +again towards Italy. A _douanier_ mounted by Brown's side (I was with +Aunt Mary in the _tonneau_) to conduct us to the last French post, where +we dropped him; and in few yards farther we were in Italy. Maybe you +remember that the frontier is marked by a wild chasm, cleft in the high +mountains which hurl themselves down to the very margin of the sea. Over +the splendid chasm is the Pont St. Louis, and through the very middle of +the stone bridge runs the invisible "frontier line." + +I thought I saw a sentry box on the Italian side, but it was too dark to +be sure; and one has to go a good way up the steep mountain road before +one reaches the office of the _douane_. Here Brown pulled up, as two +slouching men in blue-grey overcoats, with rifles slung over their +backs, came forward to meet us. Our Lightning Conductor is always very +courteous in dealing with foreign officials. He says it "smooths +things"; and now, seeing that the men intended to stop us, he politely +expressed the wish to pass, offering to pay whatever deposit was +demanded. Though I have only the smallest smattering of Italian, I could +understand pretty well what followed. The men refused to let us pass. +Brown argued the matter; he produced a passport, which the two men +inspected by the light of a lantern. They appeared impressed, but still +refused us passage, saying that the office was closed for the night, +that the chief had gone, and that there was no one who could make out +the necessary papers. "But it is monstrous!" cried Brown. "Is this +Italian hospitality? Do you suggest that the ladies should remain here +on the road till morning?" The _douaniers_ shrugged their shoulders. +"There are plenty of good hotels in Mentone," said one. "Go back there." + +"No," said Brown, "I will not go back. Where does the chief of the +bureau live?" The _douaniers_ refused to tell. Clearly they did not want +a "wigging" for letting loose an imperious Englishman upon their chief, +reposing after his dinner. By this time an interested crowd of ten or +twelve persons had assembled, their shadowy forms seeming to rise out of +the ground. I heard a voice in French whisper into my ear, "I am of +France, and all these Italians are pigs. The _chef de douane_ lives in +Mortola, the first village up the road"; and before I could look round +to thank him, the friendly Frenchman was swallowed up in darkness. I +called Brown and gave him the news. He asked if we minded being left +alone while he went to fetch the chief, saying we should be quite safe +in charge of the _douaniers_; and on our agreeing strode off up the +steep road, one of the guards immediately padding silently after him. We +sat and waited perhaps half an hour on the threshold of Italy, our lamps +casting their rays into the country we were forbidden to enter, when I +heard Brown's voice and the sound of footsteps. By some persuasion he +had induced the _chef de douane_ to return with him. The office doors +were thrown open, the gas was lighted, the necessary papers were made +out, the deposit paid, and then, at Brown's invitation, the agreeable +official mounted into the car, and we ran quickly up the hill to his +house. + +It was a thrilling drive from the frontier to Bordighera. A great wind +coming salt off the sea was moaning along the face of the mountains, +completely drowning the comforting hum of our motor. The road mounted up +and up, terrific gusts striking the car as it came out into exposed +places. Far below we heard the thunder of mighty waves dashing on the +rock. Then we began to descend a steep and twisting road that led up +presently to low ground, not much above the sea, where the wind shrieked +down the funnel of a river-bed. Then up again along another face of +cliff under cyclopean walls of masonry, and down a sudden shoot between +houses into the old, old town of Ventimiglia; across a river and a +plain, to be pulled up presently by a very dangerous obstacle--a huge +beam of wood, unlighted, and swung across the road to guard a level +crossing. Our great acetylene eye, glaring ahead, gave Brown ample +warning, and we slowed down, then stopped, while a train thundered past. +Very deliberately a signalman presently came to push the barrier aside, +and we darted on through a long, straggling village, turned away from +the sea, found a large iron gate with a lamp over it, standing +hospitably open, and twisting through a fairy-like garden studded with +gigantic palms, drew up in a flood of light that poured from the door of +a large white hotel. To walk into the big, bright hall, to hear pleasant +English voices, to see nice men and pretty girls dressed for dinner and +waiting for the stroke of the gong, was an extraordinary contrast to the +roaring blackness of the night outside. Everyone turned to stare at us +as we came in masked and goggled like divers. + +This morning I waked up and looked out of my window a little before +seven. It was just sunrise and the wind had died. Under my eyes lay the +garden, lovely as Eden, garlands of roses looped from orange trees to +palms; banks of heliotrope, and sweetness unutterable. Then, a waving +sea of palms, with here and there the glow of a scarlet roof, and beyond +the sea. The rising sun shone on it and on the curved line of coast, +with Monte Carlo and Mentone gleaming like pearl. Floating up on the +horizon I saw a shadowy blue shape of an island, hovering like a ghost, +and as I looked it vanished suddenly as a broken bubble, leaving the sea +blank. I thought it must have been a mirage; but by-and-by a +soft-speaking, fawn-eyed maid called Apollonia told me it was Corsica, +which only shows itself sometimes early in the morning when the sun is +at a certain height and usually after a storm. + +We breakfasted in our sitting-room, with delicious honey for our crisp +rolls, and afterwards, when I went downstairs to send your cable, I +found the hall smelling like a forest of balsam firs. It was decorated +for Christmas, and the whole hotel seemed full of a sort of joyous, +Christmas stir, so that it was more like a jolly, big country-house than +a hotel. + +Then I found out that this hotel is famous for its Christmas +celebration. Everyone stopping there was supposed to be the landlord's +guest at a wonderful dinner, a regular feast, with dozens of courses, +ending up with crackers, which we all pulled. Last of all the +dining-room was darkened, and a long procession of waiters glided in +bearing illuminated ices--green, crimson, gold, and rose. We clapped our +hands and laughed, just like children, and the landlord had to make a +little speech. Altogether everything was so friendly and Christmasy that +the most gloomy misanthrope could not have felt homesick. I supposed +when dinner was over that the special festivities were at an end. But +no, quite the contrary. Everyone trooped into a huge picture-panelled +recreation-room, which had been the scene of secret preparation all day, +and there was a giant Christmas-tree, sparkling with pretty decorations, +and heavy with presents for each person in the hotel, all provided by +the landlord. We drew them with numbers, and I got a charming inlaid +box with a secret opening; Aunt Mary had a little silver vase. There was +music, too; harps and violins. I _was_ sorry that poor Brown was cut off +from all the fun. But I did give him a present. You know he refuses +tips, so I couldn't offer him money; but the other day at Cannes he was +looking rather worried, and it turned out that something--I didn't +understand exactly what, for he was rather vague in his answers--had +happened to his watch. I didn't say much then, but in Monte Carlo I +bought him quite a decent one for fifty dollars (he really does deserve +it), and gave it to him this morning with a "merry Christmas." You've no +idea how pleased he was. He seemed quite touched. + +There! a bell somewhere is striking midnight. Good-bye, dearest. My +thoughts have been full of you all day. + + Your + Molly. + + + + +JIMMY PAYNE TO CHAUNCEY RANDOLPH + + + Grand Hotel, Rome, _December 27_. + + Dear Mr. Randolph, + +I find myself in a difficult position, but I am going to take the bull +by the horns and write to you of certain things which seem to me of +importance. I trust to your friendship and your knowledge of my feelings +and desires towards Molly to excuse me if you consider that I am being +officious. You will understand when I have explained that I cannot hope +to make her see the matter in its true light; but you, as a man and her +father, will do so, and will comprehend that my motive is for her +protection. + +I have thanked you already for answering my letter, in which I begged +that you would let me know in which part of Europe Molly was travelling, +and she has told me that she wrote you of our meeting at Pau. I reached +there a couple of days sooner than she and Miss Kedison did. In fact, I +saw their arrival in the famous automobile of whose adventures you must +have heard much. The minute my eyes lighted upon the _chauffeur_ I felt +an instinctive distrust of the man, and I have learned through +experience not to disregard the warnings of my instinct. It has served +me more than one good turn in the street when the markets were wobbling. +Now I have been a good deal chaffed about a resemblance to Sherlock +Holmes, the great detective of fiction, but I acknowledge and am proud +of that resemblance. I venture to think that it is not wholly confined +to externals. A certain detective instinct was born in me. It began to +show itself when I was a little boy at school, and since then I have +trained and cultivated it, as a kind of higher education of the brain. +In several instances I have been able to expose frauds, which, but for +the purely impersonal, scientific interest I took in the affairs, might +have remained undetected. In these experiments I have made enemies of +course; but what matter? + +The interest I feel in the case I am about to lay bare to you is not, I +confess, purely impersonal. But I hope under the circumstances you will +think none the less of me for that. + +My first distant glimpse of the man Brown created, as I have said, an +unfavourable impression upon my mind. I thought that he had a swaggering +air of conceit and self-importance extremely unbecoming in a man of his +class. He had the air of thinking himself equal to his betters, which is +a dangerous thing in a person entrusted with the care of ladies. My +impression was confirmed by some of the tales which Molly told me of her +automobile experiences, not only quite unconscious that they militated +against her _chauffeur_, but apparently believing them to his credit. I +began to fear that the fellow was one to take advantage of the trust +placed in him by two unprotected women, whom he doubtless has guessed to +be well provided with money. My definite suspicions went at first no +further than this, though there was a kind of detective premonition in +my mind that more might remain to be found out. I might have confined +myself to tacit disapproval, however, or a word of advice to Molly, and +perhaps one stern warning to the man, had I not gone into the golf club +at Pau on our last day there. To my intense astonishment I saw Brown on +the links attempting to get members to play with him by passing himself +off as a gentleman. He wore good clothes, and acted his part fairly +well--well enough, perhaps to deceive the unobservant. But he is not the +sort of person I should ever mistake for a gentleman. I went up to him, +and very quietly ordered him off the links, threatening to expose him +publicly. But he whined for mercy, and I, in a moment of weak good +nature, let him off, on his promise to go at once. I inquired, however, +of the steward what name he had given on seeking admittance, and was +startled to find that he had passed himself off as the Honourable John +Winston, his late master and the owner of the car which Molly is now +using. As I had bound myself to keep silence, I did not betray him, but +the fact just discovered confirmed my distrust of the man as a dangerous +and unscrupulous person. + +For Molly's sake I felt that I must begin investigation, so as to be +able in the end to expose Brown and let her see him in his real +character; but for several reasons not necessary to trouble you with it +was essential to proceed with extreme caution. + +It was unbearable to me, knowing even the little I did know at that time +of the man's character to allow Molly and Miss Kedison to go wandering +over the country alone with him. I feared that he might compromise them +in some way, or even resort to blackmail, and with this danger before my +mind, I offered to accompany the ladies on their car to the Riviera. I +made the suggestion to Miss Kedison, not to Molly, and hinted to her +something concerning my motives, cautioning her at the same time that +silence was vitally important until I could give her leave to speak. You +may think that I was taking a good deal on myself; but I have a great +regard for you, as well as an unfortunately deep affection for Molly, +and as I have made many intimate friends among the highest in the land, +all over the Continent, as in England, I felt that my presence in the +car might be especially helpful. + +During the first day or two of our journey I caught Brown in several +audacious lies. He was insolent to me, evidently afraid that I meant to +lose him his berth, and inclined to be so familiar with the ladies, +Molly particularly, that my suspicions of him were roused to fever heat. +I began to see that his ambitions tended higher than I had at first +supposed, and--I hope you will forgive my frankness--I should not be +surprised if some day before long Molly should have a startling +awakening. + +I questioned her carefully as to what Brown had said to her of his late +master's movements, and it appeared that, according to the _chauffeur_, +the Honourable John Winston had returned to England, leaving Brown to +hire out and drive his automobile. This seemed strange to me, and I +asked myself if it were possible that the fellow could have contrived to +steal the car, and be using it for his own purposes, taking the money +derived from its hire for himself. One thing which encouraged this +deduction was the extremely low rent asked for the vehicle and the small +wages demanded by Brown. But it was at Toulon that a still more sinister +idea was forced into my mind by a startling incident to which I will +draw your attention. + +You will very likely have heard from Molly that owing to a side-slip +which might have happened to anyone in driving an automobile, we had an +upset by the roadside, and in common politeness I was compelled to obey +Miss Kedison's request to remain with her at a small village, some miles +from Toulon, while Molly went on to see a doctor about an injury to her +wrist, Brown being her attendant. When Miss Kedison and I arrived at +Toulon on the car next day, it was decided to stay the night there +rather than go on so late. I saw Brown, who was working outside the +hotel at the automobile, take money out of his pocket to pay a man who +had been helping him with the repairs. Something small dropped on the +ground as he did so, unknown to Brown. When he had moved away, I stooped +and picked it up. It was a French pawn-ticket for a pledged watch, dated +the previous night. I determined, in the interest of my investigations, +to visit the pawnbroker's, which I did; and giving up the ticket, said I +had called to redeem the pledge. Imagine my sensations when I saw a +magnificent gold repeater, with the monogram "J. W." upon it in small +diamonds. The conclusion was obvious, for the watch was not one which +would be given by a master even to the most valued servant. I paid +something like two hundred and sixty francs to redeem the repeater, and +justified such a proceeding to myself by the argument that the watch had +assuredly been stolen, and that my action was the most certain way of +preserving it for the owner and earning that owner's gratitude, _if he +still existed_. Those last four words, which I have underscored, will +enlighten you as to the doubts now materialising in my mind. In fact, I +believe this _chauffeur_ a man _capable of anything_. + +On returning to the hotel, with the Honourable Mr. Winston's watch in my +pocket, I made a few inquiries as to Brown's behaviour the night before; +I learned that he had appeared in the _salle a manger_ for dinner, in an +irreproachable evening suit which _in some way_ he must have obtained +from his master. Perhaps I ought not to repeat what else I learned, as I +do not like to tell tales out of school, but I think it is only right +you should know that Molly allowed this impostor to sit at the table +with her, as if he had been an equal instead of a servant. + +I positively dared not let Miss Kedison into the secret of what had +happened, but I hinted to her that I had had good reason to think less +well of Brown even than before. It was arranged that we should induce +Molly to hurry on to Cannes, where Lady Brighthelmston (pronounced +"Brighton"), the mother of my friend the Honourable John Winston, was +supposed to be staying. I wished to find out from her when she had last +heard from her son, and if she were absolutely assured of his present +safety. I also intended to show her the watch, and put her in possession +of all the deductions and details I had been able to pick up. This once +done, Brown's exposure by Lady Brighthelmston and subsequent dismissal +by Molly would be only a question of hours. + +Unfortunately, however, Lady Brighthelmston had left Cannes for Rome +when we arrived; nevertheless, one more proof of the _chauffeur's_ +duplicity came into my hands there. A letter which had been left in the +rack for the Honourable John Winston, by his mother, was secretly _taken +out by Brown_. And the fact that Lady Brighthelmston was expecting her +son to join her on his automobile does not look as if poor Jack were in +England and had voluntarily left his car with the _chauffeur_. + +Altogether the affair appears ominous for my friend, and the thought +that Molly and Miss Kedison are perpetually at the mercy of this +unscrupulous wretch, in a strange country, is maddening to me as it will +be to you when you receive this letter. When they left the Riviera for +Italy, I was obliged to remain behind for a day with a sick friend, but +followed as soon as possible on my Panhard. Owing, however, to +unforeseen events and one or two small accidents, I was delayed, and +unable to catch them up as I had intended. Finally, as Brown was +probably hurrying on with the express intention of making it impossible +for me to overtake the party, I determined to abandon my car and proceed +by rail to Rome, their destination. My idea was to reach that city +before they could do so, and see Lady Brighthelmston as I had planned to +do at Cannes, so that the police could be ready if necessary to arrest +Brown immediately on his arrival. I arrived on the day expected and +called at the hotel to which Lady Brighthelmston's letters were to be +forwarded from Cannes. But on account of the unusual cold and bad +weather, she had suffered from neuralgia, and had gone on with her +friends, after less than a week's stay, to Naples, with the idea that +she might visit Sicily later. + +Having gone so far, I am not to be turned back. I love Molly far too +well to desert her, and some day, when she finds out all I have done for +her sake, perhaps she will appreciate me better than she has up to the +present. I cannot tell her myself, but it may be that you will think fit +to let her know. I mean to follow Lady Brighthelmston to Naples, or even +farther if it be necessary, for writing the information I have to give +might do more harm than good to everyone concerned. I must be on the +spot; but very unluckily I cannot be there for some days to come. The +weather in Rome is really awful, and I have contracted something which I +am afraid is influenza. With the best intentions, I cannot go to the +rescue until the doctor gives me leave. I shall probably still be here +when Molly arrives. Meanwhile, my dear Mr. Randolph, I have thought best +to put you on your guard. + + Yours faithfully and sincerely, + J. F. Payne. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Hotel de Russie, Rome, + _January 2_. + + Darling Dad, + +Forgive me for that inadequate little note written yesterday to wish you +a Happy New Year; but short as it was, there was enough love in it to +make the letter double postage. We have been working so hard at pleasure +since that I haven't had time for anything except the various cables +which from day to day I have flung to you from our chariot of fire as we +sped half-way down the long leg of Italy--that's pink on my schoolroom +map at home. Somehow, I've always thought of Italy as being pink, ever +since I first hunted it out on the map; and it is still gloriously +_couleur de rose_ to the eyes of my body and mind. + +How splendid it is not to be disappointed in something that you've +looked forward to all your life, isn't it? But I don't think I am the +kind of girl who is disappointed in _real_ things--nature's real things, +I mean. People have often said to me, "Oh, you will be disappointed in +Europe, if you look forward to it so much." But I believe such creatures +have no imagination. With imagination you have the glamour of the past +and all the wonderful things that have happened in a place, as well as +the mere beauty of the present. But then, without imagination one must +just expect to have one's poor little soul go bare, and to live on all +the "cold pieces" of life, never to taste the nectar and ambrosia of the +gods; never to know the thrill of sympathy, or any other thrill that +isn't purely physical. + +I'm intoxicated with all I have seen and am seeing--which must excuse +the harangue. And I'm intoxicated with the joy of driving the car. +Lately I have been rivalling the Lightning Conductor, for my wrist is +quite well again. The microbe of automobilism has entered into my blood. +Yes, I'm speaking literally; I'm sure there's such a microbe, and that +he's a brave beast. I should like to see him in your big microscope. +Perhaps I'll bring him home for the purpose. + +It has become the greatest joy I have ever known to get all I possibly +can out of noble Balzac; to urge Balzac uphill as fast as I can; to +drive Balzac downhill as fast as I dare; to man[oe]uvre Balzac in and +out of traffic with all my skill and nerve. But you mustn't be a bit +uneasy about me. Brown is always at my elbow to "warn, to comfort, to +command," and I know that he won't let me do anything I oughtn't or let +any harm come of it if I did. + +The worst of driving an automobile yourself, when you've really got that +microbe in your blood, is that you don't see quite as much of the +country as you would otherwise, and that you hate to stop, even when +there are wonderful things to see. But then it used to be almost the +same in both ways when one lived, breathed, and moved for bicycles. Do +you remember how I would talk of nothing else, and made "bike slang" +answer for all human nature's daily needs? You _were_ annoyed one night +when I took your arm as we were walking together, and told you you were +"geared too high for me." + +If my life depended now on giving accurate details of the country +through which we've been driving, I should have to resign myself to die. +I only know that I've never been so happy, or seen half so much that was +beautiful and (as that Mrs. Bennett, who wanted to marry you so badly, +was always saying) "soul-satisfying." + +Well, we left Bordighera the day after Christmas. Brown called it +"Boxing Day," but I didn't understand what he meant till he explained. +We went spinning along the Riviera di Ponente, towards Genoa la Superba, +where we were to halt for the night. Perhaps--just perhaps--a true +critic of beauty, whose blood had cooled with much experience, would say +that the Italian Riviera road wasn't quite equal to the French between +Cannes and Mentone. But it's Italy, Italy! And there's the difference of +charm between the two (as I said to Brown) that there is between a +magnificent young French Duchesse, confident of her own charms, with +generations of breeding and wealth behind her, and a lovely, +peach-tinted, simple-hearted Italian peasant girl. How rich the colour +is everywhere!--and yet it never seems to dazzle the eye. I suppose it's +the wonderful atmosphere that harmonises everything. And then the +lovely, softening effect of the years; the moss, the lichen; the +endearing dilapidation! So many things appeal to your _heart_ as you +pass through Italy. Oh I don't know how to describe it; but luckily +you've been here, and we generally feel things alike, you and I; so +you'll know what I mean. Poor little pathetic houses, painted red, blue, +or yellow! You laugh at them, and want to cry over them, and love them, +too. And the reds, yellows, and blues are like no other reds, yellows, +and blues in the world. Fancy, if we had houses like that in our new +land! How frightful they would be! We would want the painters to be put +in prison for their crime. + +I can tell you this: That first day of ours was like hurrying through a +whole gallery of Turner's paintings. I love Turner, and I often wonder +if _my_ world isn't as different from many people's old grey worlds as +his was! + +Another thing, we had become phenomenal. That is, we were in a +motor-car-less region. Ours was the only car, whereas on the other side +of Mentone we met a rival every ten minutes. I do get cause and effect +so mixed up. Aren't there many automobiles in Italy because there are +such lots of places where you can't buy petrol; or can't you buy petrol +because people won't go in automobiles? + +We went flashing along past pretty little Ospedaletti, with its big +white casino, and into gay and colourful San Remo, where we bought +inferior petrol and paid twice as much for it as in France. I wonder if +any small watering-place ever had as many attractive-looking hotels in +it as San Remo? If I were staying there, I should weep because I +couldn't live in them all at once. But one would be obliged to have +about thirty astral bodies to go round, and each one would have to be a +well-dressed astral body. That would come expensive; or do astral bodies +exude frocks, so to speak? + +I insisted on stopping for a few moments within sight of Taggia, because +a great friend of mine lived there, or rather, the author of his being. +His name was "Doctor Antonio," and he existed in the pages of a book +written by a famous Italian, John Ruffini. Brown gave me the book for a +Christmas present, apologising for the liberty; but, you see, it was all +about Bordighera, and he thought I would like to have it. So I did, for +it is one of the most enchanting stories I have ever read, though +written in an old-fashioned style, and also with a pretty little heroine +who was so old-fashionedly meek I could have shaken her. I sat up nearly +all night reading the book, and oh, how I cried! There never was such a +splendid fellow in real life as Doctor Antonio, except, of course, you. +And, do you know, if Brown had been born a gentleman I think _he_ might +have turned out something like that. I liked Taggia for Doctor Antonio's +sake; and I admired Porto Maurizio on its haughty promontory. It towers +in my recollection just as the real Porto Maurizio towers above the +indigo-blue sea, out of which it seems to grow. + +If it hadn't been for Brown, I'm ashamed to say I shouldn't have known +much about the Ligurian Alps. Do you. Dad? They're frightfully +interesting, a sort of "bed rock" of Italian history. Dear me, how +ignorant one can be, when all the while one is quite pleased with +oneself as an Educated Person, with a capital E and P. + +Alassio I thought a dear little place. You stopped there when you were +coaching, in your honeymoon days. How little you dreamed then that your +daughter would go tearing through on a motor? It has a nicer beach than +any of the rival towns we saw; no wonder the Italians love to bathe +there! Brown told me interesting stories about the enormous, lofty brick +towers of Albenza, that seemed to nod so drowsily over the narrow, +shadowed streets; Savona was too much modernised to please me, though +the name had chimed alluringly in my ears; and with Pra we were treading +on the trailing skirts of Genoa. Jimmy Payne had told Aunt Mary that it +was nicer to stay all night in Pegli than in Genoa, because there were +large gardens and a splendid view; but Brown said, if we would trust +him, he would take us to a hotel in the midst of Genoa, with a large +garden and a splendid view. So we did trust him--at least I did. And oh, +Dad, I had my first experience in driving through real, enormous city +traffic in Genoa! I _would_ try it; and I succeeded beyond my dreams. I +have got things to a fine point now, so that I manipulate the clutch and +throttle (don't they sound murderous?) almost automatically; and there's +something quite magical in the ease with which one can bring the car +instantly down to a crawling walk, which wouldn't disconcert a tortoise, +behind a string of carts, or at a touch dart ahead of the string, and +leave the swiftest horse as if he were standing still. + +There must be comparatively few automobiles in Genoa, or else ours beat +the record for beauty; for people in the long, straight, narrow old +streets lined with palaces, or the wide, stately, newer streets of +splendid shops (where they showed everything on earth except the Genoa +velvet I had always yearned to see on its native heath) turned to stare +at us. But oh, perhaps it was only because a girl was driving! Anyway, +the girl didn't disgrace herself. You would have been proud to see her +daringly steer down an old sloping causeway into the Garden of Eden--I +mean, the garden of our hotel. Anyway, the girl was proud of herself +when the Lightning Conductor said, "Brava! No one could have done that +better." + +Brown was quite right about coming on to Genoa. It was a lovely hotel, +with quite a tropical garden that had a sort of private Zoo of its own; +jolly little beasts and birds in cages, which Aunt Mary and I fed next +morning, when we'd had a delicious rest after a long day. After an early +breakfast we went sight-seeing; and isn't the Campo Santo the very +quaintest thing you ever saw? I don't think I could have helped laughing +at some of the extraordinary marble ladies (with hoop skirts and +bustles, and embroidered granite ruffles, and stone roses in their +bonnets, kissing the hands of angel husbands with mutton-chop whiskers +and elastic-sided boots; or knocking at the doors of forbidding-looking +tombs, with Death as a sort of unliveried footman saying, "Not at +home") if it hadn't been for the mourners coming to visit their dead. +Oh, the pathos of them, with their sad, dark eyes, their heavy black +draperies, and the flowers they were bringing to tell their loved ones +that they were never forgotten! Instead of laughing, I came near crying. +But the two moods are often so near together that one makes mistakes in +their identity. The only fine and simple thing in the huge, strange +place was the tomb of Mazzini. + +I was tremendously impressed with the harbour at Genoa. It seemed so +proud, as if Italy need have no shame to be represented by it, in the +presence of all the crowding ships from all the ports of the world. + +The morning was still young and fair when we rushed away along the +Riviera di Levante; and even Aunt Mary was congratulating herself that +we were on an automobile and not a train. For a while our road ran side +by side with the rail; and whenever the coast was at its most exquisite, +with some jutting headland over which we could skim like a bird, the +wretched train had to go burrowing through the earth like a mole, all +the glory and beauty shut out in murky darkness. I counted about fifty +tunnels between Genoa and Spezzia. When we'd escaped from the suburbs of +Genoa, and the last tall houses which made you afraid it might be their +day to fall, we came upon visions as lovely as any we had seen in the +French Riviera. Those gleaming towns set on curving bays of sapphire +will always seem like dream-towns to me, unless I go back and prove +their reality; especially Rapallo, which was the most beautiful of all. +Jennie Harborough and her mother spent all one winter there, I remember +their telling me, and were sorry to go at the end. They went because it +was rather cheap, but stayed because it was more lovely than the +expensive places. From Rapallo, through Zoagli to Chiavari, we were high +above the sea, winding through ravine after ravine, but at Chiavari the +best of the coast was behind us; and at Sestri, much to our disgust, we +had to turn our backs on the sea. Still, it was delicious mounting up +among the foothills of the Apennines by the Col di Baracca, and running +down to Spezzia, lying like a pretty, lazy woman, looking out upon the +green gulf named after it. We had lunch in a cool, agreeable hotel to +which I felt grateful because of its pretty name--the Croce di Malta. I +did want to go and see Shelley's house at Lerici, but--well, I saw its +photograph instead; for there was our Napier "sleeping with one valve +open," luring us on, on under the shadow of the Apennines. One _does_ +feel a wretch always "going on" instead of lingering, but that microbe I +told you about gives one a fever. Think of running through Lucca! But, +if we did what we planned in the day we must sacrifice something, so we +sacrificed Lucca to Pisa. The very name, before our arrival, made me a +child again, looking through the big stereoscope in your study at the +Leaning Tower, or at the steel engraving in Finden's _Landscape Annual_. +But from the moment I saw it, like a carving in ivory, reclining +gracefully on the bosom of a golden cloud, I forgot the stereoscope and +the _Annual_. In future I shall always see it against that cloud of rosy +sunset-gold. + +I never knew how beautiful marble could be until I came to Pisa and +_Rome_. Somehow I had associated Pisa with the Leaning Tower, and not +with the Baptistry. I knew it existed, and, vaguely, that it was worth +seeing; but Pisa meant the Leaning Tower to me. Now I couldn't tell you +which has left the deeper impression. I'm not at all the same girl that +I was before I put Pisa and Rome into the gallery of my mind. I _must_ +make myself a worthy frame for such pictures as I am storing up now. I +have the feeling not only that I want to read better books, hear more +splendid music, and do more noble things, but that I shall know how to +appreciate more clearly everything that is exalted or exalting. I hope +you won't think me sentimental to say that. + +We stayed all night at a real Italian hotel on the Lung Arno. Brown +suggested it, thinking that we might enjoy an experience thoroughly +characteristic of the country through which we were flying so fast. Aunt +Mary wasn't pleased with the idea at all, said it would be horrid, and +prophesied unspeakable things; but, as usual, Brown proved to be right, +and she consented to admit it if I would promise not to punish her with +her own stock phrase--"I told you so!" You would have laughed to see me +conscientiously trying to eat maccaroni in the true Italian way. I +curled it round my fork beautifully, but the hateful thing _would_ +uncurl again before I could get it up to my mouth, and accidents +happened. + +I watched the Italians, too, pouring their wine from the fat glass +flasks swung in pivoted cradles. They did it all with one hand, holding +a goblet between the thumb and second finger, and twisting the index +finger round the neck of the bottle to pull it forward. It looked such a +neat and simple trick that I thought I could do likewise; but--well, it +was the reverse of neat when I did it, and the spotless tablecloth was +spotless no longer. Instead of glaring at me for the mischief I had +done, the head waiter was all sympathy. How nice and Italian of him! + +That night, lying between sheets that smelt of lavender--only better +than American or English lavender--I lived through the day once more, +seeing ruined watch-towers set on hills, old grey monasteries falling +into beautiful decay, or apparitions of white marble cathedrals. Then, +over and over again, that wonderful carved-ivory tower leaning against +the golden sky came back to me--so _clean_, so uninjured by the reverent +centuries, and the sound of the angel-voiced echo in the Baptistry, and +the strange shapes of the dear beasts supporting the pulpit, just like I +used to picture the beasts in Revelations when I was a little girl. Next +morning I had another look at the Leaning Tower before we started, and +in a shop I came across a delicious and beautifully written book called +_In Tuscany_, by the English Consul at Leghorn, so I bought it, and now +I know as much as Brown does about the country through which we passed +during several perfect days. + +I'm not sure, but I am being both brutal and banal in saying that the +rest of our journey to Rome was comparatively uninteresting. Of course, +nothing can be _really_ uninteresting in Italy, but I suppose those +first days had spoiled me. We drove for mile after mile through marshy +land, where tall, melancholy eucalyptus trees told their tale of a brave +struggle against malaria. All the windows and doors of the signal cabins +by the railway stations were protected by wire gauze against mosquitoes, +and we who have spent summers on Staten Island know what _that_ means, +don't we? + +I think, if I were not in Rome, I could have written you a better +account of our flight through Italy; but the Eternal City has blurred +all other impressions for me now, though I think afterwards they will +come back as clear and bright as ever. Nevertheless, I'm not going to +write you much about Rome. It's too big for my pen, too mighty and too +marvellous. I can only feel. You have been here, and Rome doesn't +change. Only I _wonder_ what you felt when you first saw the Laocoon and +the Apollo Belvedere? I used to think I didn't quite appreciate +sculpture, but now I know it was because something in me was waiting for +the _best_, and refusing to be satisfied with what was less than the +best. Why, I didn't even know what _marble_ could be till I saw the +Laocoon. I had meant to do a good deal of sight-seeing that day when I +began with the Vatican; but I sat for hours in front of those writhing +figures in their eternal torture. I couldn't go away. The statue seemed +to belong to me, and I had found it again, after searching hundreds and +hundreds of years. I wonder if I was once a princess in the palace of +the Caesars, in another state of existence, and if in those days I used +to stand and worship the Laocoon? I shouldn't wonder a bit. And the +Apollo Belvedere! What a gentleman--what a _perfect gentleman_ he is! +You will laugh at me for such a thought. It seems commonplace, but it +isn't. Nobody's ever said it before. He's such a gentleman and so +graciously beautiful that you know he must be a god. I shouldn't have +minded worshipping him a bit. Paganism had its points. + +I should love to come back to Rome on my wedding trip if I were married +to exactly the right man; but if he were not _exactly_ right I should +kill him; whereas in ordinary places I might be able to stand him well +enough, as well as most women stand their husbands. Speaking of men who +aren't exactly right reminds me of Jimmy Payne. He is here. He seems to +have a sort of instinct to tell him when one is about to drive up to a +hotel, and then he stations himself in the door, expecting the blessing +which is for those who stand and wait. We made a sensation driving down +the narrow Corso at the fashionable hour, and Jimmy got some of the +credit of it when he stepped forward to welcome us. He had heard me say +that we would stop here, because I'd been told it was the only hotel in +Rome with a garden, and was close to the Pincian; and Jimmy has such a +way of remembering things you say, if he thinks it's to his advantage. +His first appearance was slightly marred, however, by a sneeze which, +like Lady Macbeth's etcetera spot, would "out" at the precise moment of +shaking hands. He says he got influenza from the Duchessa di +Something-or-Other, upon whom he was obliged to call the instant he +arrived, or she would never have forgiven him; so of course it's not +quite so hard to bear as common, second-class influenza. It appears that +he was so anxious to see "dear Lady Brighthelmston before she could get +away" that he shed his automobile at Genoa, and hurried on by train, +though whether on receipt of a telegraphic bidding from her ladyship or +not I don't know. Anyway, she didn't wait for him, or else the influenza +frightened her; for she has gone, and apparently without leaving word +for poor disconsolate Jimmy. She was at his hotel, and left word with +the manager that she would wire when she was settled in "some place +where there was a _little_ sunshine" for her letters to be forwarded. He +is waiting till that wire arrives. + +Jimmy is "thick as thieves" with Aunt Mary, but as frigid as a whole +iceberg to poor Brown, if they happen to run across each other. I do +think, don't you, Dad, that it shows shocking bad breeding to be nasty +to a person who, from the very nature of the case, can't answer back? +When I hear people speaking rudely to servants I always set them down as +cads. Imagine marrying a man and then finding out that he was a cad! One +ought to be able to get a divorce. The weather has, I suppose, been +terrible since we came to Rome; at least, I hear everyone in our hotel +grumbling, and certainly gardens haven't been of much use to us. But I +am in a mood not to mind weather. I am in Rome. I say that over to +myself, and I read _Lanciani_ and _Hare_, and then I don't know whether +it rains or not. Besides, yesterday was clear on purpose for me to walk +in the Pincian and Borghese Gardens. Brown had to go with me because +Aunt Mary was afraid there would be another storm; and besides, some +little English ladies she has met in our hotel had invited her to have +tea with them in their bedroom. They make it themselves with their own +things, because then you don't have to pay; and if there aren't enough +cups to go round among the ladies they've asked, they take their +tooth-brush glasses for themselves. And they bring in custardy cakes in +paper-bags and cream in tiny pails which they hide in their muffs, and +try to look unconscious. There are a lot here like that, and they stay +all winter. None of them are married, and they all do and say exactly +the things you know they will beforehand. Why, just to look at them you +feel sure they'd have tatting on their stays, and make their own +garters. But some of them are titled, or if they're not they talk a +great deal about being "well connected"; and they do nothing on weekdays +but read novels, work in worsteds, and play bridge with the windows +hermetically sealed; or on Sundays but go to the English church. Only +think, and they're in _Rome_! + +I haven't wasted one minute since we came, but, thank goodness, I'm not +trying to "_do_" Rome scientifically and exhaustively like so many poor +wilted-looking Americans I've met here. They think they must see every +picture in every gallery, and put at least their noses inside every +church; and then they scribble things down in their note-books--things +which will do them just as much good afterwards as Lizard Bill's +writings on his slate when the ink trickled over his nose, in _Alice's +Adventures_. One American lady in this hotel said her daughters had +dragged her about so much that she didn't know what country she was in +any more, except by the postage stamps. If I were in her place I should +lie down to take a nap when I arrived in town, and _say_ I had seen the +things when I went back to Fond du Lac; there's where she lived before +her daughters took to doing Paris in one day and London in two; they +told me quite simply that was the time you needed to give. + +Dad, _we drove in the automobile along the Appian Way_. It sounds +shocking, but it wasn't; it was glorious. There is never anything +jarring (I don't mean that for a pun) about going into the midst of old +and wonderful things on a motor-car, for _it_ is wonderful too, and it +has a dignity of its own--the dignity of fine and perfect mechanism +which seems alive, like a splendid Pegasus or an obedient unicorn, or +some other strange legendary animal which you are obliged to respect and +marvel at. + +And Brown took me into the Colosseum last night--late--when the moon was +rising out of torn black clouds. + +But I said I wasn't going to write about Rome, and I won't--I vow I +won't, not even about St. Peter's. I think one ought to stop here ten +days, and see things all day long--just things you want to see, not +things you ought to see; or else linger for months, and let everything +soak into your soul. I can't do the latter, this time, with the Napier +waiting--waiting; and so I'm making the best of the first. + + Your reincarnated Roman Princess, + Molly. + + + + +FROM MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HER FATHER + + + Parker's Hotel, Naples, + _January 13_. + + You Dear, + +I have seen Naples, but I don't wish to die. Not that I should so much +grudge dying after the happy life you've given me, but there'd be such +an awful waste of time in staying dead when so much is left to see. +There's Capri, and there's Sicily almost next door; and even a Saturday +to Monday on Mars wouldn't make up to me for missing them. + +We put our hands to the plough, and came here from Rome in six hours, +only one hour more than the fast (?) train takes. We didn't stop for +lunch, but kept ourselves up on beef lozenges, which were nasty but +supporting. We wanted to see how quickly we _could_ do it, and even Aunt +Mary was excited. She is much pleasanter without Jimmy, and we really +did have fun. It's an ill rain that doesn't temper the dust to an +automobile, so we blessed the weather which we had previously +anathematised. After a pouring night, it cleared before we started; and +it was one of the best days we have ever had. I remembered heaps of +things which had happened to me when I was a Roman princess, two +thousand years ago, and felt just as if I were travelling in my chariot +from my father's palace in Rome to his villa, perhaps in Baiae. My only +fear was that, in going so fast, we should arrive at our destination so +long before the impedimenta that I should have to do without my baths of +asses' milk for several days; and where would be my royal complexion? + +It was six o'clock, and dark, when we came in sight of something which +made me cry out "Oh!" It was a dull red light, high up in the sky, and a +dark shape, like a great wounded bull, with two streams of fiery blood +pouring down its gored sides. Vesuvius! Brown had planned that we should +see it for the first time after dark. I had wondered why he suggested +not leaving Rome till twelve o'clock, when usually he is so keen on +early starts, and he was evasive when I asked why. But when I had +breathed that "Oh!" and had a moment to recover myself, he told me. + +Dad, dear, Brown is splendid. He has _revealed_ Naples to me. I can't +express it in any other way, for nobody else who has told me about +coming to Naples has ever done the things that we have; and they would +not have occurred to Aunt Mary or me. We should have gone the ordinary +round if it hadn't been for him, and when we said good-bye to her Naples +would have been only a mere acquaintance of ours, not a dear and +intimate friend who has told us her best secrets. In the first place, we +shouldn't have known any better than to stop in some big, _obvious_ sort +of hotel in the noisy wasps' nest of the city, instead of coming here +where the air is pure and some of the most beautiful things in the +world in sight without turning our heads. It's such a homelike hotel, +and instead of sending to _England_ for orange marmalade made of +Sicilian oranges, the way all the other hotels seem to do, they make it +themselves out of their own oranges; and it's a poem. + +We've been up Vesuvius, not in the daytime, like the humdrum tourists, +but by torchlight, and we saw the moon rise. Instead of rushing to the +Museum the first thing and mooning vaguely about there for hours, we +saved it until after we'd been out to Pompeii on the motor-car; then it +was a hundred times more interesting, and we are coming back after Capri +to pay another visit to the busts of Tiberius and his terrible mother. I +felt in Rome as if it were an impertinence to be modern and young. But +in Pompeii--oh, I can't tell you what I felt there. I think--I really do +think that I saw ghosts, and they were much more real and important than +I. It was like entering the enchanted palace of the Sleeping Beauty in +the wood, only a thousand times more thrilling and wonderful. I didn't +feel as if anyone else had ever been there since it was dug up, except +Brown and me--and, of course, Aunt Mary. + +Brown knew about fascinating Italian restaurants, and he drove us up on +the automobile for tea to a new hotel on a high hill, almost a mountain. +It's the "smart" thing for people who know to go up to tea, which--if +it's fine--you have on a great terrace that is the most beautiful thing +in all Naples. And we spent a whole morning up at St. Elmo. That is +going to be my best recollection, I think, and--you will laugh--but the +next best will be the Aquarium. When you came to Naples was there a +thing in the Aquarium like the ghost of a cucumber, transparent as +glass, with strings of opals and rubies being drawn through its veins +every two minutes regularly? Brown says that it--or its ancestor--has +been there ever since he can remember. I like that green light in the +Aquarium, which makes you feel as if you were a mermaid under the sea, +and inclined to swim instead of walk. + +When we were driving up to the hotel, Brown said it was almost as steep +and winding as the road from Capri to Anacapri. That speech, and gazing +from our balcony at Parker's over the blue bay to the island which looks +like the Sphinx rising out of the sea, have made me distracted to take +the automobile to Capri. Brown "doesn't advise it," and thinks "we may +have great trouble in landing," but that makes me want the adventure all +the more; so we're going to-morrow--not just for a day, like the people +who don't care about Tiberius, and think the Blue Grotto is the only +thing to see--but to stay for several days. Brown says one could find a +new walk on the island for every day of a whole month, and each would be +absolutely different from the other, though Capri is only three and a +half miles long and about a mile and a half in width. + +I feel as if we were in for something exciting, just as you feel, I +suppose, when you are going to bring off a big _coup_ "in the street." + + Your Chip-of-the-old-Block, + Molly. + +P.S.--I wouldn't post my Naples letter. I thought if I did, you might +imagine that we and our car had been engulphed in the sea, unless you +got the end of the adventure tacked on to the beginning; so this is to +be a fat postscript. Yes, a gorged python of a postscript. + +At first the dock people couldn't be persuaded that we seriously +intended to take an automobile to the island of Capri; and when they +realised that we were in earnest, they buzzed with excitement like +swarming bees. Everyone directly or indirectly concerned argued at the +top of his voice, and embroidered his arguments with gestures, nobody +paying the slightest attention to anybody else. We didn't even ask +permission to go on one of the big passenger steamers, for we knew it +would be no use; but there's a little sea-chick of a thing called _La +Sirena_, which plies back and forth every day with provisions, luggage, +and passengers, to whom cheapness is an object. She was our prey; and as +nobody had happened to make a law against transporting motor-cars, +simply because nobody had ever thought of taking anything so abnormal +since Tiberius used to send his chariots, we could not be restrained. + +All the loafers in Naples collected on the quay, and I don't believe +anything would have been done for us if Brown hadn't calmly begun to +widen the gangway. He had suggested that I should go over in the morning +with Aunt Mary on the North German Lloyd that takes the trippers (as he +calls them) over for the Blue Grotto, and lunch. But I didn't see it in +that light, for I wanted the adventure. Aunt Mary _didn't_ want it at +any price, so she was packed off by herself; and when the Lightning +Conductor slowly drove the car on board the little _Sirena_ I was by his +side. There was a moment of awestruck silence on the quay; but when +Brown had gently man[oe]uvred Balzac into position in a clear space on +deck, the murmurs of doubt and disapproval turned into a burst of +delighted wonder. Brown and I felt like "variety" artistes being +applauded for a clever turn, and the appropriate thing would have been +to bow and kiss our hands. + +But all this was nothing to what was in store for us at the Grande +Marina at Capri. If we had gone in one of the bigger steamers, we should +have had to get the automobile into a small boat, or perhaps lash it +somehow on to two boats; but the _Sirena_ is so small that she can come +up along the landing-place, which was one reason why, after Brown had +made inquiries, he was willing to go with the fowls and vegetables. The +nearer we got to the island, the more beautiful it looked, and as we +came in Brown was telling me things about Tiberius' palaces and where +they had stood, when suddenly a shout went up from the quay. A group of +stalwart women, clustered together there, were laughing and pointing at +our car. They belonged to a race of Amazons bred on Capri, whose daily +work it is to land heavy goods and carry trunks on their heads to the +omnibuses and cabs in waiting at the end of the quay. Before we were +fairly in, they swooped like a pack of wolves on the car, laughing and +gabbling, and somehow they and Brown landed it on the slippery little +quay. + +The news that there was an automobile on the island must have flashed +around by magic telegraph, for people--swarms of people, more than you +would have thought could live on the whole of Capri--came running from +everywhere to see us start. I should have been awfully amused if it +hadn't been for one thing. Up there at the end of the quay, where we +must pass, were half a dozen hotel omnibuses and a long rank of smart +cabs, like victorias, with very pretty little horses, whose faces looked +incredibly short--perhaps on account of their huge blinders. They had +feathers on their heads, and their harness was ornamented with all kinds +of strange devices in silver or brass. Sweet little pets they were, that +you felt as if you might ask into your house to sit on the hearthrug; +and when they saw Balzac they all began to snort and shiver and act as +if they were going to faint. Their drivers--in hard, white hats +something like our policemen's helmets--flew to the poor beasties' +heads; and some laughed, and some looked anxious, some angry. + +Evidently the little horses had lived an innocent, peaceful life for +years on Capri, and had never heard of railways or steam rollers, much +less automobiles. I was so sorry for them, and wished I hadn't been so +headstrong, but had been guided by Brown when he advised me to leave +Balzac at Naples. However, we couldn't abandon the car on the quay, so +we got in and Brown started the motor. Oh, my goodness! every horse went +into hysterics! Their drivers held them, and said things soothing or the +reverse, according to their bringing-up, but the little things kicked +and plunged and doubled up in knots, although Brown drove by as slowly +and solemnly as the Dead March in _Saul_. I thought we should never get +past, but when we did the worst was still to come, for we had a steep +road to climb up the cliff, and in the distance several cab-horses were +trotting down. I begged Brown to stop and let them go by, lest they +should jump over into space, so he did; and it was all that he and the +drivers of the cabs could do to get the poor horrified little animals +past us at all. That experience was enough for me. Brown pointed up +towards Anacapri, far, far above Capri proper, on a horn of the +mountain, reached only by a narrow but splendidly engineered road +winding like a piece of thin wood shaving, or by steep steps cut in the +rock by the Ph[oe]nicians thousands of years ago. "No," said I sadly, +"we'll never drive up to Anacapri on the automobile. I shan't use it +once again while we're on the island, and all the horses had better be +warned indoors when we go down to take the boat." + +But it was a beautiful drive up from the quay to the town of Capri and +our hotel. I couldn't help enjoying it a little, in spite of feeling +like an incipient murderess. I believe if I'd been on the way to +execution I would have enjoyed it. The road swept round to the left, +ascending loop after loop, to a saddle of the island lying between two +cliffs, crowned with the most picturesque ruins I ever saw. Everywhere +you looked was a new picture, and oh! the delicious colour of sky, and +sea, and the dove-grey of the cliffs! You can see next to nothing of +the town till you come on it; then suddenly you are in a busy _piazza_, +with an old palace or two and a beautiful tower, and everything +characteristically Italian, even the sunshine, which is so vivid that it +is like a _pool_ of light. Here we made a great deal more excitement +before we drove under an old archway and plunged down a steep, +stone-paved street filled with gay little shops, and ending with the +courtyard of our hotel. + +I know you only came to Capri with the "trippers" to see the Blue +Grotto, and I feel sorry for you, you poor Dad, because, though the +Grotto is so strange and beautiful, it is the thing I care for least of +all. Just think, you didn't even stay long enough to see the sunset turn +the Faraglioni rocks to brilliant, beaten copper, standing up from clear +depths of emerald, into which the clouds drop rose-leaves! You didn't go +to the old grey Certosa, for if you had you would certainly have bought +it and restored it to use as a sort of "occasional villa," like those +nice heroes of Ouida's who say, "I believe, by the way, that is mine," +when they are travelling with friends in yachts and pass magnificent +palaces which they have quite forgotten on the shores of the +Mediterranean or the Italian lakes. You didn't walk along a steep path +about twelve inches wide, hanging over a dizzy precipice, to the Arco +Naturale--and neither would I if it hadn't been for Brown. I was +horribly afraid, but I was ashamed to let him see that, so I struggled +along somehow, and it was glorious. We ended the walk by going down a +great many steps cut in the rock to the grotto of Mitromania, where they +used to worship the sun-god and sacrifice living victims--human beings +sometimes. You can see the altar still, and the trough where the blood +used to run--ugh! and the secret chambers where they kept the victims. + +We stayed a day and two nights in the town of Capri, and should have +stopped on till we were ready to leave the island, for it is a charming +hotel, with a big garden and a ravishing view; but I got it into my head +that I wanted to walk up all the Ph[oe]nician steps to Anacapri--there +are about eight hundred of them--instead of going up by a mere road, no +matter how beautiful. Of course, Aunt Mary was consumed with no such mad +ambition, and as she had heard that to go up the steps was like walking +up a wall, she was afraid to have me try the ascent alone; so I asked +Brown to take me. We started after breakfast; and to go up all the steps +we first had to descend to the very shore, near a palace of Tiberius', +which is buried under the sea with all its treasures. Doesn't that sound +like a fairy story? Then we began going up and up, and we kept meeting +peasant girls tripping gaily down in their rope shoes, singing together +like happy birds, not even touching with their hands the loaded baskets +on their heads. They were so beautiful that they were more like stage +peasants than real ones. Their eyes were great stars, and their clear, +olive faces were like cameos with a light shining through from behind. +They were dressed in the simplest cotton dresses, but their pinks and +blues and purples, put on without any regard to artistic contrast, +blended together as exquisitely as flowers in a brilliant garden. + +I tripped gaily, too, at first, but the sun grew hot and so did I. +Still, on we went, up the face of the cliff, and with every interval for +rest came a new and wonderful view. By-and-by we got up so high that the +row boats on their way to the Blue Grotto looked like little +water-beetles, with oars for legs; and though the waves were beating +against the rocks, we could no longer see them; the water appeared as +smooth as an endless sapphire floor polished for the sirens to dance on. +It was all so entrancing that I didn't know I was almost getting a +sun-stroke; besides, who would think of sunstrokes in January, no matter +how hot the weather? Brown remarked that my lips were pale, but I said I +was only a little tired. In rather more than an hour we came to the top, +which was Anacapri. My head ached, so we went into a restaurant place, +which turned out to be very famous. I sat on the wall of a terrace +looking over a sheer precipice a thousand feet high until I felt partly +rested; then a handsome girl, evidently of Saracen blood, brought me +delicious lemonade. We had started away to walk into the village of +Anacapri, when everything began to swim before my eyes. Luckily we were +close to a house. It was a little old domed white house with a long +vine-covered pergola, and it said "Bella Vista" over the gateway. I had +to lean on Brown's arm going in, and the last thing I remember was a +kind-faced man hurrying to the door. The next thing I was in a big white +bedroom, sparsely furnished and daintily neat. I had fainted and they +had sent for a doctor. Presently he appeared, and afterwards I found out +that he was quite a celebrity--the "Doctor Antonio" of Capri. He said it +was the sun; I hadn't eaten enough breakfast, and I'd had a +"heat-stroke"--not half so bad as a sun-stroke; still, I ought to rest. + +I was quite willing to obey the prescription, for I was falling in love +with the house, and longed to stay in it for days. The room I was in had +four windows, each one looking out on a view that stay-at-home people +would give hundreds of dollars to see; and it opened on to a lovely +private terrace. Brown took a message "downstairs" to Capri, asking Aunt +Mary to pack up and come to the Bella Vista, which she did, and we've +been here for two days. I was quite well in a few hours, but I wouldn't +have gone back to more conventional comforts for anything. Anacapri and +our little house seem as if they were in the world on top of the clouds +which Jack discovered when he climbed his beanstalk up into the sky. +Why, the first morning when I waked here, and opened my glass door on to +the terrace to look at the sea, and the umbrella pines, and the +cypresses (which I seem to _hear_, as well as see, like sharp notes in +music), four or five large white clouds got up from the terrace where +they'd been sitting and sneaked past me through the door into the room, +just like the cows which, I suppose, the gods kept on Olympus to milk +for their ambrosia. And the sunsets, with Vesuvius set like a great +conical amethyst in a blaze of ruby and topaz glory! It is something to +come to Anacapri for. But at the Bella Vista we would not feed you on +sunsets and cloud's milk alone. The little landlord and landlady cook +and wait on us, and I never tasted daintier dishes than they "create." + +There are more things than sunsets and pines and cypresses to see too. +One takes walks all over the island. One goes to rival inns where rival +beauties dance the tarantella, and vie in announcements that Tiberius +amused himself by throwing victims in the sea from the exact site of +their houses. Oh, everything is Tiberius here. He is regarded by the +peasants as quite a modern person, whom you may meet in a dark night, if +you haven't murmured a prayer before the lovely white virgin in her +illuminated grotto of rock. Mothers say to their children, "If you do +that, Tiberius will catch you"; and the English colony of Capri quarrel +over the gentleman's character, on which there are differences of +opinion. + +The most beautiful house I ever saw in my life is set on the brow of the +precipice at Anacapri; it is a dream-house; or else its owner rubbed a +lamp, and a genie gave it to him. It is long and low and white, and +filled with wonderful treasures which its possessor found under the +sea--spoil of Tiberius' buried palaces. The floors are paved with mosaic +of priceless coloured marble, which Tiberius brought from distant lands +for himself; a red sphinx, which Tiberius imported from Egypt crouches +on the marble wall, gazing over the cliffs and the sea; Tiberius' +statues in marble and bronze line the arched, open-air corridors. +There's nothing else like it in the world in these days, and few men +would be worthy to have it and to live there; but I think, from what I +hear, that the man who does live there _is_ worthy of it all. + +You will find a rose and a spray of jasmine in this letter. I picked the +rose for you, in the pergola, and our landlady gave me the jasmine. I +wish I could send you more of the beauty of this magic island. + + Your enchanted + Molly. + + + + +FROM JACK WINSTON TO LORD LANE + + + Taormina, Sicily, + _January 26_. + + My dear Montie, + +We are at Taormina! When I say that, I want you to realise that we have +arrived at the Most Beautiful Place in the world. Nothing less than +capital letters can express it. We have had six glorious days in Sicily, +and it is fit that these wild ramblings of mine with the Goddess should +end here amidst such scenes of loveliness that even the imagination can +conjure up nothing more exquisite. For end these ramblings must; to be +continued, as I hope (but dare not expect), in a life-journey in which I +may wear my own name shared then by her. It is through my dear, kind, +little match-making mother that I trust this may be brought about; for +my pluck fails me when I think of confessing my imposture to the +Goddess. + +I told you in my letter from Rome that at the hotel there I found a +forwarded letter from the mater, saying that on account of the continued +rain and cold she and the inevitable Barrows had determined to leave +Rome suddenly and go to Naples, perhaps to Sicily, in search of +sunshine. She added that she had been worried about me, as she had not +heard anything for weeks, from which it is clear that at least three +letters have somehow miscarried--doubtless owing to her constant change +of address and the carelessness of hotel people in forwarding. The worst +of it is that I haven't been able to reassure her mind, as she gave me +no new address, but merely said that when she was settled she would +wire. Of course, I gave the hall-porter at the "Grand" the most explicit +directions as to where I was to be found, and tipped him well. The +result is that on my arrival here in Taormina I found a telegram (sent +on from Rome) to say that my mother and the Barrows will arrive here +to-morrow to stay a week with Sir Evelyn Haines, an old friend of the +mater's, who has, I believe, bought a deserted monastery and turned it +into a fine house. To-morrow, then, my mother will be here; I shall tell +her everything, throw myself on her mercy, and get her to make peace for +me with the Goddess. That, at least, is my present plan. But who can +tell how events may upset it? + +Well, as you don't know Italy south of Naples, perhaps you'd like to +hear something of our Sicilian adventures. Of adventures, in the strict +sense, we have had less here than in other places. If I hadn't been +certain that the country was quite safe as far as brigandage is +concerned, I should not have been such a fool as to bring two ladies +through it in a motor-car. But we have had, as I said, "six glorious +days," and the Goddess and I are agreed that in many ways Sicily is the +best thing we have done on our whole long tour. + +We landed at Palermo, after a night passage in a comfortable boat from +Naples, leaving one world-famous bay to enter another scarcely less +beautiful. Rarely have I seen anything finer than Palermo and the group +of mountains round it as we steamed in at sunrise on a white and gold +morning. The ship goes alongside the quay, so there was no difficulty at +all about landing the car. It was slung, and gently deposited on shore +by the ship's crane, and we drove off on it at once to the Villa Igiea. +Everything was new to me in Sicily, and I confess that the Igiea was a +surprise. One has heard that Sicily is a hundred years behind the times, +and that in accommodation the island is deficient. That cannot be said +any longer. The Igiea is perfect. Miss Randolph reluctantly admitted +that there is nothing better in America. In situation the house is +unique, lying under the tall, pink Monte Pellegrino. It was built by the +Sicilian millionaire Florio for a sanitorium, but never so used. It is a +long building of honey-coloured stone, standing in an exquisite terraced +garden that stretches along the sea, and actually overhangs it--a +charmingly irregular garden, with many unexpected nooks, and +sweet-smelling flowers, palms, and all kinds of sub-tropical plants, +fountains playing in marble basins, and a huge, half-covered balcony, +where everyone except insignificant _chauffeurs_ assemble for tea. +Altogether a gay and delightful place, and it is having the effect of +bringing to the island a stream of rich and luxury-loving travellers. + +From afar I saw Miss Randolph and Aunt Mary breakfasting on the big +balcony; and they could not have lingered long over their unpacking, +for at ten o'clock I had orders to be at the hotel door with the Napier. +I knew no more of Sicily than they did, but it is my _metier_ to keep up +the reputation of a walking encyclopaedia; therefore, in the small +watches of the night, while the Goddess and her Aunt slept the sleep of +the just, I had poured over guide-books and fat little volumes of +Sicilian history. What I wasn't prepared to tell them that heavenly +morning about Ulysses, Polyphemus, the omnipotent Roger, and other +persons of local interest, to say nothing of the right buildings to be +visited, was not worth telling. + +We ran along the shore, past harbours and basins where strangely shaped +boats lay at anchor on a smooth; blue sea, with an elusive background of +shimmering, snowclad mountains; and in a street, like a moving picture +gallery, we made the acquaintance of those painted carts which are +indigenous to the island. Quaintly rudimentary as carts, these +extraordinary vehicles are remarkable as works of art, and the Goddess +did exactly what I expected of her--wanted to buy one. With her usual +quick discrimination, she picked out a fine specimen, the wheels, +shafts, and underwork a mass of elaborate wood-carving, richly coloured, +the boldly painted panels representing a victory of Roger's, attended +with great slaughter. The little horse was jingling with bells, and +almost overweighted with his towering scarlet plumes. + +"I must have that," exclaimed my impulsive Angel. "Please stop the car, +Brown, and ask the man how much he will sell it for, just as it +stands--harness and all, but not the horse." + +The much-enduring Brown stopped, ran back, hailed the owner of the cart, +who was accompanied by a dove-eyed wife and seven Saracenic children all +piled in anyhow on top of each other like parcels. Never, probably, was +a man more surprised than by the question hurled at him, but Sicilians +retain too deep a strain of the oriental to show that they are +flustered. He said in a strange _patois_ that his cart was the pride and +joy of the household; that it had been decorated by the one man in +Sicily who had inherited the true art of historical cart-painting; that +it was one of the best on the island, and he had expected it to remain +an ornament to his family unto the third and fourth generations, but +that he would part with it for the sum of one thousand lira. I beat him +down until, with tears in his magnificent eyes, he consented to accept +two-thirds, which really was more than the cart was worth, or than he +had expected to get when he began to bargain. The cart was Miss +Randolph's, and later that day I arranged about having it taken to +pieces, boxed, and sent to New York. She was delighted with her +purchase, and in such a radiant mood that she thought everything and +everyone she saw perfect, from the men milking goats to the dramatically +talented _gardien_ of the beautiful old red-domed San Giovanni degli +Eremiti, once a mosque. + +The German Emperor is rather a hero of hers, and when we left the car in +the street and visited the Palazzo Reale she was charmed to learn that +he had pronounced a view from a certain balcony the finest he had ever +seen, resting his elbows on the iron railing and gazing out over the +city for half an hour. It really was inspiring--the blue harbour and the +ring of sparkling white mountains, but I'm not prepared to agree with +the superlative. I put the view of Naples from St. Elmo ahead. When the +Goddess came to see the Capella Palatina with its gem-like Arabo-Norman +mosaics, she was moved almost to tears. "It is matchless; the most +beautiful thing on earth!" she said. But afterwards I drove her (Aunt +Mary you may take for granted) out four steep miles to Monreale, and it +was well that she had saved a few adjectives. Not that she is a girl who +scatters much small coin of this kind, but she has usually the right +word when a thing does not go beyond words. When it does she says +nothing, except with her eloquent eyes. But in the ancient cloisters of +that old monastery I watched her face, and it was a study. I believe, +though each carved capital on each column is different from the others, +she could enumerate in order the quaint and intricate biblical designs. +In one secluded and dusky corner there was the faint tinkle of a +fountain--a wonderful fountain, very old, and copied from a still older +Moorish memory, by some Arab who served his Norman conquerors. My +beautiful girl was a picture as she stood gazing at it, leaning against +a pillar, her white dress half in sunshine, half in shadow, her brown +hair burnished to living gold. + +For the modern part of Palermo she didn't much care; the crowded Corso +Vittorio Emanuele; the Quattro Canti, which is the Piccadilly Circus of +the Sicilian capital, or even the cathedral. But she loved the Villa +Giulia, which she was greatly surprised to find a garden, not knowing +that all gardens are "villas" in Sicily; she and Aunt Mary went in +alone, while I waited outside the gates in the car; but her beauty and +pretty frock excited so much attention that she was quite embarrassed, +and I reaped advantage from her discomfiture, being invited to act as +guard in the Botanical Gardens. I begged for her Kodak there, to take a +photo (ostensibly) of the big building devoted to lectures, but quietly +waited until she had inadvertently "crossed my path." Then I snapped +her. + +We stayed in Palermo for three days, and even so had the barest glimpse +of the place. If I have luck, and win Her forgiveness first, and then at +last Herself, maybe we shall come again to Sicily together, lingering at +all the places we are slighting now. But dare I dream of it? + +On the fourth day we set out for a visit to one of the show places of +the island Girgenti of the Temples. And now we began to understand why +the millionaire Florio, with his four noble motor-cars panting in their +stalls, has not been able to induce his friends to stock their Sicilian +stables in the same way. We knew already that Italian roads were +generally inferior to French ones; that it was comparatively difficult +to buy petrol, especially _good_ petrol, or _essence_, in Italy, and I +loaded up the willing car with several reserve tins on leaving the +Igiea; but of course I had had to take the state of the roads on +hearsay. The surprise and interest of the crowd, even in Palermo, where +Signor Florio often drives, warned us that not many ventured with +"mechanically propelled vehicles" where we were about to venture, and I +was a little dubious, though the Goddess was in the highest spirits and +yearning for brigands. She had heard at the hotel of a very picturesque +one who owned a lair in the mountains, and urged me to pay the +chivalrous gentleman a morning call, but I was both obdurate and +unbelieving. + +We started; occasionally, as we progressed, it was necessary to ask the +way. The peasants we passed on foot, on donkey back, or crowded into +their painted carts, were so wrapped in wonder at sight of us that it +was useless to shout at them without warning; they couldn't recover +themselves in time to answer before we had sped by. So I adopted a +method I have often found useful. I selected my man at a distance, +singling him out from his companions, and pointing my finger straight at +him as I approached. This excited his curiosity and riveted his +attention; he was then able to reply when I demanded a direction. + +From Palermo on the north to Girgenti on the south of the island is +something over sixty miles the way we went--sixty miles of bad and +up-and-down road. Sicily is poor, and it could not but be to its +advantage if visitors came to it in larger numbers. I should say one of +the first things they ought to do is to improve the roads, and make them +decently passable for carriages, motor-cars, and bicycles. At present +the plan of mending the roads is to dump down so much "metal," and leave +the local traffic to grind it in. As everybody avoids it and there is +little rain, there it stays, and in consequence patches of sharp, loose +stones lie over the roads the year round. Steer with all the skill one +can, it's impossible always to dodge the stones, and our tyres got a +good punishment. + +The interior of the island, though grandly impressive, is unusually +bare, save for its wild flowers, the ancient forests having long since +disappeared. Our road lay for a time along the sea, and then inland, +always mounting up into the heart of the mountains, by long, green +valleys and over desolate plateaux where flocks of sheep and goats +grazed under the guardianship of wild-looking shepherds and fierce dogs, +the latter violently resenting the intrusion of the car into their +fastnesses. We saw few people on the road, and passed only the poorest +villages; but we had brought an excellent luncheon which we ate by the +roadside, we three (would it had been two!), alone in a wide and +solitary landscape. A very few years ago such a journey as this across +the interior of Sicily would have been highly dangerous on account of +brigands. As it was we had scowls from dark-browed men whose horses took +fright at us, but no such encounter as we had with the peasants in +France. An Englishman at Palermo who has lived long in Sicily warned me +that every Sicilian carries a gun, and said that in the wild interior +they would very likely shoot at the automobile for the mere fun of the +thing as they would at any other strange beast that was new to them. +This wasn't encouraging to hear. But though we met some +truculent-looking fellows on the road, their sentiments towards us +seemed to be those of wonder rather than animosity. + +The sun was sinking in a haze of rose and gold as we came to the crest +of the long hill on which stands the town of Girgenti, passed through +it, and coasted down to the Hotel des Temples. Beyond the hotel, which +stands isolated between the town and the sea, we saw suddenly the great +Temple of Concord, a lonely and magnificent monument. It affects the +imagination as Stonehenge does when you see it for the first time. The +red rays of the sun shone aslant upon its splendid amber-coloured +pillars and colossal pediments, revealing every detail of the pure Doric +architecture. When the smiling Signor Gagliardi had received us and +allotted rooms to the party (the best in the house for the American +ladies on their automobile, and a little one for the _chauffeur_), I +strolled in the fragrant old garden, and leaning on the balustrade by +the ancient well of carved stone, looked long over this wonderful +plateau above the sea, where once stood perhaps the finest assemblage of +Greek temples the world has ever seen. Next morning we went down to see +the temples at close quarters. I had been warned that the road would be +too rough for an automobile; but a gallant Napier which had passed +through the forest of the Landes and braved the dragon's teeth sown on +the roads of Sicily's fastnesses was not to be dismayed by a few jolting +miles. Everyone in the hotel--English, American, German--came out to +see us start, predicting that if we came back the car wouldn't, or if +_it_ came back, it would be--so to speak--over our dead bodies. Aunt +Mary was so much impressed by these dark prophecies that she refused to +accompany us, and engaged one of the odd little carriages from the +ancient town of Girgenti bristling on the height above our hotel. Thus +it came about that I had my Goddess to myself, and in her congenial +company I hardly knew whether the road was rough or no. Certainly the +good Napier did not complain, and as for the tyres, the roads of Central +Sicily had made them callous. + +I thought then that never was such a day in the memory of man; but +several days have come and gone since--also with her, and a man's +opinion changes. I knew that in the society of no one else would there +have hovered such a glamour over the ruins of Greek glory. Five noble +temples they are, my Montie, of which two are almost perfect; the others +pathetic relics of past grandeur, with their heaped, fallen columns. +There they stand--or lie prone with here and there a majestic pillar +pointing skyward--in a stately row between the brilliant blue sea and +the billowing flower-starred plain on the one side, the hills and the +grim city, like a crow's nest, on the other. Their sandstone columns +hold oyster and scallop shells from prehistoric ages, while here and +there a broken vein of coralline stains the dun surface as if with +blood. Below the towering temples are shimmering olive trees, +silver-green as they quiver in the warm breeze, and on this day of ours +a myriad budding almond-blossoms were breaking at their massive feet in +rosy foam. All the ground was carpeted with yellow daisies, pimpernel, +and iris, blue-grey as my lady's eyes. Together we pictured processions +of men and maidens, white-robed, bearing urns and waving garlands of +roses, chanting paeans in a slow ascent of the amber-hued temple steps. +We also were in a mood to sing praises as we drove back to the friendly +hotel in its high eyrie of garden. + +In the afternoon, I am sorry to say, we went up into the town--it is a +bleak and gruesome memory; and next day we had a hundred and twenty +miles' drive to Catania, our faces turned towards Etna, the Queen of +Sicily, which we had not yet seen, but longed to see. In view of the +awful roads we were likely to encounter, I had asked the ladies if they +would mind starting at seven. They were ready on the minute, and I think +they were repaid by the beauty of the newly waked morning, bathed in +diamond-dew, and pearly with sunrise. + +Again we drove through strange country, sterile save for the crowding +prickly pears with their leering green faces, tangled garlands of pink, +wild geranium, and a blaze of poppies spreading over the meadow land +like a running flame. We penetrated the heart of Sicily, wound through +her undulating valleys, and were frowned on by her ruined +robber-castles; but the towns were discouragingly squalid, for much of +our way led through the sulphur-mine district. + +The true interest of that day came when from afar off we descried twin +mountains, each bearing a huddled town on its summit. My midnight +studies warned me that they were Castrogiovanni and Calascibetta, and I +had suggested to Miss Randolph on starting that even at the risk of +having to drive to Catania in the dark, we should not miss a visit to +Castrogiovanni. At Palermo she had bought Douglas Sladen's book, _In +Sicily_, and Miss Lorimer's travel-romance, _By the Waters of Sicily_, +so that she was already fired at the name of Castrogiovanni, and needed +no persuasion from me to turn aside to scale the ancient rock-fortress +that marks the very centre of Sicily. I am pretty sure that never before +has a motor-car climbed that winding road, and I think the whole +population turned out and ran at our heels as we drove slowly through +the sombre, wind-swept, eagle-eyrie of a town. As it happened, the day +was overcast, and scudding clouds drifted coldly across the +mountain-top, showing us the reason for the great blue hoods that the +men wear over their heads, their Saracenic faces peering out as from a +cave. We alighted in the market-place, and leaned on the balustrade to +see the tremendous view--all Sicily spread out below us, gleaming with +opaline lights and shadows. Hundreds of people clustered curiously round +us and watched with dark, lustrous eyes, as if we had been beings from +another world. We tried to ignore all these silent watchers, who, Aunt +Mary said, gave her "a creepy feeling in her spine," and gazed out over +the tumbled mountains of Sicily. + +Suddenly a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds and descended to +earth like a golden ladder. It was the signal for a transformation +scene. The white mists coiling round us, disappeared; the clouds +floated away before a breath of balmy wind, and the landscape lay bright +and clear at our feet. Then "Oh! What is that?" exclaimed Miss Randolph. +I followed the glance of her eyes, and far away there was a great white +floating cone of pearl soaring up into the sky. Yes, it was Etna! + +At Castrogiovanni there is no inn where a lady can stay, so when we had +seen the view there was nothing more to keep us. I had stopped the motor +when we left the car, and everyone crowded eagerly round us as the +ladies mounted to their places. Their amazement when they saw me start +the motor with one turn of the handle was immense. A kind of awed murmur +went up from the crowd; and when, with a warning blast on the horn, I +drove slowly through their parting ranks, circled round in the +market-place, just avoiding a procession of masked Misericordia, and +putting on speed, passed swiftly through the streets, with a great shout +everyone started to run after the car. We distanced them easily (Miss +Randolph imprudently showering pennies), and ran at a fair pace down the +winding road that led to the valley. Looking up, we could see the +terraces and every window of the houses alive with wondering heads. +Castrogiovanni will remember for many a day the visit of the first +motor-car to its historic heights. + +Catania is, I think, memorable to Miss Randolph merely because she +bought there at a tiny but famous shop incredible quantities of curious +Sicilian amber, streaked green with sulphur, absolutely unique, and +valued as a luck-bringer. She says that she has a "pocket-piece" for +each one of her most intimate friends in New York. Judging by the +provision made, the name of these intimates must be legion. Apart from +her opinion, however, I humbly venture to think that Catania has its +points, if only people stopped long enough to see them, which they +don't, Catania being the Basle of Sicily--the place of departure for +somewhere else. In our case the somewhere else was Syracuse. + +Now the Goddess had been looking forward to Siracusa; I'm not sure that +she was not by way of regarding her whole past as working slowly up to a +sight of that place, since she had come to think of it. She had made up +her royal mind to stop there some time, dreaming in the quarries where +the seven thousand Greeks languished in captivity while the Siracusan +beauties, under red umbrellas, derided or brazenly admired them. She +had, so to speak, made a note of Dionysius' Ear, and the Greek and Roman +theatres, and already she had bought a photograph of a strange, +Dante-esque den in the rocks which resembled Hades and was called +Paradise. She planned an excursion up the little river Anapo to see the +papyrus, and the deep blue pool of jewelled fish at the source; and +there were various drives and walks which, she thought, would keep her +at the Villa Politi at least a week. But, on my part, I was equally +determined that she should not stop an hour over the two days I had +grudgingly allotted her. Not that I wasn't interested in Siracusa; I +was, intensely, but I was and am a good deal more interested in her and +the carrying out of my own secret plans, which can best be accomplished +with the aid of a sympathetic mother. I wanted to reach Taormina as soon +as possible, so as to be on the spot when the mater arrives. Naturally I +did not openly oppose the will of a mere Brown against that of Brown's +mistress. I merely hinted that there was said to be a good deal of white +dust in Siracusa, and that it was hot. I also mentioned, inadvertently, +that in some of the hotels there were mice. It was a blow to hear that +Miss Randolph liked mice; but there was encouragement in Aunt Mary's +"Oh!" of horror; and I lived in hope. + +In order not to waste a moment, I turned the car aside on the way to +Siracusa, and drove along a white road between olive-clad hills to the +ancient Greek stronghold of Fort Euryelus, which once guarded the +western extremity of that great tableland which was the splendid city of +Siracusa. You, who know your Thucydides better than I do, are probably +well up in all the thrilling events which took place there four hundred +years before Christ; but the Goddess depended largely upon my lips for +bread-crumbs of knowledge, and her awed interest in the perfectly +preserved magazines for food, the subterranean galleries, and the secret +sallyport betrayed to the enemy by a traitor, was pretty to see. From a +tower of piled stones I pointed away towards Etna with Taormina at its +feet and said, "There--there lies the beauty-spot of Sicily." Thus I got +in my entering wedge. + +It was four o'clock when we finally reached Siracusa, but I took my +lady and her aunt for a glimpse of Arethusa's fountain in the town +before driving them into perhaps the most wonderful garden in the +world--the double garden of the Villa Politi. It is double because the +heights, on a level with the white balconied hotel, bloom with flowers +and billow with waving olive trees; while down below, far below, lie the +haunted quarries, starry now in their tragic shadows with the golden +spheres of oranges. The latomia forms a subterranean garden; when the +brilliant flower-beds above are scintillating with noonday heat, down +there, under the orange trees with their white blossoms, it is always +cool and dim, with a green light like a garden under the sea. + +The quarry is deep, with sheer white walls overgrown with ivy and purple +bouganvillia. It is of enormous extent, winding irregularly, crossed +here and there with a slight bridge, and the hotel stands on the very +edge. Far away lies Siracusa, a streak of pearl against the deep indigo +of the sea. We went down into the latomia and wandered into its most +secret places. But when we came upon a pile of skulls Aunt Mary beat a +retreat. The ghosts of the tortured Greeks haunted the place, she vowed, +and lest she should be lost in the labyrinth of the quarry, she had to +be escorted up to the world of mortals. + +Next day we did most of the things that Miss Randolph had set her heart +on, but not all. My alluring picture of Taormina consoled her for what +she had to miss, and she consented to be torn away on the following +morning. + +Our drive to-day has been a scamper through Paradise. The road we took +wound through orange groves, the sea lay glittering below us, mountains +towering above, each hill-top crested with a ruin which had crumbled to +decay when the world was young. My Goddess said that she had never known +how much truer than history mythology was until this magic morning. Why, +we saw the stones that Polyphemus threw after Ulysses, and the scene of +Acis' love, and always before us, beckoning us on, was the white, +hovering cone of Etna. + +At last we struck the little station of Giardini on the coast, the +nearest to Taormina, which lies some hundreds of feet above on a high +shoulder of the mountains. An exquisite road, engineered in gradual +curves, winds upwards along the mountain breast, and as usual the Napier +took it at an easy ten miles an hour, and could have done it faster if I +had let her. The view grew fairer and fairer as we mounted, and the +coast line disclosed itself to north and south. In some three miles we +were at the gate of the town. Taormina is practically a long, straight +street, at one end the Timeo, at the other the San Domenico. It is +simply a Sicilian village, with its Norman fountain and its crumbling +palaces, but with a history that goes back to Greece in its prime. Above +rises on a splendid height the old Castello; further inland, and higher +still, is the wild village of Mola peeping over the edge of a precipice +that overhangs the valley. Twenty miles away floats the stately cone of +Etna. It is a place of entrancing beauty, and the gem of it all is the +ancient Greek theatre. I suppose that nowhere in the world have nature +and the noblest art that ever adorned the earth combined in a more +perfect picture. + +The resting-place chosen by Miss Randolph is not out of that picture, +but a part of it. For five hundred years it was a monastery. How well +those good old monks knew how to do themselves! They laid out a fairy +garden on a gracious headland above the sea, overlooking a panorama the +most beautiful in Sicily. They planted it thick with orange and lemon +trees and flowers as sweet as bloomed in Eden. Now the monks are +banished, but the garden remains, and their old home (with its lovely +cloisters, its long, dim corridors panelled with painted saints, its +tiled rooms and deep-set windows) opens hospitable doors to strangers. + +Aunt Mary is delighted with the San Domenico, because a "real live +prince" is her landlord. Even the Goddess says that it makes her feel +more than ever that she is living in a fairy story. Now, if only the +fairy godmother will come along to-morrow, and waving her wand over +Brown, transform him into a worthier hero of that story, and soften the +heart of the Princess! Do you think it will be so? In any event, it has +done me good to write you this. If all goes well I'll wire. I don't +think there's much sleep for me to-night. As soon as there's a chance +that the mater can have arrived I shall go down to Santa Margherita, Sir +Evelyn Haines' place, and have it out with her. + + Your somewhat distracted but faithful friend, + Jack. + + + + +MISS SYBIL BARROW TO HER SCHOOL FRIEND, MISS MINNIE HOBSON, OF +EDGBASTON, BIRMINGHAM + + + Santa Margherita, + Taormina, Sicily, + _January 28_. + + My darling Min,-- + +You were a saucy girl to chaff me like that about the Honourable Mr. +Winston. It didn't matter one bit to _me_ whether we got to know him or +not. Why should it? Even when he comes into the title he'll only be a +viscount, and Lord Brighthelmston may live for _years_. It wasn't to +meet him that we joined the viscountess, though I shouldn't wonder if +she had something up her sleeve when she asked us to meet her in Cannes. +Anyway, she'd taken a tremendous fancy to me. We got on awfully well +together at first, but she needs a lot of living up to, and if she +hadn't held a sort of _salon_ everywhere we've been, with all kinds of +swells, home-made and foreign, kootooing to her, and being introduced to +us, I don't know but I should have persuaded Pa to drop the whole +business long ago. She's a nice old lady, but sometimes, when you let +yourself go, and are having a ripping time, she freezes up and looks at +you as if you were some unknown species of animal in the Zoo. That's +what I mean when I say she wants a lot of living up to; and more than +once in the last two months or so I'd have given my boots if Pa and I +hadn't bound ourselves to travel about with her, but had gone off on our +own, with a courier, like that handsome one I sent you the snapshot of +with the Yankee girl at Blois. Well, anyhow, it's all come to an end +now; and she's introduced us to dozens of smart people, so there's +nothing to regret. + +Pa and I are going back to Naples to-morrow or the day after, and so +home to England. Give me London! I'm dying for a good game of ping pong. +I asked them to get it at the Grand Hotel in Rome, but the silly things +didn't. Addie Johnson has written and asked me to a swell dance she's +giving at the Kensington Town Hall; I hope we can get back in time; and +I may be able to take a charming cavalier with me. But I'll tell you +about him later. We've been having scenes of great excitement for the +last few days, which have helped me to get through the time in Sicily, +which otherwise would have been pretty slow, as I don't care for +country, abroad or at home. Besides, the oranges and lemons keep falling +on your head, and at night you have to throw gravel at the nightingales +to keep the noisy creatures still. I collected some on purpose. + +Well, I told you how vexed Lady B. was because "Jack," as she calls him, +couldn't get to Cannes. He was always writing from different places and +making excuses, till Pa said in his joking way, he'd bet that "Jack was +up to some game of his own," and my lady didn't like that a little bit. +Finally, when Pa and I got sick of Cannes, which is too far from Monte +Carlo to be lively, we all went on to Rome. That was just after my last +epistle to you. It rained cats and dogs in Rome, and I never went into a +single church, not even St. Peter's. We planned to wait for "Jack," but +your letter came, and I was afraid there might be something in that joke +of yours about his trying to keep out of my way, and I was bound he +shouldn't think I was after him. There's as good fish in the sea as ever +came out of it for a girl who can bait her hook as I can. So when Lady +B.'s neuralgia got bad, we proposed Naples, and it was very nice. But +she is a fussy old thing and couldn't let well alone; she'd seen Naples +and hadn't seen Sicily. Nothing would do but we should "run over." I +would have put my foot down on that, but Lady B. mentioned that she had +a friend at some place called Taormina, an English baronet with a lovely +house, who always had a lot of nice people staying with him. And she +said she'd often been invited, and would get an invitation for us all +for a few days if we'd go. I thought we might meet someone it would be a +good thing for us to know, so I consented; but we were to go first to +Palermo and Siracusa, and work on to Taormina by the time our invitation +arrived. + +Palermo wasn't so bad. I never saw so many young men in my life, all +very dark, with enormous eyes, and little moustaches and canes, both of +which they twirled a good deal when they looked at anyone they admired. +But Syracuse was _awful_. I daresay it was nice enough when you could be +a tyrant and cut off your enemies' heads, and build gold statues to +yourself; but tyrants are out of their job now, and things have been +allowed to go down a good deal since their day. I nearly cried when I +saw what sort of hole it was, but our invitation to Sir Evelyn Haines' +(which we found waiting for us) wasn't for that day, but the next. It +was settled that we should go on by the first train in the morning, when +a telegram arrived for Lady B. She was in a twitter, and gave it to Pa +to read, and say what he thought. It was sent from Naples by a perfect +stranger to her, who signed his name James Van Wyck Payne; and as nearly +as I can remember, it said, "Beg that you will receive me at Syracuse. +Have travelled on from Rome on purpose immediately on learning your +address. Have news of vital importance to give you about your son." + +Lady B. couldn't think what it all meant; but she was anxious, and we +were curious. She and Pa calculated times, and discovered that if we +went away by the first train we would miss the mysterious Mr. Payne, so +it was decided that we must wait till the next, and a telegram was sent +to an address in Naples to that effect. + +In the morning, as early as he could, he arrived. I was on the verandah +of the hotel, watching, dressed in my travelling frock, so as to be +ready to get off by the next train. When a stranger came running up the +steps asking for Lady Brighthelmston, you can believe I kept my eyes +open, though I pretended to be reading an awfully exciting book of Guy +Boothby's--really _great_! He was young, and evidently American, but +very handsome, and the best of form; blond, tall, and smooth-faced, with +such a clever expression, and _unfathomable_ eyes. He was shown in; but +as Lady B.'s sitting-room had a window opening on the verandah, with the +blinds only half shut, I could presently hear from where I sat a murmur +of voices which I knew to be hers and his. Just as Pa had joined me, and +was asking whether the gentleman had turned up yet, there came a stifled +shriek from Lady B.'s room. We jumped up, rushed to the window, and met +her there as she was running out to call us, crying, with Mr. Payne at +her back. We went in, and she made him tell his story, which was very +complicated. However, we soon understood that the Honourable Mr. +Winston's _chauffeur_ had stolen his motor-car, and his watch (which Mr. +Payne had got out of pawn and shown to Lady B.) and his clothes, and +probably murdered him. Lady B. hadn't had any letter for ages; she had +supposed that was because she was travelling about so much lately and +had missed them, but now she saw that _anything_ might easily have +happened to her son. Everything was frightfully confused and exciting, +and while Pa tried to soothe Lady B., Mr. Payne and I stepped out on the +verandah to talk things over quietly, as I had kept my head. He showed +wonderful detective gifts, and from some details he told me about the +girl and a middle-aged American lady, friends of his, whom the +_chauffeur_ had deceived, I began to think it might be the party I had +seen in Blois, only with a different car; but that, as I said to Mr. +Payne, must have been before any tragedy had taken place. He thought I +was probably right about the identity; and to make sure, I went upstairs +to one of my boxes which wasn't locked yet, and rooted out the negative +of that snapshot I sent you from Blois. We looked at the film together, +each holding it with one hand to keep it from curling, and Mr. Payne +exclaimed, "That's the man! that's the scoundrel!" I had thought the +face awfully good-looking, but it didn't seem the same to me then, and I +had to admit it _might_ be that of a murderer. I proposed showing it to +Lady B., but she was frightfully upset already; and Mr. Payne said he +didn't see that it would do any good to harrow up her feelings still +more now, and perhaps if we did she wouldn't be able to undertake a +journey. If he'd known in time that we were going on to Taormina, he +wouldn't have kept us at Syracuse, but would have joined us at Taormina; +for he had news that Miss Randolph, that stuck-up American girl, and her +aunt had just arrived there the night before, with poor Mr. Winston's +stolen car, which the wicked _chauffeur_ was driving. He--Mr. Payne, I +mean--had written from Rome to the girl's father in New York, that she +was in the power of an abandoned ruffian, and the father had started off +to the rescue the very day after receiving the letter. He had cabled to +Mr. Payne in Rome, and the message had been forwarded to Naples, but in +that way they had missed each other, and Mr. Payne only knew that the +old man had been following the girl about from pillar to post; that he'd +heard in Naples that she'd gone to Palermo, and had proceeded there +himself. Probably, when he found that she had left, if the hotel people +could tell him where she was likely to be by this time, he wouldn't wait +for an ordinary train, but would take a special. Mr. Payne said he was +that kind of man; and if Lady B. would go on now by the next train to +Taormina, everybody might confront the _chauffeur_ and denounce him at +once. By everybody he meant himself, Lady B., and this Mr. Randolph, of +New York. I was very much interested, of course, and naturally wanted to +be in at the death, which Mr. Payne seemed quite pleased to have me do, +for we had by this time made up great friends; we seemed so congenial in +many ways, and he knows such quantities of swell people everywhere. The +Duke of Burford is a great chum of his, and so is that handsome Lord +Lane that you were wild to meet last year and couldn't get to know. But +perhaps you _shall_ yet, dear. Who can tell? + +Poor Lady B. was as weak as a rag, but determined on revenge, and Pa +kept her up on a raw egg in wine. We took the train for Taormina. It was +a strange journey. We four reserved a carriage for ourselves, and Lady +B. asked questions till she was too exhausted to speak. Then she sat +with her eyes shut, and salts to her nose, trying to strengthen herself +for what was to come, while Mr. Payne and I talked in low voices about +people we knew. Sometimes I _intimated_ I knew them, too, and others +still more swell, for I didn't like to seem out of it; and luckily I'd +read a great deal about them in the Society papers, so I was never at a +loss. + +Mr. Payne was in communication with the American girl's aunt, who was +partly in his confidence; and he knew from her that they would be at the +San Domenico, at Taormina. It was afternoon when we arrived, and as we +didn't want to waste a moment, we drove past the very house where we +were invited to stay, up to the San Domenico, where the wretched +pretender was to be run to earth. It was a very long, mountainous drive, +and Lady B. was trembling with excitement. She wanted to have it out of +the man what he had done with her son, and, I do believe, if it had been +back in old times, she would have been in a mood to put out his eyes +with red-hot irons, or flay him alive to make him confess. She didn't +say much, but her eyes were bright, and there was such a flush of +excitement on her face that she looked quite pretty and almost young. + +At last we got up to the hotel, and had to walk through two courtyards; +for it used to be a monastery, and is very quaintly built. A porter +walked up to see what we wanted, and Mr. Payne asked for Miss Randolph +and Miss Kedison. The man said they had gone out on donkeys for an +excursion up in the mountains to a place called Mola, which we could see +from the hotel, overhanging a precipice. He said they hadn't been gone +long, and probably wouldn't be back for at least two hours. Then Mr. +Payne inquired if their _chauffeur_ who drove their motor-car was +staying at the hotel, and if he had gone with the ladies. + +The porter answered that the _chauffeur_ was at another hotel, and that +he had not joined the excursion, but he had seen the ladies off with +their donkeys and guide. When the man began to understand that we were +all more interested in the whereabouts of the _chauffeur_ than of the +mistresses, he added that one of the servants of the hotel who had just +been down to the station had mentioned meeting the _chauffeur_ in very +smart clothes (quite different from when he had been with the ladies) +going down the hill towards Santa Margherita, Sir Evelyn Haines' house, +where there was a big reception on. + +While we were talking another man came out--a sort of under-porter, and +when he heard our porter telling that Miss Randolph had gone up to Mola, +he said in that case he had made a great mistake, for he had sent an +American gentleman who had been inquiring for her to the wrong place. He +had supposed that she would be at Sir Evelyn Haines' house, for a bazaar +was being held there for the benefit of a charity, and almost all the +English and Americans at the hotel San Domenico and the other Taormina +hotels had gone to it. The gentleman seemed in a great hurry, the porter +had noticed; and he had said that he had come from Palermo in a special +train, so as not to waste any time. + +"Ah, didn't I tell you what Chauncey Randolph would do?" exclaimed Mr. +Payne, turning to me as if we were old friends. I believe Chauncey +Randolph has the reputation of being a millionaire; but I don't suppose +he's got any more money or is a bit more important than Pa. + +We had kept our cab, which was waiting outside, and after a few minutes' +discussion between Lady B. and Mr. Payne, it was decided that we should +drive straight down to Sir Evelyn Haines', where probably the horrible +_chauffeur_ was audaciously passing himself off as the Honourable Jack +Winston, whom Sir Evelyn had never met. + +Just as Pa was helping Lady B. into a cab, Mr. Payne exclaimed "Molly!" +and I looked over my shoulder to see the stuck-up thing I had met in +Blois. She was dressed differently, but I recognized her at once. I +suppose some people would call her pretty, but I don't in the least, +though she may be the sort of girl men like. She was walking, and her +fat aunt was hanging on to her arm, and an Italian man leading two +donkeys was close behind them. + +"Why, Jimmy!" she answered, appearing to be very surprised, and glancing +from Mr. Payne to Lady B., from her to Pa and me. She shook hands, then +walked up to the cab to speak to Lady B., and had begun explaining that +her aunt had had a fall off the donkey she was riding, and they had +given up their excursion, when Mr. Payne interrupted her to do a little +explaining on _his_ side. + +She stood looking perfectly dazed, as he told her how it was now proved +beyond a doubt that her _chauffeur_, of whom she thought so highly, was +a fraudulent villain, a thief, and, it was to be feared, even worse. He +said that he had suspected for some time, but now his suspicions were +confirmed by Lady Brighthelmston, who believed that some terrible evil +had fallen upon her son through this Brown. Miss Kedison chimed in, and +so did Lady B., and I don't much wonder that it took the girl some time +to understand what they were all driving at, sharp as these Yankee +women are. When it was clear what they accused the _chauffeur_ of doing, +she said it was absolutely impossible, that there was certainly some +extraordinary mistake, and she would not believe any harm of Brown. Then +Mr. Payne told her that anyhow her father believed, and owing to a +warning letter, had come all the way from New York to take her from the +clutches of an unscrupulous scoundrel capable of anything. She _was_ +surprised at that. Evidently her father hadn't let her know he was +coming. Perhaps he thought that if he did, she'd elope with the +_chauffeur_. She had gone from red to white, from white to red, while +the three poured accusations on her favourite; but when she heard her +father was actually on the spot, she really _did_ look rather handsome +for a moment. It was as if a light from inside illuminated her face. +"Dad _here_!" she exclaimed, with her eyes shining. "Oh, then everything +will be all right! Where--where is he?" + +"Gone down to look for you at the house of Lady Brighthelmston's friend, +Sir Evelyn Haines, where your _chauffeur_ is swaggering about like a +wolf in sheep's clothing to be presently delivered into our hands," +replied Mr. Payne solemnly. "Come with us, meet your father, and be +convinced with your own eyes of that scoundrel's guilt." + +"If my father is there looking for me, I will go," said the girl. "Aunt +Mary, you had better stay here and lie down." + +That is the way these American girls order their middle-aged relatives +about. If I told Pa to stop somewhere and lie down, he'd tell me to go +hang, but Aunt Mary didn't seem to mind. She just bowed to everybody +and trotted away, as meek as a fat white lamb, and Mr. Payne engaged +another cab for Miss Randolph and himself, and we drove down the hill. +Those two were in front of us, and I could see him talking to her all +the way like a father-confessor, his face close to her ear; but she +never looked round at him once. + +I was almost as much excited as Lady B. by the time we stopped at the +gate of Sir Evelyn Haines' house, which used to be a monastery. Most +things in Sicily seem to have been monasteries or palaces. Our luggage +had been sent straight up there from the railway station in another cab, +for owing to Lady B.'s state of mind at Syracuse, no word had been sent +as to what train we would arrive by. You don't drive in, for it isn't a +modern gentleman's place at all, but has been left as much as possible +as it was in old, old days. We walked, Lady B. leaning on Pa's arm, I by +her other side, and Mr. Payne behind us with Miss Randolph, because she +wouldn't go ahead, though I know he wanted to. + +It's really a beautiful place, for people who like that old-fashioned, +queer kind of thing, with a lovely garden, full of all kinds of flowers +such as you see at home, and quite tropical ones, too. There were a +great many well-dressed people walking about, for the charity bazaar was +on, and no doubt everybody was glad of a chance to get into the house +and talk about it afterwards as if they knew Sir Evelyn and had been his +guests. There were tables set out under the trees, and tea was being +carried round. Suddenly I heard Miss Randolph exclaim, "There's Dad!" +and at the same moment she ran ahead of us, across the grass to where a +tall, big man with short, curly grey hair and a smooth-shaven face stood +under a tree talking to another man whose back--which was turned to +us--looked a tiny bit familiar. + +At once Mr. Payne stepped forward, and said eagerly, "Lady +Brighthelmston, the man Brown is here. He has got hold of Miss +Randolph's father. Heaven knows what may have passed. Come with me, and +confront him with a question about your son." + +With a sort of gasp the poor old lady allowed herself to be hurried +across the lawn, and I begged Pa to come along quick, because I didn't +want to miss Mr. Payne's great moment. + +Miss Randolph had got to the tall, grey-haired man, and was holding out +her hands, without a word, when Mr. Payne said in a sharp voice, +"Brown!" The other man turned. It was the courier I snapshotted in +Blois. + +"_Jack!_" cried Lady B. And then it was our turn to be surprised. + +We supposed at first that she'd gone mad; but, my dear girl, it was +_true_. The murderous _chauffeur_ was the Honourable Jack! But I do +believe he was ashamed of himself for the silly trick he'd played, for +all he laughed and showed his white teeth, because he was as red as a +beet through his brown skin, and pulled his moustache, trying to talk, +when his mother interrupted him by exclaiming, and asking questions +which she never gave him a chance to answer. And while he talked to his +mother, attempting to brazen it out, he looked at Miss Randolph, but she +kept her head turned away. + +As for poor Mr. Payne, I was sorry for him. He had meant so well, and +worked so hard for everybody's good, and now it had come to nothing. He +did his best to make himself right with his American friend, saying, +"Mr. Randolph, at all events, this man has insulted your daughter, +travelling around Europe with her under false pretences. What do you +intend to do about it?" + +But the big man answered, in a slow, drawling way, as if he were just +ready to laugh, "Well, I guess I won't do much. Mr. Winston and I met +here accidentally, and talked to each other awhile before either of us +knew who the other was; and when we did know, why, he was able to give +me a pretty satisfactory explanation. I guess there's nothing much +that's wrong; and I hope Mr. Winston will introduce me to his mother." + +Aren't Americans queer? I will say, though, that the girl didn't seem +inclined to take things so calmly. Her cheeks were scarlet, and her eyes +looked about twice too big for her face with anger or something like it. + +Pa and I were rather out of the "durbah," for like the bat in the fable, +we were neither bird nor beast, and had to stand aside while the fight +between the two kinds of creatures went on. By-and-by Mr. Payne joined +us, poor fellow, and I did what I could to console him, telling him that +was always the way in this world, with the well-meaning, unselfish +people. He was awfully grateful for my kindness, and when he heard that +Pa and I had just that very minute been talking things over and deciding +we'd had enough of being abroad, he asked if we'd mind his travelling +with us as far as England, where he might stop for a few weeks, and +drive about in his motor-car. Of course, I said we wouldn't mind; so I +_may_ bring him to the dance at Kensington Town Hall; if he isn't too +big a swell for that set. + +Of course, Sir Evelyn Haines soon found us out, and was very kind; but +Mr. Payne would go, and I've hardly seen anything of Lady B. since, +though it's now after dinner. I suppose the Honourable Jack is by way of +being in love with Miss Randolph, or else he wants her dollars, which is +most likely, considering the foxy way he seems to have gone about the +business. But these American girls think such a lot of themselves, that +they don't like being played with; and judging by the look on her face +this afternoon when she heard the truth, she was hurt and angry all the +way down to the quick. I shouldn't wonder if she refused to have +anything more to do with him, for all he seemed to have got on the soft +side of her father; and I must say, in my opinion, it would serve him +right if she did. + +Good-bye, my child. It's late, and I'm tired. I don't care a rap how the +thing does turn out. It isn't _my_ business. + + Your affectionate + Syb. + + + + +MOLLY RANDOLPH TO HERSELF + + + _January 28_, Hotel San Domenico, Taormina. + + I'm going to write it all down just as it happened, and see how it looks +in black and white. Then perhaps I can judge better whether I've been +very weak and undignified, and a lot of other things which I've always +been sure I never would be, under any provocation; or whether I've done +what no normal girl could help doing. + +It's the sort of thing one couldn't possibly tell anybody, not even +one's dearest school-friend. I did promise Elise Astley that if I ever +got engaged, she should be told exactly what He said, and what I said, +but then I didn't know how differently one would feel about it +afterwards; besides, I'm _not_ engaged. I only--no, this isn't the way I +meant to begin. I am afraid I'm getting a good deal mixed. I must +be--more concise. + +_Note 1._ If I think when I come to read this over that I have not +demeaned myself like a self-respecting, patriotic American girl, I will +tear this up and write a letter to--a Certain Person. + +_Note 2._ If, on the contrary, I decide, on mature deliberation, that I +could not have acted otherwise, I will keep this always in the secret +drawer of my writing-desk, where I can take it out and look at it at +least once every year until I am an old woman--ever so much older than +Aunt Mary. + +When Jimmy Payne suddenly hurled himself at me out of a cab (just as +Aunt Mary and I and a donkey were trailing disconsolately down from +Mola) and exploded into fireworks calculated to blow my poor Lightning +Conductor into fragments, I threw cold water on his Roman candles and +rockets. + +All the same, though, I felt as if I had been dipped first into boiling +hot, then freezing cold water myself. I couldn't, wouldn't and shouldn't +believe any of Jimmy's sensational accusations of Brown, and I defended +him whenever Jimmy would let me get in a word edgewise. But when he told +me that Dad had come half across the world from New York to Sicily on +the strength of his statements, I was _wild_--partly with anger and +partly with anxiety to see my dear old Angel "immediately if not +sooner." + +I don't remember a word Jimmy said to me, driving down to Sir Edward +Haines', where Dad had gone expecting to find me. I've just a hazy +recollection of being hurried through a beautiful garden; I knew that +poor Lady Brighthelmston (piteously worried about her son) and a rather +common girl and her father, whom we'd stumbled across in Blois, were +with us. Their cab had come behind ours. I saw Dad in the distance, +talking to Brown, who looked less like a hired _chauffeur_ than ever, +and then--then came the thunderbolt. + +It was almost as difficult to believe at first that he had tricked me by +pretending to be Brown, when he was really Mr. Winston, as it would +have been to believe Jimmy Payne's penny-dreadful stories. But you can't +go on doubting when a virtuous old lady claims a man as her own son. I +had to accept the fact that he was Jack Winston. + +For an instant I felt as if it were a play, and I were someone in the +audience, looking on. It didn't seem real, or to have anything to do +with me. Then I caught his eyes. They were saying, "Do forgive me"; and +with that I realized how much there was to forgive. He had made me +behave like a perfect little fool, giving him good advice and +tips--actually _tips_!--telling him (or very nearly) that he was "quite +like a gentleman," and hundreds of other outrageous things which all +rushed into my mind, as they say your whole past life does when you are +drowning. + +I gave him a glance--quite a short one, because I could hardly look him +in the face, thinking of those tips and other things. + +Then I turned away, and began talking to Dad; but very likely I talked +great nonsense, for I hadn't the least idea what I was saying, except +that I kept exclaiming the same five words over and over, like a +phonograph doll: "I _am_ glad to see you! I _am_ glad to see you!" + +Perhaps I had presence of mind enough to invite the dear thing to take a +stroll with me, for the sake of escaping from Brown; for, anyway, I woke +up from a sort of dream, to find myself walking into a summer-house +alone with Dad. + +"Don't you think," he was saying, "that you treated Mr. Winston rather +rudely?" + +"Rudely?" I repeated. "How has he treated _me_, I should like to know?" + +"If you really would like to know," returned Dad, in that nice, calming +way he has which, even when you are ruffled up, makes you feel like a +kitty-cat being stroked, "I don't see, girlie dear, that you have so +very much to complain of. I've been having a chat with him, and if he +tells the truth, he appears to have served you pretty well. But perhaps +you will say he doesn't tell the truth as to that?" + +"Oh, he _served_ me well enough--too well," said I. "But let's not speak +of him. I want to talk about you." + +"There's plenty of time for that," said Dad. "I've come to stay--for a +while. Before we begin on me, let's thrash out this matter of Mr. +Winston." + +"It deserves to be thrashed," I remarked, trying to laugh. But I've +heard things that sounded more like laughs than that. I hoped Dad didn't +notice it was wobbly. + +"He's told me the whole story," went on Dad, "so perhaps I'm in a +position to judge better than you. Women are supposed to have no +abstract sense of justice, but I thought my girl was different. You hear +what Winston has got to say first, and then you can send him to the +right-about if you please." + +"I don't see anything abstract in that. It's purely personal," said I. +"Mr. Winston can't expect me to hear him, or even to see him, again." + +"He hopes, not expects, as a chap feels about going to heaven," said +Dad. "I'll fetch him, and you can get it over." + +"Do nothing of the kind!" I exclaimed. "Let him stay with his mother." + +"I guess I'm competent to entertain his mother for a few minutes," +suggested Dad. "She's a very pleasant-looking lady." + +I would have stopped him if I could; but when I saw he was determined, I +just shut my lips tight, and let him go. What I meant to do was to whisk +out as soon as his back was turned, so that when Mr. Winston should +come, he would find me gone. There was no danger he wouldn't understand +why; and a decided action like that on my part would settle everything +for the future. + +But as I got to the door I saw him, not six feet distant. He must either +have been on the way to the summer-house when Dad left me, or else he'd +been waiting close by. Anyhow, evidently he and Dad couldn't have said +two words to each other; there hadn't been time; and there was Dad +marching off as if to find and "entertain" Lady Brighthelmston. I should +almost have had to push past Mr. Winston, if I'd persisted in escaping, +which would have looked childish, so quickly I resolved to stand my +ground--in the summer-house--and face it out. My heart was beating so +fast I could hardly think, and I had to tell myself crossly, with a sort +of mental shake, that after all _he_ was the guilty one, not I, before I +could catch at even a decent amount of _savoir faire_. + +Naturally, as it was the only thing to be said, his lips asked the same +question his eyes had asked before. "Can you forgive me?" + +I always thought Brown's voice one of the nicest things about him, +unless perhaps his eyes; and both were at their very nicest now. I +hadn't realized, till he came to me, how much I should _want_ to forgive +him. I did want to, awfully, but I felt it would never do; and I think I +must have been commendably dignified as I answered: "The hardest +possible thing for a woman to forgive a man is making her ridiculous." + +"But then," he cut in, quite boldly, "I don't ask you to forgive me for +a sin I haven't committed, only for those I have." + +"You _have_ made me ridiculous," I insisted. + +"I fancied it was myself; but I didn't mind that, or anything else which +gave me a chance of being near you, even under false pretences. It is +for deceiving you that I ask to be forgiven. I lived a good many lies as +Brown, but honestly, I believe I never told one. Do forgive me. I +sha'n't be able to bear my life if you don't." + +"I can't forgive you," I said again. + +"Then punish me first and forgive me afterwards--very soon. I deserve +that you should do both." + +"I think you do deserve the first, but I don't quite see how or why you +deserve the second." + +"Because I worship you, and would rather be your servant than be king of +a country in which you didn't live." + +"Oh!" I couldn't say another word, for thinking of Brown being in love +with me, and there being no reason why I shouldn't let myself love him +too--except, of course, one's self-respect after all that had happened. +But just for an instant I didn't think about that last part; and I was +so surprised, and so happy--or so shocked and so unhappy (I couldn't be +sure which; only, whatever the sensation was, it was very violent), that +I was speechless. + +Brown took advantage of that, and talked a great deal more. I tried to +look away from him, but I simply couldn't. He held my eyes, and after he +had told me whole chapters about his thoughts and feelings since the +very first day of our meeting, it occurred to me that he was holding my +hands too--both of them. I am not sure he hadn't been doing it for some +time before I found out, but it was his kissing the hands which brought +me to myself. + +It seemed too extraordinary that Brown should be doing that--almost as +if I were dreaming. And to be perfectly frank with myself, it was an +exquisite dream; because such strange things can happen in dreams, and +you don't seem to mind a bit. Luckily, he didn't know this; and I +snatched my hands away, exclaiming: "Mr. Winston!" + +"Don't call me that," he begged. "Call me Brown." + +"But you are not Brown." + +"I love you just as much as when I was Brown, and more. If you only knew +what thousands of times I have longed to tell you, and the heavenly +relief it is to do it at last!" + +"You have no more right now. Less, even; for Brown _seemed_ honest." + +"If Brown had forgotten himself, and--and kissed the hem of your dress, +what would you have done?" + +"I--don't know," was my feeble answer. + +"You would have sent him away." + +"No--I don't think I could have done that. I--I depended on Brown so +much. I used--to wonder how I should ever get on without him." + +"Don't get on without him. I'll be your _chauffeur_ all my days, if +those are the only terms on which you'll take me back. But are there no +other terms? What I want is--" + +"What?" I couldn't resist asking when he paused. + +"Everything!" + +Something in his face, his eyes, his voice--his whole self, I +suppose--carried me off my feet into deep water. I just let myself go, I +was so frightfully happy. I knew now that I had been in love with Brown +for months and had been miserable and restless because he was--only +Brown. + +I heard myself saying: "I do forgive you." + +"And love me--a little?" + +"No; not a little." + +Then he caught me in his arms, though at any moment someone might have +passed the summer-house door and seen us. He didn't think of that, +apparently, and neither did I at the time. I thought only of +Brown--Brown--Brown. There was nobody in the world but Brown. + +I don't think I precisely said in so many words that I would be engaged +to him, though he may have taken that for granted in the end; and if I +did give a wrong impression, I had no time to correct it, for it seemed +that we had been talking about the future and such things no more than a +minute, when Dad came sauntering by with Lady Brighthelmston. + +They both looked at us as if they expected to hear something "extra +special," as the newsboys say; and I gave a glance at Brown, or Jack, or +whatever I ought to call him, which said, "If you dare!" + +Having been forgiven once, I suppose he thought it would be wiser not to +tempt Providence, so he held his peace, and we all talked about the +weather and what a nice garden-party it was. + +That is the reason why I still have the thing in my own hands. If I read +this over, as I am now going to do, and disapprove of myself, it is not +too late to change my mind. + +P.S. I have read it. And I have thought things over. + +Molly Randolph, if you hadn't forgiven Brown, you would have been a +detestable little wretch, and you would never have forgiven _yourself_, +for he is the best ever--except Dad. + +It will be delicious to let myself love him as much as ever I like, at +last--my Lightning Conductor! + +THE END + + + + +FIFTH IMPRESSION of a humorous book with humorous illustrations. + +Cheerful Americans + +By CHARLES BATTELL LOOMIS. + +With 24 Illustrations by FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN, FANNY Y. CORY and +others. 12mo, $1.25. + +¶ Seventeen humorous tales, including three quaint automobile stories, +and the "Americans Abroad" series, "The Man of Patty," "Too Much Boy," +"The Men Who Swapped Languages," "Veritable Quidors," etc. + +N. Y. TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW + + says of one of the stories: "IT IS WORTHY OF FRANK STOCKTON." The + rest of the notice praises the book. + +N. Y. TRIBUNE: + + "He is unaffectedly funny, and entertains us from beginning to + end." + +NATION: + + "The mere name and the very cover are full of hope.... This small + volume is a safe one to lend to a gambler, an invalid, a + hypochondriac, or an old lady; more than safe for the normal + man.... The book should fulfil a useful mission on rainy days, and + on kerosene-steeped evenings in those spots of earth where men and + women do congregate." + +N. Y. COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER: + + "His opera-bouffe portrayals of American types are distinctly + enjoyable. Most of us have met them or their next of kin in real + life.... The volume is abundantly illustrated, and the artists have + admirably caught the spirit of the author's humor." + +BOSTON TRANSCRIPT, 8-19-03: + + "A new and very interesting collection.... Of the seventeen stories + in the book there is scarcely one not marked by an originality of + plot and an abundance of healthful humor.... He who reads the first + story will read them all and wish for more." + +CHICAGO TRIBUNE: + + "The title is a stroke of genius. The book is sanely American and + one of the cheeriest books published in a long time.... The humor + is natural, the characters well drawn, and the style simple and + unaffected.... The automobile stories, while distinctly original, + suggest Stockton in their serious absurdity.... When Mr. Loomis has + written another volume or two like it we will treat him like the + other immortal and drop the Mr." + + * * * * * + +_Some thirty genial satires on subjects of universal interest._ + +The Thoughtless Thoughts of Carisabel + +_By_ ISA CARRINGTON CABELL. + +12mo, gilt top, $1.25 _net_ (by mail $1.37) + +The topics include: "The New Man," "The Child," "One's Relatives," "The +Telltale House," "Servants," "Dinner Parties," "Ignorance is Bliss," +"Liking vs. Love," "Nervous Prostration," etc. + +N. Y. TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW: + + "That the discriminating ought to approve the book is + unquestionable ... written with a delicacy of style and a happiness + of expression that very few essayists of to-day possess ... + peculiarly dainty work.... The moods in 'Carisabel's' book are as + many as the moods of a woman, but always in comedy and pathos, + there are the same tenderness and delicacy. The book is distinctly + worth reading." + +N. Y. TRIBUNE: + + "New points of view presented in sprightly fashion." + +N. Y. COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER: + + "Clever conversation, bright, graceful dabs of opinion and + epigram." + +WASHINGTON STAR: + + "Her wit is keen and pointed." + +WASHINGTON POST: + + "Extremely clever and thoroughly amusing." + +PUBLIC OPINION: + + "Witty, easily moving comment on the world and the follies thereof + ... delightful, but at the same time thoroughly wise." + +PROVIDENCE JOURNAL: + + "The author has some exceedingly pertinent and illuminating things to + say ... written in a vein of whimsical humor and gentle irony, as of + one, who, looking on at the game of life, sees all the shams and + insincerities, and yet finds it worth while." + +BALTIMORE SUN: + + "There is apparently no limit to Mrs. Cabell's versatility.... She + has a keen perception of what is ridiculous or amusing ... + originality, perfection of style, pungency of comment and depth of + penetration." + + * * * * * + +"_One of the most important books on music that has ever been +published._"--W. J. HENDERSON in the N. Y. TIMES. + +FOURTH EDITION, with a new chapter by H. E. KREHBIEL, covering + Richard Strauss, Cornelius, Goldmark, Kienzl, Humperdinck, Smetana, + Dvorak, Charpentier, Elgar, etc. + + +LAVIGNAC'S + +Music and Musicians + +Translated by WILLIAM MARCHANT. + + With additional chapters by HENRY E. KREHBIEL on Music in AMERICA and +THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ART OF MUSIC + +With 94 Illustrations and 510 examples in Musical Notation. 518 pp., +12mo, $1.75 net. By mail, $1.91. + +¶ A brilliant, sympathetic and authoritative work covering musical +sound, the voice, musical instruments, construction aesthetics and the +history of music. A veritable musical cyclopedia, with some thousand +topics in the index. + +W. F. APTHORP In the Transcript:-- + + Admirably written in its way, capitally indexed, and of genuine + value as a handy book of reference. It contains an immense amount + of condensed information on almost every point connected with the + art which it were well for the intelligent music-lover to know.... + Mr. Marchant has done his hard task of translating exceedingly + well.... Well worth buying and owning by all who are interested in + musical knowledge. + +W. J. HENDERSON in the N. Y. Times:-- + + A truly wonderful production; ... a long and exhaustive account of + the manner of using the instruments of the orchestra, with some + highly instructive remarks on coloring.... Harmony he treats not + only very fully, but also in a new and intensely interesting + way.... Counterpoint is discussed with great thoroughness.... It + seems to have been his idea when he began to let no interesting + topic escape.... The wonder is that the author has succeeded in + making those parts of the book which ought naturally to be dry so + readable.... A style which can be fairly described as + fascinating.... It will serve as a general reference book for + either the musician or the music-lover. It will save money in the + purchase of a library by filling the places of several smaller + books.... A complete directory of musical literature.... One of the + most important books on music that have ever been published. + + +HENRY HOLT & COMPANY, +_NEW YORK._ (viii, '03). _CHICAGO._ + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lightning Conductor, by +C. N. Williamson and A. M. 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