ng light of the Automobile Club, holder
of more road records than I can count, in fact the most enthusiastic
motorist in the country. It was in consequence of this, indeed, that he
came to be my guest. There were few questions in regard to motoring
upon which Winter was not competent to give an opinion, and being myself
a victim to the prevailing motor-mania, I was deeply indebted to him for
many valuable tips. By this time I had passed my novitiate, and was
still driving a neat little 91/2-h.p. Clement in order to fit myself
for a more powerful and speedy car.

I arrived then at the restaurant about a quarter to eight, and having
had a brief but satisfactory interview with the proprietor, I made my
way to the table I had reserved in my favourite corner of the
dining-room. Finding I had ten minutes to spare, to kill time I ordered
a vermouth and the evening papers. The _Globe_ was the first upon the
pile the waiter brought to me, and following the example of most sane
men, I skipped the parliamentary intelligence and turned to the "By the
Way" column. I remember distinctly there was only one amusing paragraph
therein, and I was about to throw the paper aside, with the customary
lament as to the decadence of British humour, when my attention was
arrested by a paragraph at the bottom of the next column. The heading
was "Strange Highway Robbery." This was the paragraph:--

"Our Plymouth correspondent reports a novel highway robbery on the road
between Tavistock and Plymouth. Two gentlemen who had been for a run on
their motor to Tavistock, left the latter town about eight o'clock last
night. Their journey was uneventful until they reached Roborough, where
they were suddenly overtaken by a motor-car occupied by a man, who
presented a pistol at their heads, and ordered them to stop. Thinking
that the stranger merely intended to scare them, and that the summons
was only an ill-advised piece of pleasantry, they paid no attention to
the demand; whereupon the driver of the strange car, with a
well-directed shot, so damaged the machinery of their vehicle that they
were compelled to obey. Their attacker then demanded all the money and
articles of value they had in their possession under threat of
completely wrecking their car, and after securing his booty the
highwayman decamped. In consequence of the damage to their motor, it was
not until late at night that they reached Plymouth, and were enabled to
give particulars of the occu