by too swiftly for me to understand rightly what
happened. I fancy that, rising from my sitting position and travelling
easily on my head, I caught my skis up again and passed them....

Then it was their turn. They overtook me....

But I was not to be beaten. Once more I obtained the lead. This time I
took the inside berth, and kept it....

There seemed to be a lot more snow than I really wanted.... I struggled
bravely with it....

And then the earthquake ceased, and suddenly I was in the outer air. My
first ski-run, the most glorious run of modern times, was over.

"Ripping!" I shouted up the hill to them. "But there's rather a nasty
bump at the bottom," I added kindly, as I set myself to the impossible
business of getting up....

"Jove," said Archie, coming to rest a few yards off, "that's splendid!"
He had fallen in a less striking way than myself, and he got to his feet
without difficulty. "Why do you pose like that?" he asked, as he picked
up his stick.

"I'm a fixture," I announced. "Myra," I said, as she turned a somersault
and arrived beaming at my side, "I'm here for some time; you'll have to
come out every morning with crumbs for me. In the afternoon you can
bring a cheering book and read aloud to your husband. Sometimes I shall
dictate little things to you. They will not be my best little things;
for this position, with my feet so much higher than my head, is not the
one in which inspiration comes to me most readily. The flow of blood to
the brain impairs reflection. But no matter."

"Are you really stuck?" asked Myra in some anxiety. "I should hate to
have a husband who lived by himself in the snow," she said thoughtfully.

"Let us look on the bright side," said Archie. "The snow will have
melted by April, and he will then be able to return to you. Hallo,
here's Thomas! Thomas will probably have some clever idea for restoring
the family credit."

Thomas got up in a businesslike manner and climbed slowly back to us.

"Thomas," I said, "you see the position. Indeed," I added, "it is
obvious. None of the people round me seems inclined--or, it may be,
able--to help. There is a feeling that if Myra lives in the hotel alone
while I remain here--possibly till April--people will talk. You know how
ready they are. There is also the fact that I have only hired the skis
for three weeks. Also--a minor point, but one that touches me
rather--that I shall want my hair cut long before March is out. Thomas,
ima