and quietly and without any fuss
whatever Simpson left his luge and rolled on to the track. Luckily any
possibility of a further accident was at once avoided. There was no
panic at all. Archie kicked the body temporarily out of the way; after
which Dahlia leant over and pushed it thoughtfully to the side of the
road. Myra warded it off with a leg as she neared it; with both hands I
helped it into the deep snow from which it had shown a tendency to
emerge; Miss Cardew put a foot out at it for safety; and Thomas patted
it gently on the head as the end of the "tail" went past....

As soon as we had recovered our powers of speech--all except Miss
Cardew, who was in hysterics--we called upon Gaspard to stop. He
indicated with the back of his neck that it would be dangerous to stop
just then; and it was not until we were at the bottom of the hill,
nearly a mile from the place where Simpson left us, that the procession
halted, and gave itself up again to laughter.

"I hope he is not hurt," said Dahlia, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"He wouldn't spoil a good joke like that by getting hurt," said Myra
confidently. "He's much too much of a sportsman."

"Why did he do it?" said Thomas.

"He suddenly remembered he hadn't packed his safety-razor. He's half-way
back to the hotel by now."

Miss Cardew remained in hysterics.

Ten minutes later a brilliant sunset was observed approaching from the
north. A little later it was seen to be a large dish of apricots and
cream.

"He draws near," said Archie. "Now then, let's be stern with him."

At twenty yards' range Simpson began to talk. His trot had heated him
slightly.

"I say," he said excitedly. "You----"

Myra shook her head at him.

"Not done, Samuel," she said reproachfully.

"Not what, Myra? What not----"

"You oughtn't to leave us like that without telling us."

"After all," said Archie, "we are all one party, and we are supposed to
keep together. If you prefer to go about by yourself, that's all right;
but if we go to the trouble of arranging something for the whole
party----"

"You might have caused a very nasty accident," I pointed out. "If you
were in a hurry, you had only to say a word to Gaspard and he would have
stopped for you to alight. Now I begin to understand why you kept
cutting the rope at the start."

"You have sent Miss Cardew into hysterics by your conduct," said Dahlia.

Miss Cardew gave another peal. Simpson looked at her in dismay.