of tea-time.

"Would you like to earn another half crown?" he asked.

She had wit enough to grasp essentials, and it was abundantly clear
that this man was not her lawful quarry.

"Yes--sir," she said.

"Take it, then, and tell the elderly lady belonging to my party--she
is somewhere inside--that Fitzroy says he cannot wait any longer. Use
those exact words--and be quick!"

The girl vanished. An irate yet dignified Mrs. Devar came out.

"Do I understand----" she began wrathfully.

"I hope so, madam. Unless you get in at once I intend going to
Bristol, or elsewhere, without you."

"Or elsewhere?" she gasped, though some of her high color fled under
his cold glance.

"Precisely. I do not intend to abandon Miss Vanrenen."

"How dare you speak to me in this manner, you vulgar person?"

For answer Medenham set the engine going.

"I said 'At once,'" he replied, and looked Mrs. Devar squarely in the
eyes.

She had her fair share of that wisdom of the serpent which is
indispensable to evildoers, and had learnt early in life that whereas
many men say they will do that which they really will not do if put to
the test, other men, rare but dominant, can be trusted to make good
their words no matter what the cost. So she accepted the unavoidable;
quivering with indignation, she entered the car.

"Drive me to the post-office," she said, with as much of acid repose
as she could muster to her aid.

Medenham seemed to be suddenly afflicted with deafness. After
negotiating a line of vehicles, the Mercury leaped past the caves of
Gough and Cox as though the drip of lime-laden water within those
amazing depths were reeling off centuries in a frenzy of haste instead
of measuring time so slowly that no appreciable change has been noted
in the tiniest stalactite during fifty years. Mrs. Devar then grew
genuinely alarmed, since even a designing woman may be a timid one.
She bore with the pace until the car seemed to be on the verge of
rushing full tilt against a jutting rock. She could endure the strain
no longer, but stood up and screamed.

Medenham slackened speed. When the curving road opened sufficiently to
show a clear furlong ahead, he turned and spoke to the limp,
shrieking creature clinging to the back of his seat.

"You are not in the slightest danger," he assured her, "but if you
wish it I will drop you here. The village is barely half a mile away.
Otherwise, should you decide to remain, you must put up with a r