ive miles. To drive was out of the
question, for all the carriages in the place had been requisitioned.

"What in the world shall I do?" she cried. "If I walk back, I shall never
have time to dress. Oh, why haven't I got a motor?"

Jerry slapped his leg with a yell of triumph.

"My dear girl, you have! The very thing! I'll be your motor and chauffeur
rolled into one. My bicycle is here. Come along, and I'll take you home
on the step."

The idea was worthy of them both. Nan fell in with it with a gay chuckle.
It was not the first time that she had indulged in this species of
gymnastics with Jerry's co-operation, though, to be sure, some years had
elapsed since the last occasion on which she had performed the feat.

She had not, however, forgotten her ancient prowess, and Jerry was
delighted with his passenger. Poised on one foot, and holding firmly to
his shoulders, Nan sailed down the High Street in the full glare of the
lamps. It was not a dignified mode of progression, but it was very far
from being ungraceful.

She wore a little white fur cap on her dark hair, and her pretty face
laughed beneath it like the face of a merry child. The danger of her
position was a consideration that never occurred to her. She was in her
wildest mood, and enjoying herself to the utmost.

The warning hoot of a motor behind her dismayed her not at all.

"Hurry up, Jerry! Don't let them pass!" she urged.

And Jerry put his whole heart into his pedalling and bore her at the top
of his speed.

It was an exciting race, but ending, as such races are bound to end, in
the triumph of the motor. The great machine overtook them steadily,
surely. For three seconds they were abreast, and Nan hammered her
cavalier on the back with her muff in a fever of impatience. Then the
motor glided ahead, leaving only the fumes of its petrol to exasperate
the already heated Nan.

"Beasts!" she ejaculated tersely, while Jerry became so limp with
laughter, that he nearly ceased pedalling altogether.

No further adventure befell them during the five-mile journey. The roads
were in excellent condition, and the moon was high and frostily bright.

"It's been lovely," Nan declared, as they turned in at her father's
gates. "And you're a brick, Jerry!"

"How many waltzes shall I get for it?" was Jerry's prompt rejoinder.

The girl's gay laugh rang silvery through the frosty air. Jerry had been
asking the question at intervals all the afternoon.

"I'll g