yed awake for several hours, a most unusual occurrence,
revolving matters in her confused mind. When she could stand it no
longer she got up, dressed herself carefully in her motoring dress, and
stole downstairs through the silent house, out to the garage which was
at the other end of the garden. Eveline's little Pomeranian squeaked
once, but did not arouse the household. Adelle cranked her car
feverishly and succeeded at last, after much effort, in starting the
engine and in pushing back the garage door. It was by far the most
desperate step in life she had ever taken, and she felt ready to faint.
She clambered into the car and released the clutch, more dead than
alive, as she thought. With a leap and a whir she was down the road to
Archie's cottage.

XXIII

Safely there she felt more composed. Stopping her engine she got out and
walked to the window of the room on the ground floor that she knew the
young Californian occupied. It was open. Leaning through the rose-vine
she called faintly,--"Archie! Archie!" But the young painter slept
solidly, and she was forced to take a stick and poke the bunch of
bed-clothes in the corner before she could arouse the sleeping Archie.
When he came to the window, she exclaimed,--

"Some thing awful has happened, Archie!"

"What's the row?"

"We're found out. Pussy knows and the girls. Irene told 'em!"

That apparently did not seem to Archie the ultimate catastrophe that it
did to her. He stood in his pajamas beside the window, ungallantly
yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Well," he observed, "what are you going to do about it?"

Doubtless to his masculine good sense it seemed merely adding folly to
folly thus to run away from the villa at midnight and expose them to
further trouble.

Adelle did not argue nor explain.

"Put your clothes on," she said, with considerable decision, "and come
out to the car."

Thereupon she went back to the car, cranked it afresh, and waited for
him to appear. He came out of the rose-covered window, after a
reasonable time, and climbed in beside the girl. She seemed to expect
it, and there was not anything else to do. Adelle threw in the clutch
and started at a lively pace, turning into the broad highroad which ran
in a straight line southwards towards the French capital.

"What are you going to do?" Archie asked, now seriously awake and
somewhat disturbed.

"I'm never going back to that place again," the girl flamed resolutely.
"Nev