speechless surprise.
Then he answered:

"What would I be doing with a motor?"

"Enjoying the beauties of Australia, and giving the mother a little
pleasure," replied Denis.

"Pleasure! I would die in a motor," cried Mrs. Quirk.

"Just as well die there as in a phaeton. If you once ride in a motor,
you will never ride in anything else, unless it's an aeroplane. If the
Dad doesn't buy you a motor, I will."

"A motor! What would the boys say to see me in a motor?" growled Samuel
Quirk.

"Confound the boys! If the boys object to a motor, they are fools.
Motors mean the circulation of money. What is the difference between a
motor and a house, a motor and a horse, a motor and a coat? Don't they
all represent money to the working man? Don't bother yourself about the
boys, or the jackasses either!"

Already there were signs of political differences between father and
son. Samuel Quirk had clung to his Labour political creed all his life;
now, in his time of prosperity, he refused to resign his early
principles. Denis, a Democrat at heart, was something of a freelance,
inclined to tilt indiscriminately at both parties. This, however, was
the first occasion since his homecoming on which he had openly opposed
his father, and Samuel Quirk resented it.

"I have two legs to travel on, and they are good enough for me," he
growled.

"Just hear him, and he calls himself a Progressive. It's a Conservative
he is. Where's the use of science, if you refuse to make use of its
gifts?" cried Denis.

Kathleen recognised that Denis was irritating his father and grieving
his mother, not of intention, but simply because he did not realise that
Samuel Quirk could not tolerate opposition.

"Well, I have a proposal to make. You shall hire a motor," she
suggested. "Mr. Quirk and Granny shall ride in it, and see how they like
it. Then, perhaps, Mr. Quirk may be induced to buy one."

"Never!" growled Samuel Quirk. "Them noisy, dusty, smelling inventions
of the----!"

"Hush!" cried Mrs. Quirk. "The devil never invented anything good."

"And where's the good of them?" asked her husband.

"They make a long and hard journey short and pleasant. But Miss O'Connor
is right. You shall try what a motor is like, and if you don't take to
it I will buy one for the mother myself," said Denis.

It was an exciting moment in the house when he drove up the following
day in a large car. Mrs. Quirk, if very nervous, was anxious to
experience the new