left the caravan behind. In another ten minutes they had
reached the outskirts of Ledcombe, and arrived at civilization.

The little country town was one of those sleepy places where you could
almost shoot a cannon down the High Street without injuring anybody.
There were shops with antiquated-looking goods in the windows; a
market hall, closed except on Tuesdays; a church with a picturesque
tower, a bank, and a large number of public-houses. It seemed to the
girls as if almost every other building displayed a green dragon, or a
red lion, or a black boar, or some other sign to indicate that the
excessive thirst of the inhabitants could be satisfied within.
Raymonde felt rather nervous at driving in the town, but fortunately,
being a Thursday morning, there was little traffic in the streets. Had
it been market day she might have got into difficulties. She sat
outside in the gig while Aveline went into the shops and purchased the
various commodities on Miss Jones's list. These were so many, that by
the time everything had been bought the gig was crammed to
overflowing, leaving only just room for the two girls. Raymonde sat
with her feet on a sack of potatoes, Aveline clutched the big baskets
full of loaves and vegetables, while parcels were piled up on the
floor and on the seat. Their business had taken them longer than they
expected, and the church clock warned them that they must hurry if the
potatoes were to be cooked in time for dinner. As soon as they were
clear of the town, Raymonde attempted to communicate the urgency of
the case to Dandy. Her efforts were in vain, however. That faithless
quadruped utterly refused to proceed faster than an ambling jog-trot,
and took no notice of whipping, prodding or poking, beyond flicking
his ears as if he thought the flies were troublesome.

"We shall never get back to the camp at this rate," lamented Raymonde.
"What are we to do?"

"Geordie suggested 'cuss words'," grinned Aveline. "I expect that's
what Dandy's accustomed to from most of his drivers."

"Don't suppose he'd be particular as to the exact words," said
Raymonde. "Probably it's the tone of voice that does it. Let's wait
till he gets to the top of this hill, then I'll prod him again, and
we'll both growl out 'Go on!' and see if it has any effect."

"If it hasn't, I shall lead him and run by his head. It would be
quicker than this pace."

"We'll try shouting first. Here we are at the top of the hill. Now,
both t