fter it as they
rounded a curve out of sight.

At twelve thirty-five they reached Guests where Joe alighted. He was
the only passenger of like mind, and aside from the station master who
made a hurried exchange of sundry small express packages and mail
there was no one at the station but a fat little old man in a brown
derby and a red sweater, and with a very dirty face. This latter
gentleman accosted Joe with a warning gesture, lifting his arm and
pointing to the sky, and at the same time giving him a significant
look, and then scuttling over to a disreputable motor car that stood
beside the station platform. Arriving there he twisted his fat neck
half around to see if his prey was following him, and being thus
assured, clambered in. The car was very aged and trembling from some
violent internal disorder, while the top was bellying off sidewise
with a great flapping of loose straps and curtain ends till it seemed
doubtful if the whole thing might hold together for another minute.

"High wind," suggested the Jehu, in a fat wheezy voice as Joe crawled
into the seat beside him. Joe agreed without qualification. The old
man paused a minute, gave him a sober, reflective look of far-away
intensity, and then suddenly turned and spat precariously into the
wind.

"Bloomfield?" he suggested with increased lightness of manner.

"Bloomfield," Joe agreed again. It was a pleasant bit of procedure,
invested with the dignity of a formula, for there was no other town
within a radius of many miles and no other road over which such
traffic was possible. Still it had to be gone through with.

They started with a rush, being ably seconded by a more severe gust of
wind than usual, and for eight miles it was a stalemate between the
wind and the motor as to which could make the most noise. But in spite
of it all Joe was enjoying it. There was a freedom in the uproar, in
the wildly tossing tree tops, in the white clouds that went scudding
high overhead. He had an insane desire to fling his hat high up in the
air, as they rolled along, and see how far the wind would carry it.

At length they arrived. Out of courtesy, perhaps, the wind abated;
perhaps it was because nothing boisterous would be tolerated along
those silent old streets. But as they passed the tavern, one green
shutter could be seen hanging by one hinge, moving softly to and fro,
and against the iron stair railing of the meeting house an old,
yellowing newspaper clung for a