being seen. Captain Dieppe, on the
other hand, cried "Bravo!" and began to walk briskly towards the ford.
"How very lucky!" he reflected. "I will beg a passage; I have no fancy
for another bath to-night."

CHAPTER VIII

THE CARRIAGE AT THE FORD

The direct issue between her Excellency and the innkeeper at Sasellano
had ended as all such differences (save, of course, on points of
morality) should--in a compromise. The lady would not resign herself
to staying at Sasellano; the landlord would not engage to risk
passenger, carriage, and horses in the flood. But he found and she
accepted the services of a robust, stout-built fellow who engaged with
the lady to drive her as far as the river and across it if possible,
and promised the landlord to bring her and the equipage back in case
the crossing were too dangerous. Neither party was pleased, but both
consented, hoping to retrieve a temporary concession by ultimate
victory. Moreover the lady paid the whole fare beforehand--not, the
landlord precisely stipulated, to be returned in any event. So off her
Excellency rattled in the wind and rain; and great was her triumph when
the rain ceased, the wind fell, and the night cleared. She put her
head out of the rackety old landau, whose dilapidated hood had formed a
shelter by no means water-tight, and cried, "Who was right, driver?"
But the driver turned his black cigar between his teeth, answering,
"The mischief is done already. Well, we shall see!"

They covered eight miles in good time. They passed Paul de Roustache,
who had no thought but to avoid them, and, once they were passed, took
to the road and made off straight for Sasellano; they reached the
descent and trotted gaily down it; they came within ten yards of the
ford, and drew up sharply. The lady put her head out; the driver
dismounted and took a look at the river.

Shaking his head, he came to the window.

"Your Excellency can't cross to-night," said he.

"I will," cried the lady, no less resolute now than she had been at the
inn.

The direct issue again! And if the driver were as obstinate as he
looked, the chances of that ultimate victory inclined to the
innkeeper's side.

"The water would be inside the carriage," he urged.

"I 'll ride on the box by you," she rejoined.

"It 'll be up to the horses' shoulders."

"The horses don't mind getting wet, I suppose."

"They 'd be carried off their feet."

"Nonsense," said she, sharply, den