The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1909-04-30
(Continued.l


had the machine well in hand. AS Tar
as Balmaclellan she went slowly. care
fully. climbing laboriously UP the steep
zig-zag road; and presently she began
to feel in good heart. She did not
know the name of the place: had never
heard OF it But it was somewhere;
one stage at least on the way home
When The village lay behind her she
began to put on more speed. With the
apprehension gone of not being aple
to get on at all. she began to THINK OF
her objective and of how long was the
journey before it could be revealed.
With increased speed. however. came
fresh fears. The Importance of the
machine began to be manifest; Sucn
force and speed needed special thought.
The road changed so rapidly that she
felt that she wanted another par OF
eyes. The wheel alone. with its speed
and steering induces, took all atten-
ton. She hardly dared to look up
from It. And vet if she did not know
how could she know the road to take;
how could she look out for danger
Happily the mere movement was a
tonic; the rush through the air braced
her. Otherwise she would have peen
shortly in a state of panic.
Very soon she began to realize the
difficulty of driving on an unknown
road, when one is not skilled in the
art. SoLmany things have to be con-
sidered all at once, and the onus OF
choosing perpetually is of nightmare
shadow. The openings of bye-roads
portant than is suspected that there IS
a passing doubt as to direction: and
country roads generally wind about SO
that distant landmarks. which can
guide one in general direction. come
and go with embarrassing SuddennesS.
AT first every cart-track or farm-road
made such doubts. and even when she
got to understand such minor trends
she got confused over bye-roadS OF
more Importance. Crossroads there
were before long, right Or left making
shortcuts for those who knew. These
she had to pass: she could Judge only
of her course by the excellence of the
main road-not always safe guide In
remote agricultural districts. One
thing told in her favour: the magni-
ficent bracing air of that splendid
high-hung moor through which she
passed. By the time she got to Cor
sock. however. she was beginning to
feel the strain severely. She was hot
and nervous and wearied; only the i'm
ting on quickly. enabled her to keep
up at ALL AT Corsock she stopped to
ask the wav. but found it hard to
understand the Lowland Scotch in
which directions for her guidance were
given. The result was that she started
afresh with a blank despair gripping
at her heart. Already she felt that
her effort to reach home in time was
to fly so fast, the miles to be so long.
She even began to feel a nervous doubt
to whether she could even be able
to send word to her father. East of
Corsock the nature of the road is con-
fusing to a stranger. There are bye
roads leading south and I'D north
wards into the mountains: and Urr
Water had to be crossed. Joy began
to lose perspective of things: her
doubts as to whether she was on the
right road became oppressive. Some
how. things were changing round her
Look where she would. she could not
f6A
landmarks. A midst was coming from
the right hand-that was the south.
where was Solway Firth Then she
gave up heart altogether. There came
to her woman's breast the reaction
from all the happy excitement of the
day. 1t was too bright to last. And
now came this shadow of trouble worse
even than the mist which seemed to
with her now. He! =
Strange it was that in all the day she
had not once spoken to him by name.
Dear or Darling seemed more
when he was kissing her. She closed
her eyes in an ecstasy of delightful re-
membrance. . She was recalled
to herself by a sudden jar: in her mo-
mentary forgetfulneSS she had run up
q bank.
1t was a shock to her when her eyes
opened to see how different were her
surroundings from her thoughts. Those
hours when they sat together where
the sunbearns stole through the trees
would afford her many comparison
in the time to come. All was now
dark and dank and chill. The mist
could hardly see the road ahead of her.
However. she had to go on. mist or
no mist: at least till she could reach
some place whence she could te1e-
graph TO her father. With a pang she
realized that she must not wire also
to Him as she would have loved to
have done. 1t would only upset and
alarm him, poor fellow: and he had
quite anxiety enough in thinking of
her alreadyi with heavy
heart she craw1ed along through the
mist. steering by the road-bed as well
as she could. keeping a sharp lookout
for crossroads and all the dangers of
the way.
The time seemed to fly. but not the
car; the road appeared to be endless.
Would she never come to any hos
pitable place! 1t was sur
prise to her when she came on strag-
Cling cottages. and found herself pc
tween double rows of houses Painted
over a door she saw "Crocketford
Office In her heart she thanked
God that she was still on the right
road though she had only as yet come
some dozen or more miles: 1t seemed
as if a week had passed since she left
Dairy and She drew up
to the post-off1ce and went in. There
she sent a wire:
went out motoring caught mere IN
mist am going on however but must
arrive very late so do not be anxious
about me- Love to Mother and Aunt
Judy and dear Daddy. joy.
When she had handed it in she look
ed at her watch. It was only half-past
five o'clock!
1t was still therefore on the verge
of possibility that she might get back
in time. She hurried out- Several
people had gathered around the motor,
which was throbbing away after the
manner of motors, as though I'M
patient to get to real work. A police
man who was amongst them, seeing
that she was about to go on, suggested
that she should have her lamps lit as
it would be a protection as we'll as a
help to her in the mist. She was about
to say that she thought it would be
better not: for she did not know any
+hincr about acatulene Ia INNS and fear