Evening star., 1909-04-26
CHAPTER xv1-continued.

but now it was apparent 1t was not
big hill. however. and the run down the
other side was exhilarating. though the
fear Of some obstacle in front dampened
such pleasure as there was. Even then
the pace was not fast; ordinarily 1t would
have been considered as little better than
a rapid crawl. For while. not long, but
seemingly more than long. the road was
up-and-down till she saw in the dimness
of the mist glimpses OF houses, then
few CLEANS Of light from the chinks OF
shut windows. Here she went very slow
~ and footed often. She feared she might
now might mean delay. She breathed
more freely when she was out in the open
again. That episode Of the arrest and the
prolonged agitation which followed IT had
unnerved her more than she had thought;
and now the mist and the darkness and
the uncertainty were playing havoc with
her. 1t was only when she was long past
the little place that she regretted she had
not stopped to ask IL she were on the
right road. There was nothing for 1t.
up and down, up and down; but the sur
face was fairly good, and as the powerful
lamps showed her sufficient space ahead
to steer she moved along, though 1t had
to be with an agonizing slowness. How
it all was. she thought from
that fairy-chariot driving with him in
the morning The road then seemed
and level, and movement was
an undiluted pleasure! For an instant
she closed her wearied eyes as she
sighed at the change-and ran on the
roadbed
Happily she was going slowly and
recovered herself before more than the
front wheels were on the rough mass
of old road-scrapings. In couple OF
seconds she backed off and was under
AknN 1Saf n
keen now in her outlook. She felt the
strain acutely; for the road seemed to
be always curving away from her.
Moreover, there was another cause OF
concern. Night was coming on. Even
in the dense mist or the blacklist fog
the light or darkness of the sky Is to
some degrees apparent Now the sense
came on her that over the thick mist
was darkness She stopped moment
and getting out looked at her watch In
the light of the lamps.
Her heart fell away, away. 1t was
now close to o'clock. There was
no use worrying she felt; nothing to be
done but go on. carefully for the pres
ent. When she made UP her mind to
the worst. her courage began to come
back and she could think. She felt that
as the wind was now strongly in her
face she must be nearing the Firth and
that in time she would pass the border
and be heading for home and father.
She Jumped in her seat and was on
again. ;.
was not mist but fog-was thicker
than ever; the wind being strongly In
her face. 1t seemed above the glare OF
the powerful lamps to come boiling up
out of the roadway which she could
see but dinlly. Fear. vague and gaunt,
began to overshadow her. But there
was no use worrying or thinking of
except the immediate present.
which took the whole OF her thought
and attention. In the face of her sur
she dared not 80 fast. dared
not stop. And SO, for a time that
seemed endless, she pressed on through
the fog. Presently she became aware
that the wind was not so much in her
teeth. AS she was steering by the
roadbed she did not notice curves:
there was no doubt as to her route. as
there did not seem to be any divergent
roads at all. On. on. on. on! road
full of hills. not very high nor espe-
cially steep, but enough to keep
driver on constant watchout.
At last she felt that she was close
to the sea. The wind came fiercely. and
the drifting fog seen against the lumi-
nous area around the lamps seemed
like a whirlpool. There was a salt
smell in the air. This gave her some.
hope. If this We're the Firth she must
be close to the border. and would soon
entered Scotland. Instinctively she
went forward faster. And at last there
surely was a bridge. A narrow enough
bridge 1t was: as she went slowly
across 1t she wondered how 1t was that
they had seemed to fly over it in the
However, she would go on now in
new hope She was in England. and
by and by she would come through
the fog belt. and. having passed Car
1oh hn y q
roads to Ambleside. Though the fog
was dense as ever, she did not feel
the wind SO much: she crowded on
she did not dare go much faster as yet,
and as she was now climbing a long.
steep hill she ceased to notice 1t. After
a while, when there came a stronger
puff than usual. she noticed that 1t was
on her back-the high hood of the car
had protected her for some time past.
After a little. however, the old fear
came back upon her. At the present
rate of progress to reach home at any
time. however late, seemed an impos-
And all was SO dark. and the
fog was so dense; and the road didn't
seem a bit like that they came by be-
tween Carlisle and the border. All at
crying bitterly. She did not want TO
stop the car, and so dared not take her
hands from the wheel, even to find her
pocket handkerchief. sShe wept and
wept; wept her heart out. while all the
time mechanically steering by the light
of the lamps on the road. Her weeping
aided the density of the fog. and with
her eyes set on the road and the driv-
ing wheel in her hands she did not no
tice that she was going between
testify Of a little more Importance than
the one she had already passed, and
crossed It. The road swayed away to
the left; presently this was crossed
by another almost at right angles; but
she kept straight on. There was no one
from whom to ask the way; and had
there been any one she probably would
not have seen him. A little way on
there was another cross-road, but or
minor Importance: then further on she
came to a place Of difficult choice. An
other cross-road. again almost at right
angles; but the continuance Of the road
she was on showed 1t to be but a poor
road, i'll kept. So. too. was that to her
left; but the road to the right was
broad and well kept. 1t was undoubt-
the rule she had hitherto obeyed. she
followed it.
She was now feeling somehow in bet.
ter heart: the fit of crying had relieved
her. and some of her courage had come
back. She wanted comforting-wanted 1t
badly; but those whose comfort only could
prevail were far away; one behind her In
Scotland. the others still far away at
Ambleside. The latter thought made her
desperate. She put on more speed-and
with her thoughts and anxieties not In
the present but the future. ran up steep
bank. There was a quick snap Of some
thing in front Of the car: the throbbing
Of the engine suddenly ceased. With the
shock she had been thrown forward upon
the wheel, but fortunately the speed had
not been great enough to cause her seri-
ous injury. The lamps made the fog
sufficiently luminous for her movements.
and she scrambled out of the car. She