mmon. Mr. Roberts is suffering from severe
concussion, and has not regained consciousness; but fortunately Mr.
Bradshaw's injuries, though painful, are not dangerous, and he has been
good enough to give me a full account of his unique adventure. It seems
the two gentlemen had been touring in the west country for ten days, and
were on their way home. They stopped the previous night at Exeter,
leaving about ten in the morning with the intention of reaching
Salisbury about five or six yesterday evening. They lunched at
Ilminster, and afterwards had traversed another twenty-five miles of
their journey when one of their tyres unfortunately punctured. This was
shortly after they had passed through Wincanton. When the tyre was
mended, something went wrong with the electric ignition, and altogether
the repairs proved such a tedious job that they could not make a fresh
start until close upon lighting-up time.

"The delay had not troubled them, for the weather was beautifully fine.
As, however, they were very hungry, they determined to stop at
Shaftesbury for dinner before finishing the day's run they had mapped
out. There is a particularly long hill into Shaftesbury, and they did
not reach that town until 8.30. At the hotel they met another party of
motorists, and, agreeing to dine together, it was not until after ten
that they found themselves once more on their way, with twenty miles of
a hilly road to cover. The lateness of the hour did not trouble them
much. They had wired to Salisbury for rooms; the night was fine and
clear; a bright moon was shining; the roads were clear of traffic, and
their motor was guaranteed to do its thirty-five miles an hour. They
thought that it would be a good opportunity to find out what Mr.
Bradshaw's car was really capable of doing on a hilly track.

"Mr. Bradshaw declares that he had never enjoyed a run more than he did
on this occasion. A brisk wind was blowing behind them, they found there
was more downhill than up, the road was absolutely clear, and they were
able to take the declines at a pace which took the sting out of the
ascents."

"So for twenty minutes they ran at full speed, and after slowing to pass
through a village, they had just put on full speed again when Mr.
Bradshaw's attention was arrested by a curious humming sound which
appeared to arise from something behind. He was, of course, unable to
glance back, as all his faculties were engaged in driving the car; but
Mr. Robert