The carriage was ordered to turn
and drive slowly back; they followed.

They had not taken many steps before Frans Roey began to turn
cart-wheels, that is to say, to throw himself forward side-ways upon his
hands, turn in the air, and fall again upon his feet--then to go off
again sideways upon his hands, ever onwards, ever faster. Presently he
turned and came back in the same way. "That is one of my circus tricks,"
he said, beaming. "Here is another!" He jumped up where he stood, turned
round in the air, and came down again on his feet on the exact spot from
which he had jumped--then did the same thing again. "Look. Exactly where
I jumped from!" he exclaimed triumphantly, and did it two, three, four,
five times more.

They admired. And it was a sight worthy of admiration; for the ease with
which the tall, strong man performed the feat made it beautiful.
Inspired by their praise, he began to spin round at such a rate that
they could not bear to look. Nor was it beautiful. They turned away and
screamed. This delighted him tremendously. Annoyed by the fact, Alice
called out:

"You are a perfect boy; any one would take you for seventeen!"

"How old are you?" asked Mary.

"Over thirty."

They shouted with laughter.

This they should not have done. This he must punish. Before Alice
divined his intention, he seized her round the waist, turned, and was
off with her in the most frantic gallop up the road, raising clouds of
dust. Stout Alice struggled with all her might and screamed. But this
was of no avail; it only delighted him. Her hat and her shawl fell off.
Mary ran and picked them up, helpless with laughter; for these ungainly
and perfectly useless attempts at resistance were irresistibly comic. At
last Frans turned, and they came back again at the same wild pace and
stopped where Mary stood--Alice's face distorted, perspiring, and red.
Her breathless rage, incapable of utterance, made Mary explode. Frans
sang: Hop sa-sa! hop-sa-sa! in front of the angry lady, until she could
speak and abuse him. Then he laughed.

"And you--?" said Mary, now turning to Frans. "Has it not tired you at
all?"

"Not much. I'm quite prepared to take the same trip with you."

Mary was horrified. She had just given Alice her hat, and was standing
holding the shawl and her own hat, which she had taken off. With a cry
she threw both from her and set off in the homeward direction, towards
the waiting carriage.

Not for an instant had