s, we're in
pretty good condition--let's make a life and death dash and get hold of
those girls--we've got to."

They had drawn rather nearer to watch our efforts, and we did take
them rather by surprise; also, as Terry said, our recent training had
strengthened us in wind and limb, and for a few desperate moments those
girls were scared and we almost triumphant.

But just as we stretched out our hands, the distance between us widened;
they had got their pace apparently, and then, though we ran at our
utmost speed, and much farther than I thought wise, they kept just out
of reach all the time.

We stopped breathless, at last, at my repeated admonitions.

"This is stark foolishness," I urged. "They are doing it on
purpose--come back or you'll be sorry."

We went back, much slower than we came, and in truth we were sorry.

As we reached our swaddled machine, and sought again to tear loose its
covering, there rose up from all around the sturdy forms, the quiet
determined faces we knew so well.

"Oh Lord!" groaned Terry. "The Colonels! It's all up--they're forty to
one."

It was no use to fight. These women evidently relied on numbers, not so
much as a drilled force but as a multitude actuated by a common impulse.
They showed no sign of fear, and since we had no weapons whatever and
there were at least a hundred of them, standing ten deep about us, we
gave in as gracefully as we might.

Of course we looked for punishment--a closer imprisonment, solitary
confinement maybe--but nothing of the kind happened. They treated us as
truants only, and as if they quite understood our truancy.

Back we went, not under an anesthetic this time but skimming along in
electric motors enough like ours to be quite recognizable, each of us
in a separate vehicle with one able-bodied lady on either side and three
facing him.

They were all pleasant enough, and talked to us as much as was possible
with our limited powers. And though Terry was keenly mortified, and at
first we all rather dreaded harsh treatment, I for one soon began to
feel a sort of pleasant confidence and to enjoy the trip.

Here were my five familiar companions, all good-natured as could be,
seeming to have no worse feeling than a mild triumph as of winning some
simple game; and even that they politely suppressed.

This was a good opportunity to see the country, too, and the more I saw
of it, the better I liked it. We went too swiftly for close observation,
but