ng surprised by this prediction. Helen
leaned over the side and looked ahead.

"You are wrong this time, Mr. Brett," she laughed merrily. "The only
vehicle between us and a turn in the road is a dog-cart coming this way."

"That merely shows the necessity of carefully choosing one's words. I
should have said 'overtake,' not 'meet.'"

The carriage sped swiftly along. Helen craned her head to catch the first
glimpse of the yet hidden stretch of road beyond the turning.

"Good gracious!" she cried suddenly.

Even Margaret was stimulated to curiosity. She bent over the opposite
side.

"What an extraordinary thing!" she exclaimed.

Brett sat unmoved, anything in front being, of course, quite invisible to
him. On the box the coachman nudged the footman, as if to say:

"Did you ever! Well, s'elp me!"

For, in the next few strides, the horses had to be pulled to one side to
avoid a cart laden with potatoes, driven by a coatless youth who had one
arm thrown gracefully around the waist of a girl in a huge bonnet.

Nellie turned and stared at them in most unladylike manner, much to their
discomfiture.

"I do declare," she cried, "the girl has brown eyes! Mr. Brett, do tell us
how you did it."

"I will," he replied gaily. "Those labourers in a field half a mile away
were digging potatoes. Among the women sorters was a girl who was gazing
anxiously in this direction, and who resumed work in a very bad temper
when another woman spoke to her in a chaffing way. The gate was left open,
and there were fresh wheel-tracks in this direction. The men were all
coatless, so I argued a young man driving and a girl by his side, hence
the annoyance of the watcher in the field, owing particularly to the
position of his arm. The presence on the road of several potatoes, with
the earth still damp on them, added certainty to my convictions. It is
very easy, you see."

"Yes, but how about the colour of the girl's eyes?"

"That was hazardous, to an extent. But five out of every six women in this
county have brown eyes."

"Well, you may think it easy; to me it is marvellous."

"It is positively startling," said Margaret seriously; and if the
barrister indulged in a fresh series of deductions he remained silent on
the topic.

He tried to lead the conversation to Naples, but was foiled by Mrs.
Capella's positive disinclination to discuss Italy on any pretext, and
Miss Layton's natural desire not to embarrass her friend.

Indeed, so