I felt convinced that in some
way the two were connected. I put down the paper at last, and called
out of the room to a motoring friend.

"How far is it to Newcastle from here, Jacky?"

Jacky Dalton, a fair-haired young giant, one of the keenest sportsmen
whom I had ever met, and whose mind and soul was now entirely
dominated by the craze for motoring, told me with only a few moments'
hesitation.

"Between two hundred and two hundred and twenty miles, Austen," he
said, "and a magnificent road. With my new Napier, I reckon that I
could get there in six hours, or less at night, with this moon."

I walked to the window. Across the park the outline of the trees and
even the bracken stood out with extraordinary distinctness in the
brilliant moonlight. There was not a breath of air, although every
window in the house was open. We were having a few days of record
heat.

"Jove, what a gorgeous run it would be to-night!" Dalton said, with a
little sigh, looking out over my shoulder. "Empty roads, as light as
day, and a breeze like midsummer! You don't want to go, do you,
Austen?"

"Will you take me?" I asked.

"Like a shot!" he answered. "I only wish you were in earnest!"

"But I am," I declared. "If you don't mind missing the day's shooting
to-morrow I'd love to run up there. It's impossible to sleep with this
heat."

"It's a great idea," Dalton declared enthusiastically. "I'd love a day
off from shooting."

I turned to a younger cousin of mine, who had just come in from the
billiard-room.

"Dick," I said, "will you run things to-morrow if I go off motoring
with Dalton?"

"Of course I will," he answered. "It's only home shooting, anyway. I'd
rather like a day off because of the cricket match in the afternoon."

"Jacky, I'm your man!" I declared.

"We'll have Ferris in at once," he declared. "Bet you what you like
he's ready to start in a quarter of an hour. I always have her kept
ready tuned right up."

I rang the bell and sent for Jacky's chauffeur. He appeared after a
few minutes' delay,--a short, hard-faced young man, who before Jacky
had engaged him had driven a racing car.

"Ferris," his master said, "we want to start for Newcastle in half an
hour."

"To-night, sir?" the man asked.

"Certainly," Dalton answered. "I shall drive some of the way
myself. Everything is in order, I suppose?"

"Everything, sir," the man answered. "You can start in ten minutes if
you wish."

"Any trouble about petrol?