ur chassis
forced us to bow and curtsey on our slippery, sliding skates. Forward
the Aigle had to go until her bonnet hung over the precipice, then to be
cautiously backed for a foot or two, before she could glide ticklishly
down the next steep gradient.

Involuntarily I shrank back against the cushions, bit my lip, and had to
force myself not to catch at the arm of the seat in those giddy seconds
when it felt as if we were dropping from sky to earth in a leaky
balloon; but if the blood in your veins has been put there by decent
ancestors who trail gloriously in a long line behind you, I suppose it's
easier for you not to be a coward than it is for people like the
Turnours, who have to be their own ancestors, or buy them at auctions.

The first words my companion spoke to me came as the valley below us
narrowed. "Look there," he said, nodding; and my gaze followed the
indication, to light joyously upon a distant _col_, where clustered a
friendly little group of human habitations.

The sight was like a signal to relax muscles, for though there was a
long stretch still of the appalling road between us and the _col_, the
eye seemed to grasp safety, and cling to it.

"Beyond that _col_ we shall strike the _route nationale_, which we
missed by coming this way," said Mr. Dane; and then it was the motor
only which gave voice, until we were close to the oasis in our long
desert of danger. That comforting voice was like a song of triumph as
the Aigle paused to rest at last before a _gendarmerie_ and a rough,
mountain inn. Some men who had been standing in front of the buildings
gave us a hearty cheer as we drew up at the door, and grinned a pleasant
welcome.

"We have been watching you a long way off," said a tall gendarme to the
chauffeur, "and to tell the truth we were not happy. That road has been
_declassee_ for some time now, and is one of the worst in the country,
even in fine weather. It was not a very safe experiment, monsieur; but
we have been saying to each other it was a fine way to show off your
magnificent driving."

Laughing, Jack Dane assured the gendarme that it was not done with any
such object, and Sir Samuel, out of the car by this time, with the
indignant Lady Turnour, wanted the conversation translated. I obeyed
immediately, and he too praised his chauffeur, in a nice manly way which
made me the more sorry for him because he had succeeded in marrying his
first love.

"I should like to pay you compli