ind them.

"A carriage!" cried mademoiselle, roused to sudden energy, "they _must_
give us a lift," and drawing up by the side of the road, they waited
anxiously to know their fate. It was fairly dark by this time, and
they could not distinguish things clearly, but they saw a big horse,
with a light, open cart behind. When mademoiselle first began to
speak, the driver took not the least notice, but after going a few
yards, pursued by her with praiseworthy diligence and surprising
vigour, he pulled up and pointed to the seat behind, the place beside
him being already filled by a trunk.

The wanderers scrambled in joyfully, greatly pleased with their good
luck, and it was not until they were in their places, and near the man,
that they discovered he had been drinking freely and was not as
clear-headed as he might have been. If there had been time they would
all have got out again, but he whipped up so quickly that there was no
chance. He continued to whip up, moreover, till they were going at a
most break-neck speed.

Mademoiselle, clinging madly to the side of the cart, begged him in the
midst of her gasps and exclamations to let them descend; but the more
she begged and the more desperate she became, the better pleased he
seemed, and it really looked as if they might all be thrown into the
ditch. Then mademoiselle, who was always rather nervous about driving,
broke into shrill screams, with Marie joining in at intervals--Gilpin's
flight was nothing to it--and the cart jolted and swayed so that calm
expostulation was impossible.

A lesson in rough-riding to a beginner could not have proved a more
disjointing experience, and the man, chuckling over the
loudly-expressed fear of his companions, drove on. Fortunately, there
were not many turns, and the road was fairly wide all the way; but once
Barbara felt the hedge brush her face, and Marie's handkerchief, which
she had been using to mop up her tears, was borne away a few minutes
later by the bushes on the opposite side of the road.

The only thing that could be said in favour of the drive was that they
covered the ground with great speed, and the thought occurred to
Barbara that it would be by no means pleasant to enter the streets of
St. Servan with their present driver and two screaming women, as, apart
from other considerations, they might meet the policeman, and the
encounter would be unpleasant.

She told mademoiselle and Marie that if they did not want