nd the ayah, hearing the word _jeldi_, explained to the jampannis that
the Miss Sahib desired, above all things, fleetness, and that she had no
mind to sit behind a team of slugs.

Elma got in very gingerly, and the ayah settled her draperies with
affectionate care. The dark little woman loved her, because she was
gentle and fair and never scolded or hurried.

The night was very dark. The road was by narrow backways, rough, heavily
shadowed, and unprotected in many places. The jampannis started off at a
run down the steep path as soon as they had passed through the gate, and
Elma sat trembling and quaking behind them, gripping both sides of the
little narrow carriage as she was whirled along. Once or twice it bumped
heavily over large stones in the road; and when they had gone some
little distance a dispute seemed to arise between the runners. They
stopped the jampan and appealed to her, but she could not understand a
word they said. She could only shake her head and point forward. Several
minutes were lost in this discussion, and when at length it was decided
one way or the other, the men started again at a greater speed than
ever, to make up for the lost time.

They bumped and flew along the dark road, and whirled round a corner too
short. One of the men on the inner side of the road stumbled up the
bank, and, losing his balance, let go the pole, and the jampan heeled
over. Elma's startled scream unnerved the other runners, who swerved and
stumbled, and in a moment the jampan was overturned down the side of the
_kudd_. The white figure in it was shot out and went rolling down the
rough hillside among the scrub and thorny bushes and broken stakes that
covered it.

The jampannis ran away; and after that one scream of Elma's there was
silence on the dark road.

It seemed to her that she was years rolling and buffeting down that
steep hillside, which happily at that point was not precipitous. Then
something struck her sharply on the side and stopped her farther
progress. She did not faint, though the pain in her side gripped her
breath for a moment. For all her delicate ethereal appearance, she was a
strong girl, and, like many timid people, found courage when a disaster
had really happened. She could not move. She was pinned down among the
short, stiff branches of a thorny shrub; but she screamed again as loud
as she could--not a scream of terror, but a call for help. Then she lay
and listened. All about her there w