n she came, sir, and the guard held her up, not recognizing
her, here at the gate, and when the car didn't stop the boys chased her
and fired at the tires of her machine. It was very dreadful, sir. And at
the house--at the door, sir--the guard was very harsh with her, sir,
most regrettable."

"You certainly made a mess of it!" I ejaculated. "But you did let her
in--into her own house, we must remember--you did grant her the courtesy
of a lodging for the night?" I inquired ironically.

"She's retired, sir. There was a lady with her; maybe a maid; I can't
exactly say; and we did everything, sir, to make her comfortable. She
was not what you might say fussy, sir, but quite human-like. We was all
relieved, sir, the way she took everything. I hope you'll pardon us,
sir, which was due to not being warned."

"Oh, it's all right with me, but in the morning she'll probably bounce
the whole lot of us. An old lady fatigued from a journey cross country
and shot at on her own premises--it's a very pretty story."

They were a picturesque lot, the ancient waiters and bell-hops grouped
about Antoine with their lanterns and garden implements and firearms.
Antoine was swallowing hard in his effort to continue his recital.

"You say an old lady, sir; the mistress is not really what you would
call so old--not exactly, sir."

"Really a youngish party, I should say," volunteered Graves, the
gardener.

Just what these veterans would call old was a matter of conjecture.
"Um," I murmured, and considered the situation.

"Young or old, she would hardly relish her reception. There was a maid,
and they came in a machine? Did you put up the chauffeur or did you
shoot him on the spot?"

"It was a hired machine, sir; and madame sent it away. The driver was a
good deal upset over the shooting. One of the rear tires was quite
blown away."

"You're in luck if he doesn't have you all arrested to-morrow," I
remarked consolingly.

"Mrs. Bashford seemed quite amused by the occurrence," Antoine
continued. "'Wonderful America!' she kept saying after we'd got her
inside. We gave her tea, which was all she asked for. She takes her tea
with cream, sir. We did our best to make her comfortable. And there was
a dog, sir. I recall that the master was not fond of dogs. There was
never one on the place."

Antoine spoke truly; if there was anything my Uncle Bash detested it was
a dog, but I reflected that a world-skipping widow who could corral so
diffic