able to
prepare for the night.

Out of the luxurious silence of a hot bath Adele's voice came floating
into the bedroom.

"Boy!"

"Yes, lady?"

"I wish I was going with you to-morrow instead of Daphne."

"So do I," I said heartily.

Adele sighed. Then--

"It can't be helped," she said. "I think, on the whole, she would have
worried more than I shall."

"Not a doubt of it," said I cheerfully. "As she said, Berry's the only
husband she's got."

Adele choked. Presently--

"The real reason," she said, "is because she mistrusts her husband even
more than I trust mine."

When I had worked this out--

"Aha," I said pleasedly.

"But then, of course," said Adele, "she's been married much longer."

* * * * *

With Rouen as our objective, we left Boulogne the next morning at ten
o'clock. To speak more accurately, we left the hotel at ten o'clock
and Boulogne itself some forty minutes later. The negotiation of an
up-gradient leading out of the town was responsible for the delay.

My sister and I shall remember that hill so long as we live. So, I
imagine, will Berry. We were half-way up when he stopped the engine
for the first time. We were still half-way up when he stopped it for
the eighth time. Indeed, it was at this juncture that I suggested that
he should rest from his labours and smoke a cigarette.

My brother-in-law shook his head.

"Shall I slide down backwards and begin again?" he inquired.

"No, thanks," said I. "I have a foolish preference for facing death."

"D'you think we could push it up?" said Daphne.

"Frankly," said I, "I don't. You see, she weighs over a ton without
the luggage."

Berry cleared his throat.

"I am not," he said, "going through the farce of asking what I do
wrong, because I know the answer. It's not the right one, but you seem
incapable of giving any other."

"I am," said I.

"Well, don't say it," said Berry, "because, if you do, I shall scream.
No man born of woman could let in that clutch more slowly, and yet you
say it's too fast. The truth is, there's something wrong with the car."

"There soon will be," I retorted. "The starter will fail. Then every
time you stop the engine you'll have to get out and crank. That'll
make you think."

"'Make me think'?" yelled Berry. "D'you think I haven't been thinking?
D'you think I'm not thinking now? Haven't I almost burst my brains
with thinking?" Daphne began to laugh helpl