y, Daphne, and Jill were in
one car, and Adele and I were in the other. Jonah and Zed were to
travel together by train. It was improbable that they would leave for
Pau before the morrow.

As we climbed out of Behobie, we took our last look at Spain, that
realm of majestic distances and superb backgrounds....

You may peer into the face of France and find it lovely; the more you
magnify an English landscape, the richer it will become; but to find
the whole beauty of Spain, a man must stand back and lift up his eyes.

Now that we had left it behind, the pride and grandeur of the scenery
beggared description. It was as though for days we had been looking
upon a mighty canvas, and while we had caught something of its
splendour, now for the first time had we focussed it aright. The
memory we took away was that of a masterpiece.

Anxious to be home in time for luncheon, I laid hold of the wheel....

We whipped through St. Jean de Luz, sang through Bidart, and hobbled
over a fearful stretch of metalling into Bayonne....

As we were nearing Bidache--

"How much," said Adele suddenly, "is Berry actually up?"

"Allowing for everything," said I, "that is, his losses, what he gave
to the poor, and the various rates of exchange, about two hundred and
forty thousand francs."

"Not so dusty," said Adele thoughtfully. "All the same----"

A report like that of a gun blew the sentence to blazes.

Heavily I took the car in to the side of the road....

A second tire went upon the outskirts of Pau.

Happily we had two spare wheels....

As I was wearily resuming my seat, Berry, Daphne, and Jill went by with
a cheer.

Slowly we followed them into the town....

It was not until we were stealing up our own villa's drive that at
length I remembered the question which for over an hour I had been
meaning to put to my wife.

As I brought the car to a standstill--

"What was it," I demanded, "that you had begun to say when we had the
first burst near Bidache? We were talking about how much Berry was up,
and you said----"

The most blood-curdling yell that I have ever heard fell upon our ears.

For a moment we stared at one another.

Then we fell out of the car by opposite doors and flew up the steps....

Extended upon a chair in the hall. Berry was bellowing, clawing at his
temples and drumming with his heels upon the floor.

Huddled together, Daphne and Jill were poring over a letter with
starting eyes.

_DEA