f a lifetime.

Desperately I laid my hand on her arm.

"Adele!" I cried hoarsely. "My darling, aren't you----"

By way of answer, she gave a little crow of rejoicing and turned sharp
round to the right.

Jonah had passed straight on.

As Pong leaped forward, the scales fell from my eyes.

Adele was for the side-streets. If she could only rejoin the main road
at a point ahead of Jonah, the latter would never know that we had
passed him. If...

I began to hope very much that my wife knew the plan of Marmande rather
better than I.

Through the dusk I could see that the street we were using ran on to a
bridge. It was there, I supposed, that we should turn to the left....

To my horror, Adele thrust on to the bridge at an increased pace.

"A-aren't you going to turn?" I stammered. "I mean, we'll never----"

"I said the road was tricky," said Adele, "but I hardly dared to hope
they'd make such a bad mistake." We sailed off the bridge and on to a
beautiful road. "Ah, this is more like it. I don't know where Jonah's
going, _but this is the way to Pau_.... And now I think it'll be safe
to have the lights on. You might look behind first to see if they're
coming. You see, if they'd seen us go by, the game would have been up.
As it is..."

* * * * *

At half-past seven that evening we drove into Pau.

Arrived at our villa, we put the car away and hurried indoors.

It was almost eight o'clock when Ping discharged his passengers upon
the front steps.

In silence and from the landing we watched them enter the hall.

When they were all inside, I released Nobby.

CHAPTER III

HOW A GOLDEN CALF WAS SET UP, AND NOBBY SHOWED HIMSELF A TRUE PROPHET

Five fat weeks had rolled by since Adele had eased Jonah of sixty
pounds, and the Antoinette ring we had given her to commemorate the
feat was now for the first time in danger of suffering an eclipse. In
a word, a new star had arisen.

"I dreamed about it," said Daphne. "I knew I should."

I knitted my brows.

"I wish," said I, "I could share your enthusiasm."

"Ah, but you haven't seen it."

"I know, but I don't even want to. If you'd come back raving about a
piece of furniture or a jewel or a picture, I should have been
interested. But a shawl... A shawl leaves me cold."

"I agree," said Jonah. "I've learned to appear attentive to the
description of a frock. I keep a special indulgent smile for the
incoherence