FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154  
155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   >>   >|  
t such infernally sharp tongues----" "Grace!" interrupted her mother, at this juncture--"You are wanted in the kitchen." Grace took the maternal hint and retired at once. At that instant Tom o' the Gleam stirred slightly from his hitherto rigid attitude. He had only taken half his glass of brandy, but that small amount had brought back a tinge of colour to his face and deepened the sparkle of fire in his eyes. "Good roads for motoring about here!" he said. Lord Wrotham looked up,--then measuring the great height, muscular build, and commanding appearance of the speaker, nodded affably. "First-rate!" he replied. "We had a splendid run from Cleeve Abbey." "Magnificent!" echoed Brookfield. "Not half a second's stop all the way. We should have been far beyond Minehead by this time, if it hadn't been for the break-down. We were racing from London to the Land's End,--but we took a wrong turning just before we came to Cleeve----" "Oh! Took a wrong turning, did you?" And Tom leaned a little forward as though to hear more accurately. His face had grown deadly pale again, and he breathed quickly. "Yes. We found ourselves quite close to Cleeve Abbey, but we didn't stop to see old ruins this time, you bet! We just tore down the first lane we saw running back into the highroad,--a pretty steep bit of ground too--and, by Jove!--didn't we whizz round the corner at the bottom! That was a near shave, I can tell you!" "Ay, ay!" said Tom slowly, listening with an air of profound interest. "You've got a smart chauffeur, no doubt!" "No chauffeur at all!" declared Brookfield, emphatically. "His lordship drives his car himself." There followed an odd silence. All the customers in the room, drinking and eating as many of them were, seemed to be under a dumb spell. Tom o' the Gleam's presence was at all times more or less of a terror to the timorous, and that he, who as a rule avoided strangers, should on his own initiative enter into conversation with the two motorists, was of itself a circumstance that awakened considerable wonder and interest. David Helmsley, sitting apart in the shadow, could not take his eyes off the gypsy's face and figure,--a kind of fascination impelled him to watch with strained attention the dark shape, moulded with such herculean symmetry, which seemed to command and subdue the very air that gave it force and sustenance. "His lordship drives his car himself!" echoed Tom, and a curious smile
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154  
155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Cleeve
 

chauffeur

 

echoed

 

Brookfield

 

drives

 
lordship
 
turning
 

interest

 
silence
 

bottom


ground

 

customers

 
corner
 

profound

 
drinking
 

declared

 
emphatically
 
listening
 

slowly

 

fascination


impelled

 

strained

 

figure

 

shadow

 

attention

 

sustenance

 

curious

 

subdue

 

command

 

moulded


herculean

 
symmetry
 

sitting

 

Helmsley

 

terror

 
timorous
 

presence

 
avoided
 

strangers

 
circumstance

awakened
 

considerable

 
motorists
 
initiative
 

conversation

 

eating

 
motoring
 

sparkle

 
brought
 

amount