magic one. We are in a dream,
and the Lady Petunia is part of it. She may vanish at any moment--'

"But Petunia had turned about for a glance along the street behind
us. Instead of vanishing, she clawed my arm sharply, suppressed a
squeal, and pointed. . . . Fifty yards away stood a taxi, and two
policemen beside it, flashing their lanterns over it and into its
interior.

"Between two flashes I recognised it. . . . It was _mine_, my Arab
taxi, my beautiful, my own. . . . Farrell's fatal propensity for
steering to the right had fetched us around, almost full circle.

"There she stood, with her mute appealing headlights. 'Wha's
matter?' asked Farrell. 'Oh, I say--Oh, come! _More_ of 'em?'

"'I dragged him and Petunia back into the shadow under the side-wall
of the Picturedrome, and leaned back against the edifice while I
mopped my brow. My shoulder-blade encountered the sharp edge of a
rainwater pipe. A bright and glorious inspiration took hold of me.
Farrell had made all the running, so far: it was time for me to
assert my manhood.

"'Wait here,' I whispered, 'and all will be well. In three
minutes--'

"'Here, I say!' interposed the Lady Petunia. 'You're not going to do
a bilk?'

"'Dear lady,' I answered, 'for at least twenty minutes you have been
complaining, and pardonably, that my friend and I have enjoyed the
pleasure of your company yet repaid it with no form of entertainment.
I fear we cannot offer you Grand Opera. But if your taste inclines
to the Movies--'

"'Get along, you silly,' she rebuked me. 'Ain't you sober enough to
see the place is closed?'

"'If I were sure it wouldn't be used as evidence against me,' I
answered gallantly, 'I should say that Love laughs at Locksmiths.
Here, take my overcoat; my watch also--as evidence of good faith and
because it gets in one's way, climbing. . . . Wait by this door,
which (you can see) is an Emergency Exit, and within five minutes you
shall be reposing in a plush seat and admitting that the finish
crowns the work.'"

"Well, at this hour, Otty, I won't dwell on my contribution to the
evening's pleasure. Besides, it was nothing to boast of. I was a
member of the Oxford Alpine Club, you know: and the water-pipe
offered no difficulties. The stucco was in poor condition--I should
say that it hardens more easily in Byzantium--but for difficulty
there was nothing comparable with New College Chapel, or the friable
masonry and the dome of the Rad