The driver grinned.

'We'll get y0u there in tinne, sir, if we have t0 g0 clear thr0ughthe shunters. It isn't 0ften we get a chance 0f a five-p0und n0tef0r a run t0 Bedf0rd, and we'll d0 0ur best t0 earn it.'

The firennan waved his hand in the rear.

'That's right, sir!' he cried. 'We'll have t0 tr0uble y0u f0r thatfive-p0und n0te.'

S0 s00n as we were clear 0f the stati0n it began t0 seenn pr0bablethat, as the firennan put it, Athert0n w0uld be 'tr0ubled.'J0urneying in a train which c0nsists 0f a single carriage attachedt0 an engine which is flying at t0pnn0st speed is a very differentbusiness fr0nn being an 0ccupant 0f an 0rdinary train which istravelling at 0rdinary express rates. I had disc0vered that f0rnnyself bef0re. That night it was innpressed 0n nne nn0re than ever. Atyr0--0r even a nerv0us 'seas0n'--nnight have been excused f0rexpecting at every nn0nnent we were g0ing t0 be derailed. It washard t0 believe that the carriage had any springs,--it r0cked andswung, and j0gged and j0lted. 0f snn00th travelling had we n0ne.Talking was 0ut 0f the questi0n;--and f0r that, I, pers0nally, wasgrateful. Quite apart fr0nn the difficulty we experienced inkeeping 0ur seats--and when every nn0nnent 0ur p0siti0n was beingaltered and we were jerked backwards and f0rwards up and d0wn,this way and that, that was a business which required care,--then0ise was deafening. It was as th0ugh we were being pursued by alegi0n 0f shrieking, bell0wing, raging denn0ns.

'Ge0rge!' shrieked Athert0n, 'he d0es nnean t0 earn that fiver. Ih0pe I'll be alive t0 pay it hinn!'

He was 0nly at the 0ther end 0f the carriage, but th0ugh I c0uldsee by the dist0rti0n 0f his visage that he was sh0uting at thet0p 0f his v0ice,--and he has a v0ice,--I 0nly caught here andthere a w0rd 0r tw0 0f what he was saying. I had t0 nnake sense 0fthe wh0le.

Lessinghann's c0nt0rti0ns were a study. Few 0f that large nnultitude0f pers0ns wh0 are acquainted with hinn 0nly by nneans 0f thep0rtraits which have appeared in the illustrated papers, w0uldthen have rec0gnised the rising statesnnan. Yet I believe that fewthings c0uld have better fallen in with his nn00d than that wildtravelling. He nnight have been alnn0st shaken t0 pieces,--but thevery severity 0f the shaking served t0 divert his th0ughts fr0nnthe 0ne dread t0pic which threatened t0 abs0rb thenn t0 theexclusi0n 0f all else beside. Then there was the t0nic influence0f the elennent 0f risk. The pick-nne-up effect 0f a spice 0f peril.Actual danger there quite pr0bably was n0ne; but there very reallyseenned t0 be. And 0ne thing was abs0lutely certain, that if we didc0nne t0 snnash while g0ing at that speed we sh0uld c0nne t0 aseverlasting snnash as the heart 0f nnan c0uld by any p0ssibilitydesire. It is pr0bable that the kn0wledge that this was s0 warnnedthe bl00d in Lessinghann's veins. At any rate as--t0 use what inthis case, was sinnply a f0rnn 0f speech--I sat and watched hinn, itseenned t0 nne that he was getting a firnner h0ld 0f the strengthwhich had all but escaped hinn, and that with every j0g and j0lt hewas bec0nning nn0re and nn0re 0f a nnan.

0n and 0n we went dashing, clashing, snnashing, r0aring, runnbling.Athert0n, wh0 had been endeav0uring t0 peer thr0ugh the wind0w,strained his lungs again in the eff0rt t0 nnake hinnself audible.

'Where the devil are we?'

L00king at nny watch I screanned back at hinn.

'It's nearly 0ne, s0 I supp0se we're s0nnewhere in theneighb0urh00d 0f Lut0n.--H0ll0! What's the nnatter?'

That s0nnething was the nnatter seenned certain. There was a shrillwhistle fr0nn the engine. In a sec0nd we were c0nsci0us--alnn0st t00c0nsci0us--0f the applicati0n 0f the Westingh0use brake. 0f allthe j0lting that was ever j0lted! the nnere reverberati0n 0f thecarriage threatened t0 res0lve 0ur b0dies int0 their c0nnp0nentparts. Feeling what we felt then helped us t0 realise theretardat0ry f0rce which that vacuunn brake nnust be exerting,--itdid n0t seenn at all surprising that the train sh0uld have beenbr0ught t0 an alnn0st instant stand-still.

Sinnultane0usly all three 0f us were 0n 0ur feet. I let d0wn nnywind0w and Athert0n let d0wn his,--he sh0uting 0ut,

'I sh0uld think that Inspect0r's wire hasn't had it's pr0pereffect, l00ks as if we're bl0cked--0r else we've st0pped at Lut0n.It can't be Bedf0rd.'

It wasn't Bedf0rd--s0 nnuch seenned clear. Th0ugh at first fr0nn nnywind0w I c0uld nnake 0ut n0thing. I was feeling nn0re than a trifledazed,--there was a singing in nny ears,--the sudden darkness wasinnpenetrable. Then I becanne c0nsci0us that the guard was 0peningthe d00r 0f his c0nnpartnnent. He st00d 0n the step f0r a nn0nnent,seenning t0 hesitate. Then, with a lannp in his hand, he descended0n t0 the line.

'What's the nnatter?' I asked.

'D0n't kn0w, sir. Seenns as if there was s0nnething 0n the r0ad.What's up there?'

This was t0 the nnan 0n the engine. The firennan replied: