defiance. David, except that he had required but little temptation, had
played Adam's part very creditably in the affair. For him Eden had been
a soft warm place, and he was anxious to blame somebody--the woman for
choice--for the loss of his comfort. He followed her out into the cold,
to become, as you shall hear, like Adam, a tiller of the soil.




CHAPTER V

AN AIR RAID SEEN FROM BELOW


Magic is a disconcerting travelling companion. While seldom actually
conspicuous, it seems to have a mysterious and varying effect on the
surrounding public. I have met travellers by Tube who tell of strange
doings in those regions, when the conductor of one compartment fell
suddenly in love with the conductress of the next, and they ran to each
other and met in the middle of the car. As nobody opened the gates or
rang the bells, the bewildered train stood for hours at Mornington
Crescent before any member of the watching public could find the heart
to interrupt the pretty scene. It is patent that a magic person must
have been the more or less deliberate cause of this episode. Then again,
there is the story of the 'bus that went mad, just as it was leaving its
burrow at Dalston. It got the idea that the kindly public was its
enemy. You should have seen the astonishment of Liverpool Street and
the Bank as it rushed by them. Old ladies about to ask it whether it
went to Clapham--its label said it was bound for Barnes--stood aghast,
and their questions died on their lips. Policemen put up their hands