Gerald shook his head, and the woman did not pursue the subject.
Only once her eyes were half closed and her words drifted across
the room.

"The Lord have mercy on this man, a sinner!"




CHAPTER IV

"My advice to you, sir, is to chuck it!"

Gerald turned towards the chauffeur by whose side he was seated a
little stiffly, for his limbs were numbed with the cold and
exhaustion. The morning had broken with a grey and uncertain light.
A vaporous veil of mist seemed to have taken the place of the
darkness. Even from the top of the hill where the car had come to
a standstill, there was little to be seen.

"We must have come forty miles already," the chauffeur continued,
"what with going out of our way all the time because of the broken
bridges. I'm pretty well frozen through, and as for him," he added,
jerking his thumb across his shoulder, "it seems to me you're taking
a bit of a risk."

"The doctor said he would remain in exactly the same condition for
twenty-four hours," Gerald declared.

"Yes, but he didn't say anything about shaking him up over forty