ordered back to earth. There, was no way for Lad to know, this
morning, that neither of the car's other occupants had seen him
as he lay curled up on the floor, three-quarters hidden under the
fallen rug. The luggage had been arranged in the tonneau, before
breakfast. And nobody had given a second glance at it since then.

The sun was rising over a new-made world, alive with summer glory
and thrilling with bird-songs. The air, later in the day, would
be warm. But, at sunrise, it was sharp and bracing. The mystic
wonder and the hush of dawn were still brooding over the earth.
The hard white road stretched out, like a winding river, between
banks of dew-gleaming verdure. The mountain-tops were glowing
with the touch of the sun. In the deeper valleys floated a
shimmering dusk.

The car sped swiftly along the empty highway; slowing down only
as it spun through half-awakened villages; or checked its pace to
allow a sleepy boy to drive a straggling bunch of cows across the
road to pasturage.

For an hour or more, Lad lay cuddled under the rug in contented
laziness. Then the recumbent posture tired him; and he sat up. As
a rule, one or the other of his deities was wont to turn around,
at intervals, and speak to him or pet him. Today, neither of them
paid him the slightest attention. Still, the ride was a joy. And
the surrounding country was new and interesting. So Lad had a
good time, in spite of human neglect. After another hour or so,
he curled up again, among the bags, and fell to drowsing.

A six-hour run, over good roads, brought the car to Kingston, at