‘Come along; don’t wait. We will take one of the motor-cars and follow.’ They ran forth from the house to the sheds. The Décauville car stood in the first shed. ‘Is it ready for action, do you know?’ asked Richard. ‘Perfectly. I had it out the day before yesterday.’ But when they came to start it they discovered that the pipe which led the petrol to the cylinder had been neatly severed. It was the simplest operation, but quite effective to disable the car. Nothing could be done without a new pipe. ‘Where is the electric car?’ Richard demanded, almost gruffly. ‘They may have missed that.’ ‘I don’t know. It ought to be here,’ Teresa replied. ‘They have taken him off in his own car,’ was Richard’s comment ‘We can do nothing.’ ‘The horses,’ said Teresa. ‘No horses that were ever bred could overtake that car, or even keep up with it for a couple of miles.’ They walked back to the house, and met Bridget. ‘Is it the illictric car ye’re wanting?’ she asked, with the intuition of an Irishwoman. ‘It’s in the far shed.’ With one accord Richard and Teresa ran back to the far end of the range of buildings. There stood the car, in what had once been the famous silver shed. ‘I saw the master put it there this very morning as ever is,’ said Mrs. Bridget, who had followed them, as Richard jumped on to the driving-seat. In two minutes they were off, sped by the whispered blessing of Mrs. Bridget. At the end of the boreen Richard stopped the car. ‘Which way?’ he murmured, half to himself and half to Teresa, as if seeking inspiration. ‘To London or to the North?’ ‘To London, of course,’ said Teresa promptly. He hesitated. ‘I wonder----’ he said. ‘What is that?’ Teresa asked sharply, pointing to something which glinted on the road. She sprang down and picked it up. ‘Father’s spectacles,’ she said--‘cracked.’ The spectacles had lain about a yard south of the boreen; they therefore pointed to London. ‘Didn’t I tell you?’ said Teresa. Richard shot the car forward in silence. ‘Do you think dad threw out these specs, to guide us?’ questioned Teresa. ‘Perhaps,’ answered Richard absently.