Merkle dozed again, half buried in the cushions. They had passed Jamaica; the country lay dark and silent on every side save for a dim-lit window here and there. The car was eating the miles in a flight as swift and undeviating as that of an arrow; but it was not until it had swept into the Motor Parkway that the girl fully understood what her host termed fast driving. Then it was that the chauffeur let the machine out. Over the deserted plains it tore, comet-like, a meteor preceded by a streamer of light. It swung to the banked curves with no slackening of momentum; it devoured the tangents hungrily; the night wind roared past, drowning all other sounds. Crouched immovably in his seat, the driver scanned the causeway that leaped into view and vanished beneath the wheels, like a tremendous ribbon whirling upon spools. Merkle lay back inertly, lolling and swaying to the side-thrust of the cushions; but Lorelei found her fists clenched and her muscles hard with the nervous strain. Finally she pushed the shield forward, and, leaning over the front seat, stared at the tiny dash-light. The finger of the speedometer oscillated gently over the figure sixty, and she dropped back with a gasp. They had been running thus for a long time. Merkle roused to say, "Is this too fast for you, Miss Knight?" She laughed nervously. "N-no. I'm sorry I woke you." After a moment he startled her by inquiring, "Why don't you marry Bob Wharton?" She tore her eyes from the reeling shadows in front and peered at him. "What makes you think I like him well enough?" "I don't. But he's the sort you're looking for, isn't he?" She nodded. "I can't expect to--marry a decent man. I've learned that much." There was a pause, and then, "It would be a great pity," he said. "You're not complimentary. Perhaps I'm not so bad as I appear." "I didn't mean that. It would be too bad, on your account. I--like you. Maybe it's your beauty that has gone to my head; no man could remain quite sane in your company." He turned his tired, bright eyes upon her, and Lorelei stirred uncomfortably. "You're quite different to what I first thought you." "Oh no! I'm exactly what you thought. I've seen Mr. Wharton only twice." "He's crazy about you. He acts wholly upon impulse, of course. It ought to be easy." Merkle inquired the time of his chauffeur, then directed him to turn homeward along the North Shore. "I sha'n't be selfish and keep you out any longer, Miss Knight," he said. "If you don't mind I'll doze on the way in, and try to figure out the next move in this Hammon affair." The return trip was another hurtling rush through the night, in a silence broken only by Merkle's demand for more speed whenever the machine slackened its labor. The miles wheeled past; the Sound lay to the right.