It had been a particularly delightful day with the Hilcrest house-party. They had gone early in the morning to Silver Lake for a picnic. A sail on the lake, a delicious luncheon, and a climb up "Hilltop" had filled every hour with enjoyment until five o'clock when they had started for home. Two of the guests had brought their own motor-cars to Hilcrest, and it was in one of these that Miss Kendall was making the homeward trip. "And you call this a 'runabout,' Mr. Brandon?" she laughed gaily, as the huge car darted forward. "I should as soon think of having an elephant for an errand boy." Brandon laughed. "But just wait until you see the elephant get over the ground," he retorted. "And, after all, the car isn't so big when you compare it with Harlow's or Frank's. It only seats two, you know, but its engine is quite as powerful as either of theirs. I want you to see what it can do," he finished, as he began gradually to increase their speed. For some time neither spoke. The road ran straight ahead in a narrowing band of white that lost itself in a thicket of green far in the distance. Yet almost immediately--it seemed to Margaret--the green was at their right and their left, and the road had unwound another white length of ribbon that flung itself across the valley and up the opposite hill to the sky-line. Houses, trees, barns, and bushes rushed by like specters, and the soft August air swept by her cheeks like a November gale. Not until the opposite hill was reached, however, did Brandon slacken speed. "You see," he exulted, "we can just annihilate space with this!" "You certainly can," laughed Margaret, a little hysterically. "And you may count yourself lucky if you don't annihilate anything else." Brandon brought the car almost to a stop. "I was a brute. I frightened you," he cried with quick contrition. The girl shook her head. A strange light came to her eyes.