It was very dark, and a thin, cold rain had begun to fall. The doctor groaned, and drove out of Questerham as rapidly as he dared. On the high road it was already terribly slippery. After the car had twice skidded badly, the doctor said resignedly: "Well, we must make up our minds to crawl. Lady Vivian will guess what's delayed us. I hope you had dinner before starting?" "Yes, thank you," replied Grace serenely. "Naturally, I haven't been able to leave the office, but then I never have dinner till about nine o'clock," Char said. "I've almost forgotten what it is to keep civilized hours." "Then, all I can say is, that you'll be extremely hungry before we get to Plessing," was the doctor's only reply to this display of patriotism. The car crawled along slowly. About four miles out of the town the doctor ventured slightly to increase speed. "Otherwise we shall never get up this hill," he prophesied. "It's better here, I think," said Char. "I think it is. Now for it." The pace of the little car increased for about a hundred yards. Then there was a long grinding jar and a violent swerve. "Confound her! she's in the ditch!" cried the doctor. "Are you all right there, Miss Jones?" "Yes," gasped the shaken Grace, clinging to her perch. "Get out," the doctor commanded Miss Vivian, in tones that suggested his complete oblivion of their respective positions as regarded official dignity. Char obeyed gingerly, and stood grasping the door of the car. "Take care; it's like a sheet of ice." The doctor slid and staggered round to the front of his car, the two front wheels of which were deeply sunken in the snow and slush of the ditch. He made a disconsolate examination by the light of the lamps. "Stuck as tight as wax. Now, what the deuce are we to do?" "Can't we move her? asked Grace. "Not much chance of it, but we might as well try." Grace got down, and they strained at the car, but without any success. "No use," said the doctor briefly. "I think you two had better stay here while I get back to Questerham--we're nearer Questerham than Plessing, I fancy--and bring something out. Though, good heavens! I'd forgotten it's Christmas Eve. What on earth shall I get?" "I can authorize you to call up one of the ambulance cars." "That's an idea. I'm sorrier than I can say to leave you on the roadside like this," said the doctor distractedly. "Put the rug round you both, and if anything comes past, get a lift. The car will be all right. I defy the most determined thief to make her move an inch. H'm! I must take one of these lamps, and I'll make as much haste as this confounded sheet of ice will allow." "Wait!" cried Grace. "I can hear something coming, I think." They stood and listened. The hoot of a very distant motor-horn came to them distinctly.