“Absolutely. I mean it. Nothing under the sun would induce me to go on a toboggan.” They sat watching the fireworks until they were tired of the whistling rockets, showers of stars and golden rain, the flaming bolts that shot up from the Battle of the Nile, the fizzlings and fire spurtings of the set pieces and the recurrent moanings and faint patterings of applause from the crowd. “I wish they’d do some more coloured flares of light up the trees like they did at first. It was beautiful--more real than these things. ‘Feu d’artifice’ artificial fire--all these noisy things. Why do people always like a noise? Men. All the things men have invented, trains and cannons and things make a frightful noise.” “The toboggan’s not noisy. Come and try the toboggan.” “Oh no.” “Well--there’s the lake down there. We might have a boat.” “Do you know how to manage a boat?” “I’ve been on once or twice; if you like to try I’ll manage.” “No; it’s too dark.” What a plucky man. But the water looked cold. And perhaps he would be really stupid. A solitary uniformed man was yawning and whistling at the top of the deserted toboggan run. The faint light of a lamp fell upon the square platform and the little sled standing in place at the top of a shiny slope which shot steeply down into blackness. “We’d better get on,” said Miriam trembling. “Well, you’re very graceful at giving in,” remarked Mr. Parrow, handing her into the sled and settling with the man. He got that sentence out of a book, thought Miriam wildly as she heard the man behind them say “Ready? Off you go!” ... Out of a book a book a book--_Oh_--_ooooh_--how ab_solutely_ glorious, she yelled as they shot down through the darkness. _Oh_, she squealed into the face laughing and talking beside her. She turned away, shouting, for the final rush, they were flying--involuntarily her hand flung out, they were tearing headlong into absolute darkness, and was met and firmly clasped. They shot slackening up a short incline and stood up still hand in hand, laughing incoherently. “Let’s walk back and try again,” said Mr. Parrow. “Oh no; I enjoyed it most frightfully; but we mustn’t go again. Besides, it must be fearfully late.”