The Motor Maid | Page 3

window tight. I saw you go to bed in all your clothes,

which looked terribly thick, and cover yourself up with both your
blankets; but I said nothing, because you were a Lower Berth, and older
than I am. I thought maybe you wanted a Turkish Bath. But since you
don't--I'll try and save you from apoplexy, if it isn't too late."
I fumbled with brooches and buttons, with hooks and eyes. It was even
worse than I'd supposed. The creature's conception of a travelling
costume en route for the South of France consisted of a heavy tweed
dress, two gray knitted stay-bodices, one pink Jaeger chemise, and a
couple of red flannel petticoats. My investigations went no further; but,
encouraged in my rescue work by spasmodic gestures on the part of the
patient, and forbearance on the part of the dog, I removed several
superfluous layers of wool. One blanket went to the floor, where it was
accepted in the light of a gift by His Majesty, and the other was
returned to its owner.
"Now are you better, madam?" I asked, panting with long and
well-earned breaths. She reposed on an elbow, gazing up at me as at a
surgeon who has performed a painful but successful operation; and she
was an object pour faire rire, the poor lady!
She wore an old-fashioned false front of hair, "sunning over with curls"
(brown ones, of a brown never seen on land or sea), and a pair of
spectacles, pushed up in an absent-minded moment, were entangled in
its waves. Her face, which was large, with a knot of tiny features in the
middle, shone red with heat and excitement. She would have had the
look of an elderly child, if it hadn't been for her bright, shrewd little
eyes, which twinkled observantly--and might sparkle with temper.
Nobody who was not rich and important would dare to dress as badly
as she did. Altogether she was a figure of fun. Indeed, I couldn't help
feeling what quaint mantelpiece ornaments she and her dog would
make. Yet, for some reason, I didn't feel inclined to laugh, and I eyed
her as solemnly as she eyed me. As for His Majesty, I began to see that
I had misunderstood him. After all, he had never, from the first,
regarded me as an eatable.
"Yes, I am better," replied His Majesty's mistress. "People have always
told me it came on treacherously cold at night in France, so I prepared

accordingly. I suppose I ought to thank you. In fact, I do thank you."
"I acted for myself as much as for you," I confessed. "It was so hot, and
you were suffering out loud."
"I have never travelled at night before," the lady defended herself.
"Indeed, I've made a point of travelling as little as possible, except by
carriage. I don't consider trains a means of conveyance for gentlefolk.
They seem well enough for cattle who may not mind being herded
together."
"Or for dogs," I suggested.
"Nothing is too good for Beau--my only Beau!" (at this I did not
wonder). "But I wouldn't have moved without him. He's as necessary to
me as my conscience. I was afraid the guard was going to make a fuss
about him, which would have been awkward, as I can't speak a word of
French, or any other silly language into which Latin has degenerated.
But luckily English gold doesn't need to be translated."
"It loses in translation," said I, amused. I sat down on my bag as I
spoke, and timorously invited Beau (never was name less appropriate)
to be patted. He arose from the blanket and accepted my overtures with
an expression which may have been intended for a smile, or a threat of
the most appalling character. I have seen such legs as his on
old-fashioned silver teapots; and the crook in his tail would have made
it useful as a door-knocker.
"I don't think I ever saw him take so to a stranger," exclaimed his
mistress, suddenly beaming.
"I wonder you risked him with me in such close quarters then," said I.
"Wouldn't it have been safer if you'd had your maid in the compartment
with you----"
"My maid? My tyrant!" snorted the old lady. "She's the one creature on
earth I am afraid of, and she knows it. When we got to Dover, and she
saw the Channel wobbling about a little, she said it was a great nasty

wet thing, and she wouldn't go on it. When I insisted, she showed
symptoms of seasickness; and in consequence she is waiting for me in
Dover till I finish the business that's taking me to Italy. I had no more
experience than she, but I had courage. It's perhaps a question of class.
Servants consider