“’Rough but passable’!” he laughed once, clambering back to his seat after clearing away a dead tree-trunk from in front of them.  “But there’s no use trying to go back, as we must be halfway through, and it can’t be any worse ahead than it’s been behind.  I’d like to tell the fellow that made this map something!”

And then upon Helena, just why she could not tell, began to steal an uneasiness that frightened her a little.  It had grown suddenly, intensely dark—­quicker than the slow, creeping change of dusk blending softly into night.  Sort of eerie, it seemed—­and a wind springing up and rustling through the branches made strange noises all about.  They seemed to be shut in by a wall of blackness on every hand, except ahead where, like great streaming eyes of fire, the powerful lamps shot out their rays making weird color effects in the forest—­huge tree-trunks loomed a dead drab, like mute sentinels, grim and ominous, that barred their way; now, in the full glare, the foliage took on the softest fairy shade of green; now, tapering off, heavier in color, it merged into impenetrable black; and, with the jouncing of the car, the light rays jiggling up and down gave an unnatural semblance as of moving, animate things before them, a myriad of them, ever retreating, but ever marshalling their forces again as though threatening attack, as though to oppose the car’s advance.

What was there to be afraid of?  She tried to laugh at herself—­it was perfectly ridiculous.  A little bit of rough road—­the forest that she loved around her—­even if it was very dark.  They would come out eventually somewhere on the trunk-road to Barton’s Mills—­that was all there was to it.  Meanwhile, it was quite an experience, and she had every confidence in Thornton.  She glanced at him now.  It was too dark to get more than an indistinct outline of the clean-cut profile, but there was something inspiriting in the alert, self-possessed, competent poise of his body as he crouched well forward over the wheel, his eyes never lifting from the road ahead.

They appeared to be going a little faster now, too—­undoubtedly the road was getting better.  What was there to be afraid of?  It didn’t make it any more pleasant for Thornton, who was probably reproaching himself rather bitterly for having been tempted by the “short cut,” to have her sit and mope beside him!

She began to hum an air softly to herself—­and then laughingly sang a bar or two aloud.

Thornton shot a quick, appreciative glance at her and nodded, joining in the laugh.

“By Jove!” he said approvingly.  “That sounds good to me.  I was afraid this beastly stretch, bumping and crawling along in the dark, was making you miserable.”

“Miserable!” exclaimed Helena.  “Why, the idea!  What is there to be miserable about?  We’ll get through after a while—­and the road’s better now than it was anyhow, isn’t it?”

“Better?”

“You’re running faster.”