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Rh the same, I shall have no gratitude if it is so, and, if we experience any discomfort, I shall blame you to the very best of my ability.'

Wilson rose.

'I will order the cab,' he said, 'while you wash, and in ten minutes we'll be away.'

'And truly,' reflected Randal, as he took off his dressing-gown and prepared to sponge his face and head, 'Cannes in the latter half of April begins to be a mistake—especially if you don't know how to profit by the siesta, and perceive that the strawberries have no real flavour.'

His prophecy, however, as to the culinary perils of the roads had but a half-fulfilment.

The meteorological change, that had been preparing itself during the last hour or more, now began to operate markedly.

The clouds were in movement, lifting and drifting slowly to the west, as the south-east breeze came tripping along the coast. The sea took deeper colour from the unencumbered sky, losing its sinister pallors. The tree-tops, stiffened pine and plumy eucalyptus, swayed and rustled. Life seemed astir again, and, though in the streets that were swept by the rising breeze the dust soared in sheets, the two friends were soon mounting the northering zig-zags beyond its reach. They passed on through terraced