THE RUNAWAY ROAD
whatever they were doing and began to stare at her.
Now it's all very well to go dashing like mad into a person's front yard on a runaway horse. Anybody could see that you did n't do it on purpose; but when at last you have stopped dashing, what are you going to do next, particularly when the Road doesn't go any farther? Shall you say, "Isn't this a pleasant summer?" or "What did you really like best at the theater last winter?" If you gallop out it looks as though you were fright ened. If you amble out, you might hear some one laugh behind your back, which is infinitely worse than being grabbed on the stairs.
The situation was excessively awkward. And the Artist evidently was not clever in conversational emergencies.
The Girl straightened her gray slouch hat. Then she ran the cool metal butt of her riding-whip back and forth under the White Pony's sweltering mane. Then she swallowed very hard once or twice and remarked inanely:
"Did the Road go right into the house?"
"Yes," said the Artist, with a nervous blue dab at his canvas.
The Girl's ire rose at his churlishness. "If that is so," she announced, "if the Road really went
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