A few moments later they swept across a low rise and a faint blur of buildings loomed among a cluster of lights.  They were now going furiously and he seized the side of the car as they swung round a curve.  He felt the near wheels sink as they crushed through spongy sod, and the car tilted, but they got round, and there was a sudden jar when the station lay some fifty yards ahead.  Foster jumped out before the car quite stopped.

“Round with her!  I’m all right,” he said.

“Very good, sir.   If I might remark------”

Foster heard nothing more as he ran up the road, carrying the bag.  The train was very near; he could hear the roar it made in a shallow cutting, but as he reached the station the sound ceased and the engine rolled past.  He took a ticket to Edinburgh, and hurrying across the bridge, picked a compartment that had another occupant and stood at the door, where he could see the steps he had come down.  There was nobody on the bridge and he seemed to be the only passenger, but a porter began to drag some packages from the van and leisurely put them on a truck.  Foster quivered with impatience as he watched the fellow.  If he kept the train another minute, it might be too late.  Then he glanced back at the bridge.  Nobody came down the steps yet, but the porter had not finished, and one could still catch the train.

He crossed the floor to the opposite window, from which he could see the booking office, but as he loosed the strap he felt a jerk.  Then the engine panted and the wheels began to turn.  He ran back to the other door, but there was only the porter on the platform and the lamps were sliding past.  Pulling up the window, he turned to the passenger with a forced smile.

“Sorry if I disturbed you!  The man I was looking for hasn’t come.”

In the meantime, John turned the car round and drove back to the bend.  The road was narrow, but there was room for two vehicles to pass, provided that both kept well to the proper side.  John, however, took the middle and did not swerve much when a dazzling beam swept round the curve.  He blew his horn; there was an answering shriek from an electric hooter, and then a savage shout.  John, who was near the left side now, but not so close as he ought to have been, freed the clutch and used the brake, and the other car, missing him by an inch or two, plunged into the wet grass across the road.  As he stopped he saw the boggy soil fly up and the lamps sink towards the ground.  Jumping off, he found the car had brought up in front of a wall, with the front wheels buried to the axle.  The driver and a very angry man in a soft hat were getting out.

“You nearly wrecked us,” said the latter.  “What d’you mean by fooling about the middle of the road like that?”

“I wasn’t quite in the middle, sir.  It’s an awkward curve and your lights dazzled me.”

“Where’s the man you brought?”