He set his suit case in the tonneau, went out of the little door, edged

around to the front and very, very cautiously he unlocked the big doors

and set them open. He went in and felt the front wheels, judged that

they were set straight, felt around the interior until his fingers

touched a block of wood and stepped off the approximate length of the

car in front of the garage, allowing for the swing of the doors, and

placed the block there. Then he went back, eased off the emergency

brake, grabbed a good handhold and strained forward.

The chains hindered, but the floor sloped to the front a trifle, which

helped. In a moment he had the satisfaction of feeling the big car give,

then roll slowly ahead. The front wheels dipped down over the threshold,

and Bud stepped upon the running board, took the wheel, and by instinct

more than by sight guided her through the doorway without a scratch.

She rolled forward like a black shadow until a wheel jarred against the

block, whereupon he set the emergency brake and got off, breathing free

once more. He picked up the block and carried it back, quietly closed

the big doors and locked them, taking time to do it silently. Then, in

a glow of satisfaction with his work, he climbed slowly into the car,

settled down luxuriously in the driver's seat, eased off the brake, and

with a little lurch of his body forward started the car rolling down the

driveway.

There was a risk, of course, in coasting out on to the street with

no lights, but he took it cheerfully, planning to dodge if he saw the

lights of another car coming. It pleased him to remember that the street

inclined toward the bay. He rolled past the house without a betraying

sound, dipped over the curb to the asphalt, swung the car townward, and

coasted nearly half a block with the ignition switch on before he pushed

up the throttle, let in his clutch, and got the answering chug-chug of

the engine. With the lights on full he went purring down the street in

the misty fog, pleased with himself and his mission.




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