Only a minute before, Kate—a little uneasy now, at the truly reckless speeding of the driver, and at the daredevil way in which he was taking curves without either sounding his siren or reducing speed—had touched him on the shoulder, with a command: "Not quite so fast, Herrick! Be careful!"
His only answer had been a drunken laugh.
"Careful nothing!" he slobbered, to himself. "You wanted speed—an' now—hc!—b'Jesus, you get—hc!—speed! I ain't 'fraid—are—hc!—you?"
She had not heard the words, but had divined their meaning.
"Herrick!" she commanded sharply, leaning forward. "What's the matter with you? Obey me, do you hear? Not so fast!"
A whiff of alcoholic breath suddenly told her the truth. For a second she sat there, as though petrified, with fear now for the first time clutching at her heart.
"Stop at once!" she cried, gripping the man by the collar of his livery. "You—you're drunk, Herrick! I—I'll have you discharged, at once, when we get home. Stop, do you hear me? You're not fit to drive. I'll take the wheel myself!"
But Herrick, hopelessly under the influence of the poison, which had now produced its full effect, paid no heed.
"Y'—can't dri' thish car!" he muttered, in maudlin accents. "Too big—too heavy for—hc!—woman! I—I dri' it all right, drunk or sober! Good chauffeur—good car—I know thish car! You won't fire me—hc!—for takin' drink or two, huh? I drive you all ri'—drive you to New York or to—hc!—Hell! Same thing, no difference, ha! ha!—I—"
A sudden blaze of rage crimsoned the girl's face. In all her life she never had been thus spoken to. For a second she clenched her fist, as though to strike down this sodden brute there in the seat before her—a feat she would have been quite capable of. But second thought convinced her of the peril of such an act. Ahead of them a long down-grade stretched away, away, to a turn half-hidden under the arching greenery. As the car struck this slope, it leaped into ever greater speed; and now, under the erratic guidance of the lolling wretch at the wheel, it began to sway in long, unsteady curves, first toward one ditch, then the other.