He was passing, when suddenly she lifted her head, and recognition at once filled her eyes—
"Oh, Mr. Smith!..."
Her voice had in it both relief and entreaty. He stopped at once.
"What's happened?"
"I've punctured my tyre—and I can't mend it."
He knelt down beside her, and searched among the litter on the road.
"Why, you haven't got any rubber!"
"That's just it. I haven't used my bicycle for so long that I never thought of looking to see if everything was there. What shall I do?"
"Let me wheel it for you to a shop."
"There's nowhere nearer than Forest Row, and that's three miles away."