After they had seen the big bare church with its curious images, they got some very curious thick strong coffee at the little hotel, and then Ronald went in search of carros sufficient for all the party.
“Miss Adene, you’ll go with me and little Guy, won’t you?” said Sheila. “I’ll hold him on my knee and take care of him. You’ll trust him to me, won’t you, Lady Dumaresq, and you can take care of Sir Guy!”
“Mayn’t I be allowed to take care of my own wife?” asked Sir Guy, laughing; and Sheila laughed and blushed and answered quaintly—
“I think you always do take care of one another, Sir Guy.”
From the Mount Church a cobble-paved road ran sheer down the steep hillside into the town lying beneath. The running carros were baskets on runners, holding two persons, and managed by two men, who held them back and steered them by ropes, running alongside or behind, and calling out to all other passengers to get out of the way. For the road was a public highway, and bullocks dragging up loads on sledges, or men, women, and children with their market produce or purchases on their heads, would be constantly met or passed coming up or going down.
The sensation of the running carro is very strange at first. It glides off with a gentle motion, gathering velocity as it gets its momentum, till at last it seems flying downwards in a perfectly irresponsible way; and only the clever steering and checking of the runners saves the traveller from the feeling that he must of necessity be flying to inevitable destruction.
Sheila’s nerves were strong, and she and little Guy laughed aloud as they flew downwards; whilst Miss Adene had had experience of these methods, and took the descent quite calmly.
“I wonder how Effie likes it!” cried Sheila in one of the pauses, where the runners have to be greased, or the basket-work might be in danger of charring, so tremendous is the heat generated by the friction.
Effie, however, seemed to have got on well as they joined company at the bottom of the slide, and found bullock carros waiting to take them home. She was more animated than usual, and declared that she had not been frightened at all after just the first; and Ronald said she had stood it like a brick.
When they got home Mrs. Cossart was eager to hear Effie’s story, and very pleased at her pleasure in the day’s outing.