that moment they were all three nearly spilled out of the little
carriage by the furious rate at which their driver turned a corner.
They had left the dolls' city far behind them and were out on the long
brown road that led past the little tent where the children had been
arrested by Jinks and the sergeant. Now they were out in the open
country hurrying past the wonderful bright-colored plains, past fields
of pink and purple, blue and green and yellow, white and scarlet,
faster and faster all the time, the horses rushing along with such
curious irregular jerks and bounds that it was almost impossible for
the children to keep their seats, and they expected at each moment to
be dumped in the middle of the road.

"Look out!" shouted Rudolf to the coachman. "Don't you see you are
going to upset us?"

The coachman was a very grand-looking person in a white and gold
livery. He never even turned his powdered head as he shouted back:

"Didn't have no--or-ders--not--to!" And for some time they tore on
faster than ever.

At last Ann leaned forward and caught hold of one of the coachman's
little gold-embroidered coat tails. "Oh, do take care," she cried,
"you might run somebody down!"

"That's it,"--the coachman's voice sounded faint and jerky, and the
children could hardly catch the words that floated back to them:
"Running--down--run-ing--down! As--fast--as--ev-er--I--can.
Most--com-pli-cated--insides--in--all--the--king-dom. Can't--be
--wound--up--not--by--likes--of--you--"