"You should have asked before you got in."

"Asked?" said I. "The only person I didn't ask was the traffic
superintendent himself. They said he was away on his holiday."

"They can't have understood what you said."

"I admit my articulation is defective- has been ever since a
fellow backed into my car at Brooklands, did it twenty pounds'
worth of damage, and then sent in a bill for a new tail-lamp. At
the same time- "

Here another station roared by. I was too late to see the name.
"I shall swear in a minute," said I. "I can feel it coming. I
suppose we do stop somewhere, if only to coal, don't we?"

"Well, we may stop before, but I know we stop at Friars Rory,
because that's where I get out."

I turned to her open-mouthed. She was consulting a wrist-watch
and did not see the look on my face. Friars Rory was where I was
bound for. We had run through the station ten minutes ago. I
knew the place well. I had just time to recover, when she looked
up.

"We're late now," she said." I expect that's why we're going so
fast."

"You know," I said, "I don't believe you asked either."