Heknewtherewasnofly。Butthegroundwassuddenlycutfromhisfeet。Thereisalimittoknighterrantry——dragonsandfalseknightsareallverywell，butflies！Fictitiousflies！Whateverthetroublewas，itwasevidentlynothisaffair。Hefelthehadmadeafoolofhimselfagain。Hewouldhavemumbledsomesortofapology;buttheothermaninbrowngavehimnotime，turnedonhimabruptly，evenfiercely。\"Ihope，\"hesaid，\"thatyourcuriosityissatisfied？\"
\"Certainly，\"saidMr。Hoopdriver。
\"Thenwewon’tdetainyou。\"
And，ignominiously，Mr。Hoopdriverturnedhismachineabout，struggleduponit，andresumedtheroadsouthward。AndwhenhelearntthathewasnotonthePortsmouthroad，itwasimpossibletoturnandgoback，forthatwouldbetofacehisshameagain，andsohehadtorideonbyBrookStreetupthehilltoHaslemere。AndawaytotherightthePortsmouthroadmockedathimandmadeofftoitsfastnessesamidthesunlitgreenandpurplemassesofHindhead，whereMr。GrantAllenwriteshisHillTopNovelsdaybyday。
Thesunshone，andthewidebluehillviewsandpleasantvalleysonesawoneitherhandfromthesandscarredroadway，eventhesidesoftheroaditselfsetaboutwithgreyheatherscrubandpricklymassesofgorse，andpinetreeswiththeiryear’sgrowthstillbrightgreen，againstthedarkenedneedlesofthepreviousyears，werefreshanddelightfultoMr。Hoopdriver’seyesButthebrightnessofthedayandtheday—oldsenseoffreedomfoughtanuphillfightagainsthisintolerablevexationatthatabominableencounter，andhadstilltowinitwhenhereachedHaslemere。A