Three Elephant Power
"Them things," said Alfred the chauffeur, tapping the speed indicator
with his fingers, "them things are all right for the police. But, Lord, you
can fix \'em up if you want to. Did you ever hear about Henery, that used to
drive for old John Bull -- about Henery and the elephant?"
Alfred was chauffeur to a friend of mine who owned a very powerful
car. Alfred was part of that car. Weirdly intelligent, of poor physique, he
might have been any age from fifteen to eighty. His education had been
somewhat hurried, but there was no doubt as to his mechanical ability. He
took to a car like a young duck to water. He talked motor, thought motor,
and would have accepted -- I won\'t say with enthusiasm, for Alfred\'s motto
was `Nil admirari\' -- but without hesitation, an offer to drive in the greatest
race in the world. He could drive really well, too; as for belief in himself,
after six months\' apprenticeship in a garage he was prepared to vivisect a
six-cylinder engine with the confidence of a diplomaed bachelor of
engineering.