The vehicle is called the 'Hummer,' a contrived abbreviation of its official designation, 'High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.'

The music is ducked under the voice.

Our souter, he has hives o' bees / A'ranged on creepies in a raw, / Weel scouged wi' shrubs and apple trees / Frae ony blast the wind can blaw.

Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.