His lamp gave him further trouble, for it would not stay lit. He had been soaked since early in the day, for Ashie could not provide him with overalls, and his shabby mackintosh was no protection against the deluge. He was also hungry, for he had long ago finished his supply of biscuits and chocolate. The consolations of philosophy, of which he had a good stock, were nearly exhausted when he skidded on the tarmac of the trunk highway.
Archie laughed boisterously.
“I was just saying that we had dangerously dispersed our forces, but now we’ve begun to concentrate. Where have you been, my lad?”
Jaikie, grinning sheepishly at Alison, shook the water from his ancient hat, and pushed back a lock of hair which had straggled over his left eye.
“I’ve been circumnavigating Evallonia. I daresay I
