Mr. Tuke laughed again.
“Why do you swear?” he said cheerfully. “I don’t, though I think I have lost my way.”
“Then let me put you on it again, in the devil’s name.”
“You will pardon me. I can’t undertake to travel with that passport, even if countersigned by you.”
“Sir, sir! Whither are you bound? Do you think the chub are interested in your converse?”
“I don’t know. The wise man baits his hook with inquiry.”
“And the fool his with impertinence. You fish in empty waters, sir.”
“Oh! You are churlish. But I understand an angler sports for the love of solitude.”
“You are perfectly right.”
“Well—convince me that I have not wandered abroad, and I will go.”