George pulled in silence at his cigar, and I cracked another nut.
“The river is not what it used to be,” said I; “I don’t know what, but there’s a something—a dampness—about the river air that always starts my lumbago.”
“It’s the same with me,” said George. “I don’t know how it is, but I never can sleep now in the neighbourhood of the river. I spent a week at Joe’s place in the spring, and every night I woke up at seven o’clock and never got a wink afterwards.”
“I merely suggested it,” observed Harris. “Personally, I don’t think it good for me, either; it touches my gout.”
“What suits me best,” I said, “is mountain air. What say you to a walking tour in Scotland?”
“It’s always wet in Scotland,” said George. “I was three weeks in Scotland the year before last, and was never dry once all the time—not in that sense.”
“It’s fine enough in Switzerland,” said Harris.
“They would never stand our going to Switzerland by ourselves,” I objected. “You know what happened last time. It must be some place where no delicately nurtured woman or child could possibly live; a country of bad hotels and comfortless travelling; where we shall have to rough it, to work hard, to starve perhaps—”
“Easy!” interrupted George, “easy, there! Don’t forget I’m coming with you.”
“I have it!” exclaimed Harris; “a bicycle tour!”