Peter sat up very deliberately now. He broke off a piece of grass, which he began to nibble. Through the nibbling he spoke:
“But I presume that your walking tour is of fairly brief duration; mine has lasted rather more than two years.”
The other man looked at him curiously. “You love the open as much as that?”
“Oh, I love the open well enough,” replied Peter airily; “but that’s not the whole reason. I can’t afford a roof.”
Now, the very obvious reply to this would have been that Peter, a young man and, moreover, clearly one of education, might very well work for a roof. But it being so extremely obvious that this was what Peter might do, it was also obvious that [Pg 13]there was some excellent reason why he did not do it.
The man was silent. Peter appreciated his silence.
“The fact is,” said Peter deliberately, “that prior to my starting this ‘walking tour,’ as you so kindly term it, I had spent three years in prison for forgery and embezzling a considerable sum of money.”
“Ah!” said the man quietly, watching him.
“There are always the colonies,” went on Peter carelessly. “But somehow I’ve a predilection for England. Of course, in England there is the disadvantage that you’re bound to produce references if you want work—I mean the kind of work that would appeal to me. I dare say I might get taken on as a day labourer on a farm, but even there my speech is against me; it makes people suspicious.”
“But how do you manage?” asked the other curiously.