THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS
speired whae had ta'en my place that day, I let on I thocht him daft. But he keepit on at me, and syne I said he maun be thinkin' o' my gude-brither frae the Cleuch that whiles lent me a haun'. He was a wersh-Iookin' soul, and I couldna understand the half o' English tongue."
I was getting pretty restless those last days and as soon as I felt myself fit I decided to be off. That was not till the twelfth day of June, and as luck would have it, a drover went past that morning taking some cattle to Moffat. He was a man named Hislop, a friend of Tumbull's, and he came in to his breakfast with us and offered to take me him.
I made Turnbull accept five pounds for lodging, and a hard job I had of it. There never was a more independent being. He grew positively rude when I pressed him, and shy and red, and took the money at last without a thank you. When I told him how muchI owed him, he grunted something about "ae guid turn deservin' anither." You would have
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