head at the top, and the other crawling in from the opposite side of the compass, and lying with his feet on the pillow.

There was silence for a moment, and then George’s father said:

‘Joe!’

‘What’s the matter, Tom?’ replied Joe’s voice from the other end of the bed.

‘Why, there’s a man in my bed,’ said George’s father; ‘here’s his feet on my pillow.’

‘Well, it’s an extraordinary thing, Tom,’ answered the other; ‘but I’m blest if there isn’t a man in my bed, too!’

‘What are you going to do?’ asked George’s father.

‘Well, I’m going to chuck him out,’ replied Joe.

‘So am I,’ said George’s father valiantly.

There was a brief struggle, followed by two heavy bumps on the floor, and then a rather doleful voice said:

‘I say, Tom!’

‘Yes!’

‘How have you got on?’

‘Well, to tell you the truth, my man’s chucked me out.’

‘So’s mine! I say, I don’t think much of this inn, do you?’

‘What was the name of that inn?’ said Harris.

‘The Pig and Whistle,’ said George. ‘Why?’

‘Ah, no, then it isn’t the same,’ replied Harris.

‘What do you mean?’ queried George.

‘Why it’s so curious,’ murmured Harris, ‘but precisely that very same thing happened to my father once at a country inn. I’ve often heard him tell the tale. I thought it might have been the same inn.’

We turned in at ten that night, and I thought I should sleep well, being tired; but I didn’t. As a rule, I undress and put my head on the pillow, and then somebody bangs at the door, and says it is half past eight; but, to-night, everything seemed against me; the novelty of it all, the hardness of the boat, the cramped position (I was lying with my feet under one seat, and my head on another), the sound of the lapping water round the boat, and the wind among the branches, kept me restless and disturbed.

I did get to sleep for a few hours, and then some part of the boat which seemed to have grown up in the night—for it certainly was not there when we started, and it had disappeared by the morning—kept digging into my spine. I slept through it for a while, dreaming that I had swallowed a sovereign, and that they were cutting a hole in my back with a gimlet, so as to try and get it out. I thought it very unkind of them, and I told them I would owe them the money, and they should have it at the end of the month. But they would not hear of that, and said it would be much better if they had it then, because otherwise