We had the half-ticket with us, and we soon got hold of the booking-clerk who had issued it on the previous afternoon.

He remembered the looks of the man to whom he had sold it, and described him to us well enough.

Moreover, he found us a ticket-collector who remembered that same man arriving in Peebles two days before, and giving up a ticket from Glasgow.

He had a reason for remembering him, for the man had asked him to recommend him to a good hotel, and had given him a two-shilling piece for his trouble.

So far, then, we had plain sailing, and it continued plain and easy during the short time we stayed in Peebles.