"Off yer lay ?" Helmsley raised himself on one elbow, looking a trifle dazed.
"Off my what ?" he murmured.

"I didn't quite hear you---- ?" "Oh come, stow that!" said the man.

"You dunno what I'm talkin' about; that's plain as a pike.

_You_ aint used to the road! Where d'ye come from ?" "I've walked from Bristol," he answered--"And you're quite right,--I'm not used to the road." The man looked at him and his hard face softened.

Pushing back his tattered cap from his brows he showed his features more openly, and a smile, half shrewd, half kindly, made them suddenly pleasant.
"Av coorse you're not!" he declared.