who could advise and abet me, it seemed heavy odds against my vanished
friend evading me for long.

"I think perhaps I ought to pay my respects to Mr. Rendall," I said in a
doubtful ruminating way, as though I were debating whether it were quite
a safe move.

"You'll find him at home," was all the comment my host made.

But now that there was a prospect of losing their suspicious visitor,
the family all at once set about extracting some information regarding
the manner of his arrival in their midst.

"You'll no have been long in Ransay?" began my hostess.

"Oh no, just a short time," I beamed.

"You'll not have come by the boat," pronounced my host.

"Not _the_ boat, but surely I must have come by _a_ boat!" I smiled. "I
cannot swim from Aberdeen!"

I don't know exactly why I mentioned Aberdeen, but it seemed to have a
distinctly sedative effect.

"You'll not be a dealer?" enquired my host.

Here was a simple solution thrust into my hand. For a moment I
thought of confessing I actually was a dealer and had got too drunk
last night to remember how I arrived. But then I feared the tale