Page 28 - the-thirty-nine-steps

myself to a third-class smoker, occupied by a sailor and a
stout woman with a child. He went off grumbling, and as
I mopped my brow I observed to my companions in my
broadest Scots that it was a sore job catching trains. I had
already entered upon my part.
‘The impidence o’ that gyaird!’ said the lady bitterly. ‘He
needit a Scotch tongue to pit him in his place. He was com-
plainin’ o’ this wean no haein’ a ticket and her no fower till
August twalmonth, and he was objectin’ to this gentleman
spittin’.’
The sailor morosely agreed, and I started my new life in
an atmosphere of protest against authority. I reminded my-
self that a week ago I had been finding the world dull.

28 The Thirty-Nine Steps