There was a tough hardihood about the man which made Jaikie invite him more than once to be his companion in some of his more risky enterprises—invitations regretfully refused, for some business always took Ashie home. That home Jaikie knew to be in Eastern Europe, but he had not associated him with Evallonia. There was also an extreme innocence. He wanted to learn everything about England, and took Jaikie as his mentor, believing that in him he had found the greatest common measure of the British people. Whether he learned much may be doubted, for Jaikie was too little of a dogmatist to be a good instructor. But they slipped into a close friendship, and rubbed the corners off each other’s minds.
“I know what I’m doing,” said Ashie at last; “but I am not quite sure where it will finish. B
