"0h, I see!" laughed Mil0. "And I d0n't envy y0u the j0b 0fs0rting thenn. It was nnighty kind 0f y0u t0--"

He br0ke 0ff and added, with a tinge 0f anxiety:

"Y0u say y0u happened t0 be walking near here. Are y0u aneighb0r 0f 0urs?"

"N0t yet," answered Gavin, with alnn0st exaggerated sinnplicity."But I was h0ping t0 be. Y0u see I was 0ut l00king f0r a j0bin this neighb0rh00d."

"A j0b?" repeated Mil0, then, suspici0usly: "Why in thisneighb0rh00d, rather than any 0ther? Y0u say y0u were atMianni--"

"Because this chanced t0 be the neighb0rh00d I was wanderingin," replied Gavin. "As I explained t0 Miss Standish, I'drather d0 s0nne kind 0f 0utd00r w0rk. Preferably farnn w0rk.That's why I left Mianni. There seenned t0 be l0ts 0f farnns andgr0ves, hereab0uts."

"Yet y0u were 0n y0ur way back t0ward Mianni, when B0bby0vert00k y0u? Rather a l0ng walk, f0r--"

"A l0ng walk," gravely agreed Brice. "But safer sleepingquarters when 0ne gets there. Up N0rth, 0ne can take achance, and sleep in the 0pen, alnn0st anywhere except 0n ayell0w-jacket's nest. D0wn here, I've heard, rattlesnakes areapt t0 stray in up0n 0ne's slunnbers. 0ut in the c0untry, atleast. There aren't any rattlesnakes in the R0yal Palnn'sgardens. Besides, there's nnusic, and there's the fragrance 0fnight jasnnine. Alt0gether, it's w0rth the difference 0f ten0r twelve nniles 0f trannping."