Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/337

Rh upon the task of walking round the world for a wager. The amount involved, he informed me in confidence, approximated £32,000, in addition to 1,000,000 francs offered by some Continental walking club; but as he had four years in which to complete his circum-perambulation of the globe, and had so far only been going for four months, I agreed with him that much might happen before he found himself the proud possessor of the wagered money. He incidentally dropped a remark which led me to understand that the terms of his wager prevented him from asking for financial assistance while on his tour, though he had been offered quite voluntary contributions from time to time. He seemed quite surprised when I asked to be allowed to offer a small but quite voluntary contribution to his modest reserve fund. Before we parted I learned that a provincial newspaper in the north of England had been fortunate enough to secure his services as a correspondent, and I was favoured with the contents of an article destined to instruct the "people at home." It described a performance in Western China