AN ESCORT 269 



" But I never did drop one in," said the escort 

 with a happy smile. 



" Suppose you did," said George. 



" In what ? " asked the riddle-reader. 



" In a hole in the rock/' said George patiently. 



" Yes," said the idiot, " but supposing there isn't 

 a hole in the rock ? " 



" Well, there is," said George. 



" How deep is it ? " was the next question. 



" So deep that you could not reach the orange," 

 said George. 



" There never was such a place," this with an air 

 of deep conviction. 



" Well, suppose there was," said George. " You 

 have an orange which falls into a hole in the rock 

 which is too narrow for you to get your hand in. 

 How would you get the orange out ? " 



In a tone of great contempt George's victim 

 remarked, " If 1 had an orange I should never put 

 it into a hole in the rock." 



" If you had an orange " began George, but the 

 room was empty and we felt that we had gained 

 the victory. 



Just before reaching Chuguchak, although the 

 going was rather heavy, we made good progress, as 

 some heavy carts had beaten a path through the 

 snow. We killed a few partridges, very like 

 the home bird, and on February 25th, after a 

 long stage of 90 //, through a mist of snow, walls 

 and gate towers rose in the distance, and we had 

 arrived at the frontiers of the Russian Empire. 

 At Tashkeng, as it is called by the Chinese, we 

 took up our quarters, after some delay in the house 

 of an old Khirghiz. Here he lived in patriarchal 



