352 The Diary of a Drug Fiend
to waste with these footlers. As to Unlimited Lou
(he began to sing) :—
“Has any one seen my Mary?
Has any one seen my Jane?
She went right out in her stocking feet
In the pelting pouring rain.
If any one sees my Mary,
He'll oblige me, I declare,
If he'll send her back in a packing case,
“This side up, with care.’ ”’
We were already far down the slope, striding like
giants. From above came a confused chorus of shouts
and laughter.
One has to be an athlete to run down-hill arm in arm
with Big Lion. He didn’t seem to mind the cactus,
and when we came to a ditch, it had to be jumped.
And when the path took a little turn up-hill, he used
our momentum to take us over the crest like a switch-
back. It made me positively drunk. Physical alarm
was combined with physical exhilaration. I was sweat-
ing like a pig ; my sandals slipped on the hard dry grass ;
my bare legs were torn by brambles, gorse, and cactus.
I kept on slipping; but he always turned the slip
into a leap. We never checked our career till we pulled
up at the door of the house on the headland.
He let go of me suddenly. I flopped, and lay on my
back panting for breath. He was absolutely cool ;
he had not turned a hair. He stood watching me while
he pulled out his pipe, filled it and lit it.
“* Never waste time on the way to work,” he observed,
in a tone which I can only describe as pseudo-sancti-
monious. ‘ Do you find yourself sufficiently recovered,”
he added in mock anxiety, ‘‘ to resume the vertical
position which distinguishes the human species from
other mammals? I believe the observation is due to
Vergil,” he continued.