Thirty-Nine Steps Extract

The man whom I almost ran into insisted on taking me for a meal and a change of clothes - my tweed trousers had been badly torn by the hedge, and the rest of my outfit had been pretty well reduced to rags. He lent me a spare driving coat and we set off to his home. Over our meal my host told me his story. It turned out that Sir Harry - for that was the young man's name - had travelled round the world after finishing his studies at Cambridge, and had only recently returned to England. He seemed altogether a decent, straightforward young man. After our meal we drank spirits in the big, cheery smoking-room, where his servant had laid a crackling wood fire. I saw by my host's eyes that he was the sort you can trust. Listen, Sir Harry, said I - 'I've got something pretty important to say to you. If you'll give me your attention for half an hour I am going to tell you a story.