“Oh, simply because some fool of a doctor, who didn’t know any better, sent you down. You’re here for the air, my boy: you don’t come for the society, so it must be the air--that’s the only other thing Eastbourne’s got. You were told it would brace you up in a week, and it will, if your reason holds out for so long. I’d be a madman, sane as I am, if I were compelled to live in this place a fortnight; I would, on my honour! No, you don’t catch me in Eastbourne for either air or the society, and yet, in a way, it is the society, too, only it doesn’t seem to come off; and here I am stranded, don’t you know, with a coachman and a groom, not to mention a valet, two horses, and one of the smartest carts that ever left London. That’s my turn-out, there. I drive tandem, of course; it’s the only Christian way to drive. Not that I care about the style of it,--I hope I’m above all that sort of thing,--and I’m not to be blamed because so many other fellows do it, don’t you know; I love a tandem for itself alone. Ever drive tandem?” “I never did,” said Marsten, looking at Barney’s handsome equipage, which was being slowly driven up and down the road by a man in livery. He had noticed it before, but now he gazed at it with renewed interest, as Barney modestly proclaimed himself the owner. “Well, it isn’t as easy as it looks. It’s not every fool can drive a tandem, although I am said to be one of the first tandem-drivers in London, don’t you know. I don’t say so, of course; but there are those who do, and they are judges, too. But it’s no fun driving about alone: to enjoy tandem-driving you need to have a pretty girl beside you.” “And are there no pretty girls in Eastbourne?” “There are, my boy, and that’s just what I want to talk with you about. Let’s sit down here in this shelter, because I want your whole attention. Now, I did you a favour one day, even though it was for another fellow, didn’t I?” “Yes. You have done me at least two favours.” “Well, that’s all right. I may be able to do you a third or a fourth,--who knows?--and I mention it because I’m about to ask you to do me a great one now. That’s what made me so glad to see you, don’t you know, as well, of course, as the pleasure of talking with you again in this dismal hole. I was just thinking about it, and wondering whom I could get, when I looked up, and there you were. Providence always helps me when I’m in a pinch--always, don’t you know. I never knew it to fail, and yet I’m not what you’d call a devout man myself. You’ve got nothing particular to do down here I suppose?” “Nothing but my own pleasure.”