eyes
up to the cloudless sky in surprise, he finally reached the same
conclusion as the young woman at the oil-shop.

"Now up you get, Tippy," admonished Bindle, "an' there's another drink
for you at The Green Lion." Bindle knew his London.

As the pantechnicon rumbled heavily along by the side of Wimbledon
Common, Bindle whistled softly to himself the refrain of "The End of a
Happy Day."

Whilst Tippitt was enjoying his fourth pint that morning at The Green
Lion, Bindle borrowed a large watering-can, which was handed up to him
on the roof of the pantechnicon by a surprised barman. Bindle emptied
the contents of one of the packets of lamp-black into the can, and
started to stir it vigorously with a piece of twig he had picked up
from the side of the Common. When the water had reluctantly absorbed
the lamp-black to Bindle's entire satisfaction, he called out loudly:

"I knew we was goin' to 'ave a shower," and he proceeded to water the
top of the pantechnicon. "Now I must put this 'ere tarpaulin over, or
else the water'll get through them 'oles," he said.

He clearly heard suppressed exclamations as the water penetrated
inside the van. Having emptied the can, he proceeded to drag the
tarpaulin over the roof, leaving uncovered only a small portion in the
centre.

The barman of The Green Lion had been watching Bindle with
open-mouthed astonishment.

"What the 'ell are you up to, mate?" he whispered.

Bindle put his forefinger of the right hand to the side of his nose
and winked mysteriously. Then going inside The Green Lion he, in a way
that did not outrage the regulations that there should be no
"treating," had Tippitt's tankard refilled, and called for another for
himself.

"If you watch the papers," Bindle remarked to the barman, "I shouldn't
be surprised if you was to see wot I was a-doin' on the top of that
there van," and again he winked.

The barman looked from Bindle to Tippitt, then touching his forehead
with a fugitive first finger, and glancing in the direction of Bindle,
made it clear that another was prepared to support the diagnosis of
the young woman at the oil-shop.

Bindle completed the journey on the top of the van, industriously
occupied in puffing lamp-black through the holes in the roof. His
method was to dip the end of the pea-puffer into the packet, then
insert it in one of the holes and give a sharp puff. This he did half
a dozen times in quick succession. Then he would pause for a fe