Untitled - Beeldbibliotheek

170 CARAVAN DAYS"Yes," she will reply. " What about it ? "'of it."The seventeenth milestone is just at the footYou will be in a state of some excitement as youdraw near and have to substantiate your prophecy.And of course you can have a competition withthe Old Campaigner.. . . But you must notforgetthe allowances and adjustmentsthat arecalled for by the uncertain behaviour of yourpoles. It is no affair of rule of thumb. They willsuddenly bunch close together at a sharp turning.They may even desertthe hill.the road and cut acrossIhave at times played this game when sittinginside the van, but there it is not so easy to geta sure basis of calculation, though it may be doneeither by pacing the intervals vicariously bymeans of Simon's steps, or by taking the numberof the uprights in a roadside fence and assumingtheir distance apart.There are all sorts of combinations open to youas soon as you introduce a new element in thesecond hand of your watch. You will train yourselfto walk a mile in a certain length of time, andifyou have any real aptitude for the thing youshould soon be able to set out confidently to doyour next mile in 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13 or 12