"
Mary therefore ordered them in and out of the Slowcoach with great
frequency, but it was not a great deal of use, for they hobbled more and
more.
At Enstone they stopped for lunch, which consisted of a tongue and bananas
and ginger beer; and here they met a friendly tinker, drinking his ale
outside the inn, who, noticing their lameness, gave them some good advice.
"If you can't stop and rest," he said, "you should soap your stockings, and
it's a good thing now and then to change the stockings from left to right.
They found that the soap was really useful, and got on much better, and a
little later they were overtaken by two young men on a walking tour, who
slowed down to fall into step for a while with Robert and Jack. One gave
them some hints. "When you are very tired," he said, "it helps to hold
something in front of you at full length--even a walking stick will do, or
a coat rolled up. It pulls you along. You look like an idiot, of course, but
that doesn't matter. No one who minds looking foolish will ever have a
really good time. It is a good thing to prevent a stitch in your side to
carry a little pebble in your mouth. Squeezing a cork in each hand helps."
"Another way to make walking easier," said the other young man, "is to sing
as you go.
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