seeing a hitchhiker this far out in the boonies in the middle of the night was odd enough - by quarter of one , any ordinary drifter would have laid up in a deserted barn or some farmer 's shed - but when you added in the fact that he had also been wearing a suit and a tie ( 'some dark color , ' mrs a. said , 'just do n't ask me to swear what dark color , because i ca n't , and i wo n't ' ) , it got less comfortable all the time .