“Not in the least, amigo!”
“Have you learned Falcon the Flunky’s name?”
“No, he hasn’t told me; and I haven’t pressed him to tell what he doesn’t wish to.”
Mangan cleared his throat uncomfortably. “The stiffs, as we call them, Manzanita, come from every place,” he said. “Nobody knows anything of their various pasts, and they’re nobody’s business. There are many bright, intelligent, capable men in trampdom—far more than is realized by the general public. But can’t you see that this fact in itself should make you cautious about picking a friend from among them? Bright, capable men have taken to tramp life in many cases because polite society has for some reason ostracized them. They may be bank defaulters, forgers, or even worse. Surely your reason will tell you that no educated, refined man need be a tramp laborer these days; and that, since he is educated and refined, ambition can’t be lacking. So, such a man must be a renegade, a fugitive from justice, an ostracized member of good society to explain his adherence to the slip-along life of the construction stiff. Now, I haven’t said a word against Falcon the Flunky, have I?”
“No, you haven’t. You wouldn’t. You’re a gentleman and a good sport.”
“Thank you. Despite your many tomboy pranks, I always find you so reasonable. There’s just one thing you need, Manzanita, and that is a little worldly experience. You must grow up.”
“And yet when I want to buck roulette for worldly experience you kick!”
“I consider that as hardly necessary to your education,” he said. “But I’m glad you don’t resent my effort to be friendly. I’ve told you how matters stand, or may stand. It’s merely a friendly warning from an old-timer—for even your father doesn’t understand our life. And of course, anyway, I wouldn’t go to him with your case.”
“Of course not, Hunt. You’re all right. But I like The Falcon now; and I just couldn’t think bad about anybody I like. It’s a Canby trait. We imagine that anybody we happen to like must be all right or we wouldn’t like ’em.”
“It’s a lovable trait, too,” he told her warmly. “And from your unsophisticated viewpoint, it’s a pretty practical one. But for general purposes in the complicated life beyond Squawtooth and the desert, I don’t know that it will fill the bill.”