"No foolishness, Billy; I'm serious."
"Oh, you are, are you?" answered Billy; "well, let's hear something serious, then."
"Did you ever read the life of the James boys, Billy?"
"No, I never did? Who were they?"
"They were outlaws and robbers, and the book I read about them was the most interesting one I ever read. It was all facts, solid facts, and no nonsense about it. That's what I want to write, solid facts."
"About the James boys?"
"No, you little ignoramus; about what I see in the old country."
"There are many smarter men than you are that have written books about the old country, Windy, and some of these writers were English and some were American. Are you going to go in opposition to them?"
"Opposition your grandmother! Haven't I got as good a right to write a book as anyone else?"
"Who says you haven't? After you get the book printed who's going to sell it for you; going around peddling it?"