"The definition, Abe Lincoln?" he said.
"The kind of folks we may associate with if we keep out of the Slough of Despond," answered Lincoln.
"Tell us where you got it," Mentor Graham said.
"I found it in Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' one night as I lay before the fire tryin' to learn something new. There was a wolf howlin' down in the timber. I tried to learn a new word between each howl. This was the third."
John McNeil walked home with Nance Cameron after the spelling-match.
"Where is John McNeil?" Mrs. Rutledge asked as Ann joined them just outside the door, for he was always on hand to walk with her.
"He's walking home with Nance Cameron," Ann answered.
"What's that for?"
"I guess he wants to tell her something," she said. But she too wondered, for he had not spoken to her, had not even seemed to see her, as he passed with Nance.