“Go ahead, and welcome,” says Kinderhook. Mr. Atkins went over to the table, and then he unwrapped our churn and stood it up beside the red, white, and blue one.
“What’s that?” says Kinderhook.
“This,” says Mr. Atkins, “is about as good a churn as I know about, and I sort of wanted to compare it with yours before I done any investin’.”
“You’re wasting our time,” says Kinderhook, sharplike.
“Don’t calc’late to waste any time,” says Mr. Atkins, “so if Captain Winton and Mr. Wade will step over here we’ll sort of set these churns side by side and compare ’em.”
“I don’t care to have my churn compared—”
“Thought you let on jest now it was our churn,” says Mr. Atkins, “and that bein’ the case, why, we’ll do some comparin’, anyhow.... Will you come over here, Captain, and Mr. Wade?”
They came over, not getting next to what was happening at all, and then Wade says all of a sudden: “Why, it’s Atkins! What you been doing to yourself?”
Mr. Atkins sort of grinned, and then he turned toward Kinderhook.
“You say you never patented your churn, don’t you?”