"How be ye, Marvin? Stock doin' well?"
"Fust class. See the critter they're figgerin' on barbecuin'? He's a sample."
"Um!... Lived here quite a spell, hain't you, Marvin? Quite a spell?"
"Born here, Scattergood."
"Know lots of folks, don't ye? Got acquainted consid'able in town and the surroundin' country?"
"A feller 'u'd be apt to in fifty-five year."
"Call to mind the Meggses that used to live here?"
"Place next to the Newton farm. Recollect 'em well."
"Lived next to Ol' Man Newton, eh? Forgot that." Scattergood had not forgotten it, but quite the contrary. His interest in the Meggses was negligible; his purpose in mentioning them was to approach the Newtons circuitously and by stealth, as he always approached affairs of importance to him.
"Know 'em well? Know 'em as well's you knowed the Newtons?"