"Yah! yah!" cackled Hiram; "eighteen foot deep! Dat ud be a well."
"Of course it would, and truth would lie at its bottom. Can I stay,
Miss Banning?"
"Did you ever see the like?" cried the farmer, who had appeared, unnoticed.
"Look here, father," said the now merry girl, "perhaps I was mistaken.
This—"
"Tramp—" interjected Minturn.
"Says he's looking for work and knows how to set out trees."
"And will work all day for a dinner," the tramp promptly added.
"If he can dig holes at that rate, Sue," said her father, catching their spirit, "he's worth a dinner. But you're boss to-day; I'm only one of the hands."
"I'm only another," said Minturn, touching his hat.
"Boss, am I? I'll soon find out. Mr. Minturn, come with me and don a pair of overalls. You shan't put me to shame, wearing that spick-and-span suit, neither shall you spoil it. Oh, you're in for it now! You might have escaped, and come another day, when I could have received you in state and driven you out behind father's frisky bays. When you return to town with blistered hands and aching bones, you will at least know better another time."