He stopped short and gazed at me in blank astonishment.
"Why—why—where did you come from?" he stammered.
"From Smalleyville," I returned as coolly as I could. "And that's where you came from, too," I added.
"I didn't see you on the train," he went on, ignoring my last remark.
"I didn't come up by train."
"Maybe you walked," he went on, with some anxiety.
"Oh no; I rode in a carriage."
"Humph! It seems to me you must have been in a tremendous hurry."
"Perhaps I was."
"Why, you excite my curiosity. May I ask the cause of your sudden impatience?"