He laughed. "Do you think if I had succeeded, I'd be splitting wood in Bullfinch's Hollow?"
"And you care nothing for Kit Berry?"
"Oh, I like him—he's an under dog."
"Then you are for the under dog, right or wrong, as I am?" she responded with a radiant look.
"Well, I don't know about that," he answered, "but I have at least a fellow feeling for him. I'm an under dog myself, you see."
"But you won't stay one long?"
"That's the danger. When I come out on top I'll doubtless stop splitting wood and do something worse."
"I don't believe it," she rejoined decisively. "You have never had a chance at the real thing before."
"You're right there," he admitted, "I had never seen the real thing in my life until I came to Tappahannock."
"Do you mind telling me," she asked, after an instant's hesitation, "why you came to Tappahannock? I can't understand why anyone should ever come here."