“So you shall be,” said Sir Humphrey, smiling, “for I promise you I will not quarrel.”
“Then you’ll make a bargain of it?” cried the American eagerly.
“Decidedly not, Mr Briscoe,” said Sir Humphrey firmly. “Make up an expedition of your own, sir: and I wish, you success.”
“But we should do so much better, squire, if we joined hands.”
“Possibly, sir, but I must decline to enter into any kind of partnership.”
“With a stranger, eh?”
“Well, yes, with a stranger. Once more, sir, I wish you success.”
“I’m a very useful sort of man, squire.”
“That I do not doubt; but I prefer to take my own journey my own way.”
“Wouldn’t stop to pick me up, I suppose, if you found me drowning or starving, eh?”