"Past the corner."
"How far?"
"A pure bit."
"Will you be long?"
"Maybe."
"Say an hour?"
"If you like."
"Or two?"
"Shudn't wonder."
And so on, and so on, until the questioner is tired of asking further questions. The people don't notice anything peculiar about this want of directness in reply to the simplest questions. To tell the truth, and yet to mislead, is looked on as an accomplishment which may be turned to profit without scandal, as by the man who sold a blind horse as free from vice. "To be blind is a misfortune and not a vice," replied the seller, when charged with deceit.