“I say, Gerald,” said Mr. Brooke, “we hear a good deal about American scenery, but if this is a specimen I can only say that it is a good deal overrated.”
Gerald laughed.
“I haven’t traveled a great deal myself, Mr. Brooke,” he said, “but I think you must have seen something worthy of admiration since you have been in this country. Have you been up the Hudson River?”
“Not yet.”
“Or seen Niagara?”
“Yes; I saw that. We haven’t anything like that at home.”
“I am told the Columbia River has some fine scenery.”
“I wasn’t in earnest, Gerald. It only occurred to me to joke you a little. You must admit, however, that there is nothing worth seeing here.”
“We don’t boast so much of our scenery as our men,” said Gerald. “Samuel Standish, for instance.”
“And Jake Amsden?”