"Don't be too fast. We ain't hitched yet. Say, boy, where do you come from?"
"From Vernon, in New Hampshire."
"You don't say! Why, that ain't more'n fifty miles from Green Mountain Mills; cu'rus we should meet so fur away from hum, ain't it? When did you start?"
"Seven or eight months ago."
"I've been in California six months. Does that gentleman come from your town?"
"My friend," answered the Scotchman, not without a touch of pride, "I am not an American; I am from the Highlands of Scotland."
"You be? Sho! Well, of course you can't help that."
"Help it, sir? I am proud of hailing from the land of Scott and Burns."
"Well, I guess it's a pretty nice sort of country," said Mr. Onthank, patronizingly. "I guess you'll like America best, though."
"I am by no means sure of that, my friend," said Ferguson, a little nettled. "America's all very well, but—"