"That shall be understood. Now, you had better go out and look for your cousin. It is not best that John and he should be left to themselves too long."
Jasper went out into the stable-yards, but found that Gilbert had already gone into the house.
"That's a mighty foine lad, that Gilbert," said John.
"Yes, he's a clever fellow," responded Jasper, not very enthusiastically.
"He's as smart as a steel-trap," said John, earnestly.
"I didn't know steel-traps were very smart," said Jasper, sarcastically.
He felt instinctively that John considered Gilbert smarter than himself, and his self-conceit was so great that this troubled him.
"Wait till you get into one," said John, laughing. "If you'd get your little finger into one of them things, you'd find it was too smart for ye."
"What did Gilbert have to say to you?"
But John was too smart to be pumped.