“Of the earth, earthy?” queried Kate.
“How can you!” cried the doctor, “but you are the first American woman I have seen in two years, and you are tremendously Yankee.”
“Pray, what is tremendously Yankee?” asked Kate.
“Oh, delightfully individual! that is a trait of our countrymen—yours and mine. One sees it in you when you cross the floor, or do any other everyday thing. You could not conceal your nationality.”
“We do not try to conceal what we take pride in. I am proud of being an American. Dear old America, I have not seen it in five years.”
“So long? What have you been doing?”
“I have had a career,” said Kate, quietly.
“Tell me about your career,” said the doctor. “I have lived here two years, as you know. When you have tarried so long, you will want to know, as deeply as you can, the first congenial spirit that comes to Africa and finds you.”
“What, two long years in Africa! Nothing could induce me to stay in such a land so long.”
“The improbable, even the seemingly impossible things, often come to pass, Miss Darcy. Now, please, are you going to tell me about your career?”