The old woman started, and seemed to see him for the first time, and put on her glasses to inspect him.
“What did you say, my good man?” she inquired.
Johnny, unoffended by this offensive term, which means, “you are not so good as I am,” repeated his question mumblingly, with the old lava tip between his lips.
“I have a girl I’m thinking of sending to one of them institutions,” he explained.
The old lady frowned and took off her glasses and tapped them on the arm of her chair.
“You will make a great mistake, my good man. It is a great mistake to educate your daughter above her position.”
Johnny took the lava tip out of his mouth and stared at her.
“Well, now, ma’am,” he said in his slow way, “I don’t see how you make that out. An American girl is an American girl; no matter how you look at it. You can’t educate her above that.”