"I don't mean it that way. For you had the same sad, hungered look the first time I saw you—when you came into Milligan's in that beggarly disguise."
"I shall confess one thing. It was not a disguise. It was the fact of me; I am a beggarly person."
"Nonsense! I'm not witless, Mr. Donnegan. You talk well. You have an education."
"In fact I have an educated taste; I disapprove of myself, you see, and long ago learned not to take myself too seriously."
"Which leads to—"
"The reason why I have wandered so much."
"Like a hunter on a trail. Hunting for what?"
"A chance to sit in a saddle—or a chair—and talk as we are talking."
"Which seems to be idly."
"Oh, you mistake me. Under the surface I am as serious as fire."