"No, no, now! You are chaffing me."
"Do you know, brother mortal of mine, that I suspect you are a Yankee; for they say they live on baked beans, and earn the money to buy the pork for them by asking questions."
"I am not a Yankee; I am a long way from that."
"Then perhaps you sympathize with the meridonial section of the nation on the other side of the Gulf Stream."
"Which section?" asked the stranger, looking a little puzzled.
"The meridonial section."
"Which is that? I don't know which meridian you mean."
"I mean no meridian. Perhaps the word is a little irregular; I studied French when I was in the Bangerwhangerlang College in China, and I am sometimes apt to get that language mixed up with some other. Let me see, we were speaking just now, were we not?"
"I was."
"Sometimes I can't speak any English, and I had forgotten about it. If you prefer to carry on this conversation in Hebrew or Hindostanee, I shall not object," added Christy gravely.