"Come here," said I. "Let's see your mouth."
"My good fellow—er—why?"
"Teeth still all right, eh? Or did Loco steal them?"
He grinned, and murmured that he knew his business.
I said I knew more about mining than a Friburg expert.
He told me huffily that he had graduated at Friburg, the greatest mining school.
I pointed to the tunnel. "Isn't that the best mining school?"
He scoffed at ignorant prospectors, then sat down on a log in the forge, with me beside him. "They'll ask you to dinner presently," said I. "Don't be unkind to them. Pretend to be genial—but make them keep their distance. Mention your rich relations. Trot out the dear Duchess of Clapham Junction. They'll be frightfully impressed. At dinner, tell them how much better food you've been used to, and ask them how much there's to pay. We of the lower classes love being patronized. So good for us."
"You think I'm such an infernal cad?"
"Why, Rams, you've been wondering if you ought to tip me."