Says he, 'It'll mix easily with linseed oil, whether you
want to use it boiled or raw; and it ain't a-going
to crack nor fade any; and it ain't a-going to scale.
When you've got your arrangements for burning it properly,
you're going to have a paint that will stand like the
everlasting hills, in every climate under the sun.'
Then he went into a lot of particulars, and I begun
to think he was drawing a long-bow, and meant to make his
bill accordingly. So I kept pretty cool; but the fellow's
bill didn't amount to anything hardly--said I might pay
him after I got going; young chap, and pretty easy;
but every word he said was gospel. Well, I ain't a-going
to brag up my paint; I don't suppose you came here to hear
me blow"

"Oh yes, I did," said Bartley. "That's what I want.
Tell all there is to tell, and I can boil it down afterward.
A man can't make a greater mistake with a reporter than
to hold back anything out of modesty. It may be the very
thing we want to know. What we want is the whole truth;
and more; we've got so much modesty of our own that we can
temper almost any statement."

Lapham looked as if he did not quite like this tone,
and he resumed a little more quietly. "Oh, there isn't
really very much more to say about the paint itself.
But you can use it for almost anything where a paint is wanted,
inside or out. It'll prevent decay, and it'll stop it,
after it's begun, in tin or iron. You can paint the inside
of a cistern or a bath-tub with it, and water won't hurt it;