to mind; but he spared himself none of the amusement to be drawn
out of the new turn of affairs, nor us any of the chaff that we had
never spared him.

"Take my advice," he said, "and try to act you're Yanks for all you've
got. If you can make blind men believe it, you may get out of this
with whole skins!"

I expected the retort discourteous to that from Fred, who was between
Will and me, shepherded like us by hard-breathing, unseen men. But
he was much too subtly skilful in piercing the chain-mail of Will's
humor--even in that hour.

"Sure!" he answered. "I guess any gosh-durned rube in these parts
'll know without being told what neck o' the woods I hail from.
Schenectady's my middle name! I'm--"

"Oh, my God!" groaned Will. "We don't talk that way in the States.
The missionaries--"

"I'm the guy who put the 'oh!' in Ohio!" continued Fred. "I'm running
mate to Colonel Cody, and I've ridden herd on half the cows in Hocuspocus
County, Wis.! I can sing The Star-Spangled Banner with my head under
water, and eat a chain of frankforts two links a minute! I'm the
riproaring original two-gun man from Tabascoville, and any gink who
doubts it has no time to say his prayers!"

There were paragraphs more of it, delivered at uneven intervals between
deep gasps for breath as we made unsteady progress up-hill among
roots and rocks left purposely for the confusion of an enemy. At