"We've got little ways of talking not the same as yours. You don't seem
to have the snap to conversation that we have in the States. But I'll say
here that I think you have got a better style of talking. It isn't
exhausting."

"Mr. Pride said to me a moment ago that they spoke better English in
Boston than any other place in the world."

"Did he, though, Lady Lawless? That's good. Well, I guess he was only
talking through his hat."

She was greatly amused. Her first impressions were correct. The man was
interesting. He had a quaint, practical mind. He had been thrown upon his
own resources, since infancy almost, in a new country; and he had seen
with his own eyes, nakedly, and without predisposition or instruction.
From childhood thoroughly adaptable, he could get into touch with things
quickly, and instantly like or dislike them. He had been used to approach
great concerns with fearlessness and competency. He respected a thing
only for its real value, and its intrinsic value was as clear to him as
the market value. He had, perhaps, an exaggerated belief in the greatness
of his own country, because he liked eagerness and energy and daring. The
friction and hurry of American life added to his enjoyment. They acted on
him like a stimulating air, in which he was always bold, collected, and
steady. He felt an exhilaration in being superior to the rustle of forces
round him. It had been his habit to play the great game of business with
decision and adroitness. He had not spared his opponent in the fight; he
had crushed where his interests were in peril and the sport played into
his hands; comforting himself, if he thought of the thing, with the
knowledge that he himself would have been crushed if the other man had
not. He had never been wilfully unfair, nor had he used dishonourable