widening at the foot so as almost to cover his boots. His coat was
deeply braided, and his waistcoat was cut low, so that his plastron-
scarf hung out from the shirt-bosom, which it would have done well
to cover.

"I tell you, Boston's full of 'em," he said excitedly. "One of 'em
come up to me just now, and says he, 'Seems to me I've seen you
before, but I can't place you.' 'Oh yes,' says I, 'I'll tell you
where it was. I happened to be in the police court one morning when
they was sendin' you up for three months.' I tell you he got round
the corner! Might 'a' played checkers on his coat tail. Why, what do
you suppose would been the next thing if I hadn't have let him know
I saw through him?" demanded the young man of Barker, who listened
to this adventure with imperfect intelligence. "He'd 'a' said,
'Hain't I seen you down Kennebunk way som'eres?' And when I said,
'No, I'm from Leominster!' or where-ever I was from if I was green,
he'd say, 'Oh yes, so it _was_ Leominster. How's the folks?'
and he'd try to get me to think that _he_ was from Leominster
too; and then he'd want me to go off and see the sights with him;
and pretty soon he'd meet a feller that 'ud dun him for that money
he owed him; and he'd say he hadn't got anything with him but a
cheque for forty dollars; and the other feller'd say he'd got to
have his money, and he'd kind of insinuate it was all a put-up job
about the cheque for forty dollars, anyway; and that 'ud make the
first feller mad, and he'd take out the check, and ask him what he
thought o' that; and the other feller'd say, well, it was a good
cheque, but it wan't money, and he wanted money; and then the first
feller'd say, 'Well, come along to the bank and get your money,' and
the other'd say the bank was shut. 'Well, then,' the first feller'd
say, 'well, sir, I ain't a-goin' to ask any favour of _you_.