The other young man here felt called upon to point out the fact
that there was no dew in California, and that the birds did not
sing in that part of the country. The foreign young gentleman
received this statement with pain and astonishment as to the fact,
with passionate remorse as to his own ignorance. But still, as it
was a charming day, would not his gallant friend, the Captain here,
accept the challenge of the brave Englishman, and "walk him" for
the glory of his flag and a thousand pounds?
The gallant Captain, unfortunately, believed that if he walked out
in his uniform he would suffer some delay from being interrogated
by wayfarers as to the locality of the circus he would be
pleasantly supposed to represent, even if he escaped being shot as
a rare California bird by the foreign sporting contingent. In
these circumstances, he would simply lounge around the house until
his carriage was ready.
Much as it pained him to withdraw from such amusing companions, the
foreign young gentleman here felt that he, too, would retire for
the present to change his garments, and glided back through the
window at the same moment that the young officer carelessly stepped
from the veranda and lounged towards the shrubbery.
"They've been watching each other for the last hour. I wonder
what's up?" said the young man who remained.
The remark, without being confidential, was so clearly the first
sentence of natural conversation that the Scotchman, although
relieved, said, "Eh, man?" a little cautiously.
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