ssault and
batter and not the Virginia Reel! Why--"

"Not to give you a short answer," I butts in, "but how about the insane
asylum over there?" I points to the buildin'. "Do we see that or
don't we?"

Right away he straightens up and sticks his finger at it.

"It takes exactly twelve, temptin' minutes to completely compose and
accurately assemble a loaf!" he shouts. "We never heard of waste, and
efficiency was born in this factory. The only thing that loafs here is
the bread! Each eager employee has his own particular part to perform
and that accounts for the amazin' and awesome accuracy with which we
bake the beautiful bread. Step this way!"

"Believe me!" says the Kid, "I wish I had a line of patter like that!
'Amazin' and awesome accuracy'!" he repeats. "Do you get that?"

Right then about a dozen dames and their consorts come breezin' in the
main entrance. Offhand, they look like the hicks that gives the
"Seein' New York" busses a play, and when the runt spots them he ducks
and grabs my arm.

"C'mon!" he says. "Shake it up! If them boobs see me, I'll have to
show 'em all over the plant! That's a gang of them Snooks' Tourists,
seein' the world for fourteen eighty-five a-piece, breakfast at hotel
on third mornin' out and bus from train included! Most of them is
wisenheimers from Succotash Crossin', Mo.; and they're out to see that
they don't get cheated. They're gonna see everything like it says on
the ticket, and some of 'em is ready to sue Snooks because they got
somethin' in their eye from lookin' out the train window and missed
eight telegraph poles and a water tank on account of it. The rest of
them sits around knockin' everything on general principles and claimin'
the thing is a fake. Then there'll be one old guy in the party with a
trick horn he holds to his ear, and, when I get all through tellin' 'em
about the mixin' shop, the deef guy will say, 'Hey? What was that
about the airship again?' There will also be three veteran
school-teachers which will want samples of the bread and hide out a
couple of rolls on the side. And then one young married couple which
started sayin' 'Wonderful!' when the train pulled out of the old home
town and which has said nothin' else but that since! No, sir! I'm off
them tourists--c'mon, sneak around here!"

He boldly walks into the buildin' where all the noise is comin' from,
and not wantin' to act yellah before strangers we followed him in.
They was