them.

"'Here's the place,' I said, and I lifted my hat to the Woman and
turned to go back.

"'No, don't go,' said the Large Man, still holding on to my arm.
'You've been white and decent to us; we're all stranded here. This is
Thanksgiving--come in and have dinner with us.'

"Then I began by thanking them and ended by saying I couldn't. Then the
Small Man began to urge me, saying that out in his country, near the
Rockies, everybody was willing to sit down at anybody's table when he
was invited; and the Large Man kept on squeezing my arm in a friendly
sort of way, so I finally said I didn't care if I did, and in we all
went. When we got inside the place was practically empty--only one
guest, really--and he was over by the wall in a corner. There were only
two waiters--one an Irishman who said his name was Mike, with a very
red head and an enormous mouth--a queer kind of a servant for that kind
of a restaurant, I thought--and the other a young Italian, who was
probably the cook.

"'You order,' said the Large Man. 'You know what's good in New York.'

"So I ordered.

"And I want to tell you that the dinner was a particularly good
one--well cooked and well served. We had soup and fish and an Italian
ragout, macaroni, peppers and two bottles of red wine. Before the soup
was over I was glad I'd come; glad, not only because the dinner was all
right, but because the people were human kind of people--no foolishness
about them--no pretension. They were not our kind of people, of
course--couldn't find them in New York if you looked everywhere--not
born and brought up here. The Woman was gentle and kindly, saying very
little, but the Large Man was a hearty, breezy sort of fellow--even if
his language at times was rough and uncouth--at least I thought so. Big
bones and a well-fed body; quick in his movements, yet slow in his
talk, showing force and determination in everything he said. The Small
Man was as tough physically and as alert mentally, but there wasn't so
much of him. He talked, however, twice as fast as the Large Man, and
said less.

"He talked of the city--how smart the people were, how stuck up some of
them, thinking they knew it all, and how, if they but thought about it,
they must see after all that the West was the only thing that kept the
country alive. That kind of talk--not in an offensive way--just as all
of us talk when we believe in our section of the country.

"All this time the solitary guest sat ag