ainst the wall listening. Near
as I could make out he only had one dish and a small bottle of wine.
Presently he made a remark--not to us--not to the room--more as if to
himself.

"'West is the only thing, is it? And every man Jack of them from New
England stock!'

"This, too, didn't come in any offensive spirit--just as an aside, as
if to keep himself company, being lonely, of course.

"But the Large Man caught it before all the words were out of his mouth.

"'Dead right, pard,' he said--I only quote his words, gentlemen. 'My
father came from Boston, left there in '58. Where're you from?'

"'Boston,' answered the man looking at him over the prongs of his fork.

"'That so? Well, why ain't you eatin' your turkey with your folks? Got
any?'

"'Yes, got a lot of them, but I was short of a ticket.'

"Here the Large Man got up and went over to the Man from Boston.

"'Shake for Boston,' he said, holding out his big hand. 'And now bring
that bottle over here and chip in with us.' Then he opened his
pocketbook and took out a square slip of paper.

"'Here, tuck that in your clothes.' Again I must remark, gentlemen,
that I am only quoting their language so that you can get a better idea
of what sort of people I was with. 'That's a pass to your 'burg. I'm
going South and I won't use it.'

"There were five of us at the table now, the Bostonian bringing over
his plate without a word except 'Thank you,' and taking his share of
the different dishes.

"The talk now became very interesting. The Large Man told stories of
his early life on a farm and the Bostonian recited verses, and recited
them very well, and the Woman laughed in the right place, and when the
cigars were brought and the coffee and the cognac, I was sorry it was
all over. That, when I look back upon it, is the most extraordinary
thing of all. How a man of my experience could have--Well, I won't
stop, I'll just keep on.

"With the coffee, and before the red-headed Irishman had brought the
bill--oh, you should go round to Foscari's and look at that Irishman
just to see how coarse and vulgar a man can be who spends his whole
life feeding animals who--no I WILL go on, for the most interesting
part is to come. When the coffee was served, I say, the Large Man asked
the waiter where he could send a telephone message to his hotel--wanted
the porter to get his trunks down. The Irishman answered: 'Out in the
hall, to the right o' where ye come in.' 'I'll go with you