t, old
feller,' says he, with a suspicious leer. His nasal was somewhat
strong, so I put him down as from Vermont State, perhaps from the more
mountainous part of it. As if shy of my patronage he upon the counter,
pompous, spread his hands, as if the mahogany was all his. This
seeming indifference rather touched my dignity, which was of tender
quality, so I cast upon him a look he could not misinterpret,
inquiring if he could tie a body up for the night in a spare corner.
'You may bet on that! got a spare pin we can hook ye on somehow, I
reckon;' he ejaculates, sprawling his elbows, and making a support of
his fleshy hands, from between which his face peered like a soft
pumpkin sorely squeezed. In this position he stared, and stared, until
his countenance assumed an anxiety, equalled only by that of a stump
lecturer about inaugration time--say one, who had hoped for the
mission to the court of St. James, but as a matter of patriotism would
not decline the Dublin Consulship. At length he condescended to say,
with an air of languishing endurance, that 'he could do me up brown,
in the way of comfortable quarters.' I thanked him for his great
kindness, said I wanted to exercise a judicious economy, and could not
do the extensive, like those persons sprawling in easy arm chairs at
the left hand corner, to whom I pointed, and who, like Mr. President
Pierce's representatives abroad, were making a great noise to no
purpose. After looking quizically at the tie-up under my arm, then at
my tall white hat, and again at the coarse weave of my homespun, he
inquired if that (pointing to the bundle) constituted my
baggage. Instantly I told him it was none of his business; that there
was no occasion for his feeling so large, though Mr. Pierce was
President. He made an upright of himself, and very civilly rejoined
that there was no place this side of Cape Horn--and he doubted if
there was on the other side--where it was so necessary to see the
colateral as this Washington. He was proceeding to say much more, and
something about the doubtful character of General Pierce and his
friends, when I interrupted by saying, I thought he must have
forgotten my name. 'Smooth is my name,' I reiterated, 'of the Young
American party, the party that intends doing up the manifest destiny
for mankind.'

"'Manifest destiny never pays debts: must see the collateral 'afore we
tie ye up! Fact is, stranger, we must have the hold-fast for fear of
the shot fal