human
Did you meet anybody on the trail?
gpt
Nevis, answered Thorne genially.
human
I believe I insulted him. Anyway, I meant to, but he's tough in the hide, and I'm half afraid I wasn't quite up to my usual form.
gpt
But why did you want to insult him?
human
Well, replied Thorne, with an air of reflection,
gpt
I think it was his clothes that irritated me.
human
His clothes?
gpt
Yes, he said;
human
But why should that annoy you?
gpt
If you mean the thought of his limping across the prairie for miles and getting very hot and dusty, it certainly didn't. If you mean his apparel, too much neatness always acts as a red rag on me, and in this case the manner in which he was got up seemed symbolical. It hinted that only the best of everything would content him, and that he meant to get it, no matter what it cost anybody else. There was his horse, for instance, played out, foul with dust, and thirsty--with a creek close by. He'd driven the poor brute almost to death the last few days sooner than cut out a single visit to any one he wanted to see about the creamery.
human
We have got to head him off that scheme,
gpt
Haven't you some other grievance against him?
human
If another one is needed, there's Langton's case, answered Thorne.
gpt
The man's a crank, of course, which is partly why I like him, and he has some eccentric notions about farming; but he has paid Nevis his interest for quite a while, besides buying everything he used from him at double prices, and now the first time the money's not forthcoming he's sold up. Nevis turned him out, with his wife still ailing, and the child.
human
It's the first I've heard of it. Why didn't you send us word?
gpt
Langton's rather out of your district, and the boys have fixed him up. They got a few things together, and he's camped in a tent on Government land. I believe they're going to build him a sod and birchpole house.
human
I suppose, interjected Farquhar,
gpt
That's certain, laughed his wife.
human
Who went round and got the tent and the other things you mentioned, Mavy?
gpt
As soon as they heard of it, the boys brought them in.