not a bit in the world. You must stay. It's a long, dusty three mile, and we can't let you walk. And besides, I've already told 'em to put on another plate, when I see you coming; so you mustn't disappoint us. Come right in, and make yourself at home."
So Tom he thanked them very hearty and handsome, and
"MR. ARCHIBALD NICHOLS, I PRESUME?"
let himself be persuaded, and come in; and when he was in, he said he was a stranger from Hicksville, Ohio, and his name was William Thompson—and be made another bow.
Well, he run on, and on, and on, making up stuff about Hicksville and everybody in it he could invent, and I getting a little nervious, and wondering how this was going to help me out of my scrape; and at last, still talking along, he reached
