Page:Frank Stockton - Rudder Grange.djvu/182

Rh "'This way,' says I. 'You, Miguel—'

"'Jiguel,' says he.

"'The earl,' says I, not mindin' his interruption, 'an' me, your noble earless, will go to some good place or other—it don't matter much jus' where, and whatever house we live in we'll call our castle, an' we'll consider it's got drawbridges an' portcullises an' moats an' secrit dungeons, an' we'll remember our noble ancestors, an' behave accordin'. An' the people we meet we can make into counts and dukes and princes, without their knowin' anything about it; an' we can think our clothes is silk an' satin an' velwet, all covered with dimuns an' precious stones, jus' as well as not.'

"'Jus' as well,' says he.

"'An' then,' I went on, 'we can go an' have chi-val-rous adventures—or make believe we're havin' 'em—an' build up a atmosphere of romanticness aroun' us that'll carry us back—'

"'To ole Virginny,' says he.

"'No,' says I, 'for thousands of years, or at least enough back for the times of tournaments and chi-val-ry.'

"'An' so your idea is that we make believe all these things, an' don't pay for none of 'em, is it?' says he.

"'Yes,' says I; 'an' you, Miguel—'

"'Jiguel,' says he.

"'Can ask me, if you don't know what chi-val-ric or romantic thing you ought to do or to say so as to feel yourself truly an' reely a earl, for I've read a lot about these people, an' know jus' what ought to be did.'

"Well, he set himself down an' thought a while, an' then he says, 'All right. We'll do that an' we'll