ance of having
been purchased and put on only an hour or two before,--a fact more
directly established by the clothes-dealer's ticket which still adhered
to his coat-collar, giving the number, size, and general dimensions of
that garment somewhat obtrusively to an uninterested public. His
trousers had a straight line down each leg, as if he had been born flat
but had since developed; and there was another crease down his back,
like those figures children cut out of folded paper. I may add that
there was no consciousness of this in his face, which was good-natured,
and, but for a certain squareness in the angle of his lower jaw,
utterly uninteresting and commonplace.

"You disremember me," he said, briefly, as he extended his hand, "but
I'm from Solano, in Californy. I met you there in the spring of '57.
I was tendin' sheep, and you was burnin' charcoal."

There was not the slightest trace of any intentional rudeness in the
reminder. It was simply a statement of fact, and as such to be
accepted.

"What I hailed ye for was only this," he said, after I had shaken hands
with him. "I saw you a minnit ago standin' over in yon box--chirpin'
with a lady--a young lady, peart and pretty. Might you be telling me
her name?"

I gave him the name of a certain noted belle of a neighboring city, who
had lately stirred the hearts of the metropolis, and who was especially
admired by the brilliant and fascinating young Dashboard, who stood
beside me.

The Man from Solano mused for a moment, and then said, "Thet's so!
thet's the name! It's the same gal!"

"You have met her, then?" I asked, in surprise.

"Ye-es," he responded, slowly: "I met her about fower months ago. She'd
bin makin' a tour of Californy with some friends, and I first saw her
aboard the cars this side of Reno. She lost her baggage-checks, and I
found them on the floor and gave 'em back to her, and she thanked me.
I reckon now it would be about the square thing to go over thar and
sorter recognize her." He stopped a moment, and looked at us
inquiringly.

"My dear sir," struck in the brilliant and fascinating Dashboard, "if
your hesitation proceeds from any doubt as to the propriety of your
attire, I beg you to dismiss it from your mind at once. The tyranny of
custom, it is true, compels your friend and myself to dress peculiarly,
but I assure you nothing could be finer than the way that the olive
green of your coat melts in the delicate yellow of your c