oesn't call all that's below him his equals."

I liked that speech; and I liked the cool, decided way in which it was
uttered. It denoted, in its spirit, a man who saw things as they are,
and who was not afraid to say what he thought about them. My uncle Ro
was surprised, and that agreeably, too, and he turned to Miller to
pursue the discourse.

"Den dere might not be any nopility in America, after all?" he asked,
inquiringly.

"Yes, there's plenty of such lords as Josh here, who want to be
uppermost so plaguily that they don't stop to touch all the rounds of
the ladder. I tell him, friend, he wants to get on too fast, and that he
mustn't set up for a gentleman before he knows how to behave himself."

Josh looked a little abashed at a rebuke that came from one of his own
class, and which he must have felt, in secret, was merited. But the
demon was at work in him, and he had persuaded himself that he was the
champion of a quality as sacred as liberty, when, in fact, he was simply
and obviously doing neither more nor less than breaking the tenth
commandment. He did not like to give up, while he skirmished with
Miller, as the dog that has been beaten already two or three times
growls over a bone at the approach of his conqueror.

"Well, thank heaven," he cried, "_I_ have got some spirit in my body."

"That's very true, Joshua," answered Miller, laying down one watch and
taking up another; "but it happens to be an evil spirit."

"Now, here's them Littlepages; what makes them better than other folks?"

"You had better let the Littlepages alone, Joshua, seein' they're a
family that you know nothing at all about."

"I don't want to know them; though I _do_ happen to know all I want to
know. I despise 'em."

"No you don't, Joshy, my boy; nobody despises folks they talk so
spitefully about. What's the price of this here watch, friend?"

"Four dollars," said my uncle, eagerly, falling lower than was prudent,
in his desire to reward Miller for his good feeling and sound
sentiments. "Ja, ja--you might haf das vatch for four dollars."

"I'm afraid it isn't good for anything," returned Miller, feeling the
distrust that was natural at hearing a price so low. "Let's have another
look at its inside."

No man, probably, ever bought a watch without looking into its works
with an air of great intelligence, though none but a mechanician is any
wiser for his survey. Tom Miller acted on this principle, for the good
looks of the