“In coolin' drinks, and clipper ships, The Yankee has the way shown! On land and sea 't is he that whips Old Bull and all creation.” Quackinboss gradually dropped his voice, till at the concluding line the words sank into an undistinguishable murmur; for now, as it were, on the threshold of his own door, he felt all the claim of courtesy to the stranger. Still it was not possible for him to repress the proud delight he felt in the signs of wealth and prosperity around him. “There,” cried he, with enthusiasm, “there ain't a land in the universe- -that's worth calling a land--has n't a flag flying yonder! There's every color of bunting, from Lapland to Shanghai, afloat in them waters, sir; and yet you 'll not have to go back two hundred years, and where you see the smoke risin' from ten thousand human dwellin's there was n't one hearth nor one home! The black pine and the hemlock grew down those grassy slopes where you see them gardens, and the red glare of the Indian's fire shone out where the lighthouse now points to safety and welcome! It ain't a despicable race as has done all that! If that be not the work of a great people, I 'd like to hear what is!” He next pointed out to Layton the various objects of interest as they presented themselves to view, commenting on the very different impressions such a scene of human energy and activity is like to produce than those lands of Southern Europe from which they had lately come. “You 'll never hear _Come si fa?_ here, sir,” said he, proudly. “If a man can't fix a thing aright, he 'll not wring his hands and sit down to cry over it, but he 'll go home to think of it at his meals, and as he lies awake o' nights; and he 'll ask himself again and again, 'If there be a way o' doin' this, why can't _I_ find it out as well as another?'” It was the Colonel's belief that out of the principle of equality sprang an immense amount of that energy which develops itself in inventive ability; and he dilated on this theory for some time, endeavoring to show that the subdivision of ranks in the Old World tended largely to repress the enterprising spirit which leads men into paths previously untrodden. “That you 'll see, sir, when you come to mix with our people. And now, a word of advice to you before you begin.”