It seemed such an act of
disinterested generosity thus to anticipate wants we had never
thought of. I was regularly taken in.
"My good girl," I began, "this is really very kind - but - "
"Now, don't go to call me 'gall' - and pass off your English airs
on us. We are GENUINE Yankees, and think ourselves as good - yes,
a great deal better than you. I am a young lady."
"Indeed!" said I, striving to repress my astonishment. "I am a
stranger in the country, and my acquaintance with Canadian ladies
and gentlemen is very small. I did not mean to offend you by using
the term girl; I was going to assure you that we had no need of the
decanter. We have bottles of our own - and we don't drink whiskey."
"How! Not drink whiskey? Why, you don't say! How ignorant you must
be! may be they have no whiskey in the old country?"
"Yes, we have; but it is not like the Canadian whiskey. But, pray
take the decanter home again - I am afraid that it will get broken
in this confusion."
"No, no; father told me to leave it - and there it is;" and she
planted it resolutely down on the trunk. "You will find a use for
it till you have unpacked your own."
Seeing that she was determined to leave the bottle, I said no more
about it, but asked her to tell me where the well was to be found.
