"The poor things!"
"That's it. Though I betray them I pity them. Democracy; slowly and
surely. As prickly with faults as a cactus pear; but every year there
are less prickles. We don't stand still or retrogress; we keep going on
and up. Take this town. Think of It to-day and compare it with the town
your father knew. There's the bell. I imagine that will be Harrison. If
we can move this chap will you go to a hotel for the night?"
"I'm going to stay here, Cutty. That's final."
Cutty sighed.