It's a coon's age since I was at Sacramento and
saw anybody or anything." She stopped and, instinctively detecting some
vague reticence in the man before her, said, still laughing, "You're Mr.
Hemmingway, ain't you?"
Hemmingway took off his hat quickly, with a slight start at his
forgetfulness. "I beg your pardon; yes, certainly."
"Aunty Stanton thought it was 'Hummingbird,'" said the girl, with a
laugh, "but I reckoned not. I'm Jinney Jules, you know; folks call me
'J. J.' It wouldn't do for a Hummingbird and a Jay Jay to be in the same
camp, would it? It would be just TOO funny!"
Hemmingway did not find the humor of this so singularly exhaustive, but
he was already beginning to be ashamed of his attitude towards her. "I'm
very sorry to be giving you all this trouble by my intrusion, for I was
quite willing to stay at the store yonder. Indeed," he added, with
a burst of frankness quite as sincere as her own, "if you think your
father will not be offended, I would gladly go there now.
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