He wants to smooth over the defects, he wants to lay the dust that every passerby kicks up, he tries to smear over the truth regarding conditions with messy and ill-smelling oil.

Above everything, he doesn't want the road dug up and rebuilt--says it will interfere with traffic, injure business, and even set people to talking about changing the route entirely! Oh, haven't I seen it in religion, where they are doing their best to oil up roads that are entirely worn out--and as for politics, is not the cry of the party-roadster and the harmony-oilers abroad in the land ?" In the excited interest with which this idea now bore me along I had entirely forgotten the existence of my companion, and as I now glanced at him I saw him standing with a curious look of astonishment and suspicion on his face.

I saw that I had unintentionally gone a little too far.

So I said abruptly: "Partner, let's get a drink.

I'm thirsty." He followed me, I thought a bit reluctantly, to a little brook not far up the road where we had been once before.