But as you mention in an offhand way that Cedar Bluff has a modern fire station now, or that Tulsanooga is going to have a Great White Way of its own, there are eyes that light up with a wistful light.  And when you state casually, that Polkdale is planning a civic center with the new county jail at one end and the Carnegie Library at the other, lips begin to quiver under a weight of sentimental emotion.  And a month or so later when you take the ship which is to bear you home, you find a large delegation of these native sons of Polkdale and Tulsanooga on board, too.

At least we found them on the ship we took.  We took her at Naples —­a big comfortable German ship with a fine German crew and a double force of talented German cooks working overtime in the galley and pantry—­and so came back by the Mediterranean route, which is a most satisfying route, especially if the sea be smooth and the weather good, and the steerage passengers picturesque and light-hearted.  Moreover the coast of Northern Africa, lying along the southern horizon as one nears Gibraltar, is one of the few sights of a European trip that are not disappointing.  For, in fact, it proves to be the same color that it is in the geographies —­pale yellow.  It is very unusual to find a country making an earnest effort to correspond to its own map, and I think Northern Africa deserves honorable mention in the dispatches on this account.

Chapter XXV

Be it Ever so Humble

Homeward-bound, a chastened spirit pervades the traveler.  He is not quite so much inclined to be gay and blithesome as he was going.  The holiday is over; the sightseeing is done; the letter of credit is worn and emaciated.  He has been broadened by travel but his pocketbook has been flattened.  He wouldn’t take anything for this trip, and as he feels at the present moment he wouldn’t take it again for anything.

It is a time for casting up and readjusting.  Likewise it is a good time for going over, in the calm, reflective light of second judgment, the purchases he has made for personal use and gift-making purposes.  These things seemed highly attractive when he bought them, and when displayed against a background of home surroundings will, no doubt, be equally impressive; but just now they appear as rather a sad collection of junk.  His English box coat doesn’t fit him any better than any other box would.

His French waistcoats develop an unexpected garishness on being displayed away from their native habitat and the writing outfit which he picked up in Vienna turns out to be faulty and treacherous and inkily tearful.  How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a fountain pen—­that weeps!  And why, when a fountain pen makes up its mind to cry a spell, does it crawl clear across a steamer trunk and bury its sobbing countenance in the bosom of a dress shirt?