A Young Man in a Raincoat

The young man turned with vicious quickness, and for the first time
Claire heard pidgin German--German as it is spoken between Americans who
have never learned it, and Germans who have forgotten it: "Schon sex hundred times Ich höre all about the way you been doing
autos, Zolzac, you verfluchter Schweinhund, and I'll set the sheriff
on you----"

"Dot ain'd true, maybe einmal die Woche kommt somebody and Ich muss
die Arbeit immer lassen und in die Regen ausgehen, und seh' mal how
die boots sint mit mud covered, two dollars it don't pay for die
boots----"

"Now that's enough-plenty out of you, seien die boots verdammt, and
mach' dass du fort gehst--muddy boots, hell!--put mal ein egg in
die boots and beat it, verleicht maybe I'll by golly arrest you
myself, weiss du! I'm a special deputy sheriff."

The young man stood stockily. He seemed to swell as his somewhat muddy
hand was shaken directly at, under, and about the circumference of,
Adolph Zolzac's hairy nose. The farmer was stronger, but he retreated.
He took up the reins. He whined, "Don't I get nothing I break de
harness?"

"Sure. You get ten--years! And you get out!"

From thirty yards up the road, Zolzac flung back, "You t'ink you're
pretty damn smart!" That was his last serious reprisal.

Clumsily, as one not used to it, the young man lifted his cap to Claire,
showing straight, wiry, rope-colored hair, brushed straight back from a
rather fine forehead. "Gee, I was sorry to have to swear and holler like
that, but it's all Adolph understands. Please don't think there's many
of the folks around here like him. They say he's the meanest man in the
county."