He had the air of being in the world itself, but a transient, a cheerful and observant explorer finding entertainment in the manners and customs of a curious tribe, its foibles, conceits, and quaint standards of value--since the most of them curiously adhered to one spot even though the round earth invited them to wander.
Sometimes Dave lingered in Newbern--to the benefit of the _Weekly Advance_--for as long as three months.

Sometimes he declared he would stay but a day and stayed long; sometimes he declared he would stay a long time and stayed but a day.

He was a creature happily pliant to the rule of all his whims.

He never bothered to know why he dropped into Newbern, nor bothered to know why he left.

On some morning like other mornings, without plan, he would know he was going and go, stirred by some vagrant longing for a strange city--and it was so easy to go.