Colonel Carter of Cartersville

s House in B

arly a century old which crouches down behind a larger and more modern dwelling fronti

tunnel which dodges under the front house. It is an uncanny sort of passageway, mouldy and wet fro

lightful picture of a bit of the yard beyond, with the quaint

rts but with many of the luxuries of a more pretentious home. In this he was assisted by his negro servant Chad,-an abbreviation of Nebuchadnezzar,-who was chambermaid, cook, butler, body-servant, and boots, an

d my way in obedience to one of th

DFORD PLA

scheme will take like the measles-

RT

er suggested by his unbounded enthusiasm over his new railroad scheme, and the latter by such requests as these: "Will you lend me half a dozen napkins-mine are all in the wash, a

ustr

us in return, and have emptied his house, and even his pocketbook, in my behalf, had that latter receptacle been capable of further effort. Should this have been temporarily overstrained,-

h. Command me," was h

passage, and crossed the small yard choked with snow at the precise minu

was opene

uh; de colonel's

sed to call his "dressing-room," his cheery voice announcing that fact over the balusters as soon

m out the rear one there had opened a smaller room answering to the space occupied by the narrow hall and staircase in front. All the interior partitions an

ay to the low ceiling badly smoked and blackened by time, and had built two fireplaces-an open wood fire which laughed at me from behind my own andirons, and

h covers for three on a snow-white cloth resplendent in old India blue, while at each end shone a pair of silver coasters,

imate. Add a pair of silver candelabra with candles,-the colonel despised gas,-dark red curtains drawn close, three or four easy chairs, a few etchings and sketches loaned from my studio, together with

lonel calling dow

teen, Chad. You ruined

nt he had me

should have been here befo' this. You don't know Fitz? Most extraord'nary man; a great mind, suh; literature, science, politics, finance, everything at his fingers' ends. He has been of the greatest service to me since I have been in New York in this r

warming a big chair for his guests, punching the fire, brushing the sparks from the pile

s collar behind. His eyes are deep-set and twinkling; nose prominent; cheeks slightly sunken; brow wide and high; and chin and jaw stron

eat cities his voice is soft and low, and

s, a turn-down collar, a shirt of many plaits which is under-starched and over-wrinkled but always clea

costume. So many changes are constantly made in its general make-up that you never quite beli

ollar, his gaunt throat and the stray end of a black cravat. When he is invited to dinner he buttons it lower down, revealing as well a bit of his plaited s

lapped about the colonel's thin legs was only possible in a brand-new coat having all the spring and lightness of youth in its seams. I wa

essary article which had consumed the five minutes passed in his dressing-room, slightly lengthened by the ti

good birth, fair education, and limited knowledge of the world and of men, proud of his ancestry, proud of his State, and proud of himself; believing in states' rights, slavery,

t always a patchwork. So he chafes continually under what he believes to be the tyranny and despotism of an undefined autocracy, which, in

card it bears this u

Carter, of Carter Hall,

," simply because it would add not

*

the next instant a stout, thick-set, round-faced man of forty, with merry, bead-like eye

orward and seized hi

n' ten minutes late? Don't you know, suh,

ir which I have been warmin' for you, right next to my dearest old friend, the Major. Major, Fitz!-Fitz, the Major! Take hold of each other. Does my heart good to get y

eclosure by the generosity of his aunt, Miss Nancy Carter, who had redeemed it with almost all her savings, th

jor at all, having not the remotest connection with any military organization whatever; but that the colonel

, and rapped three times on the floor

in',

tness as he pushed the rear door open with his foot,-both hands being occupied

ustr

nt in white jacket and apron. Then he ranged himself behind the colo

-you are not thawed out yet. One minute, gentlemen,

a slight pause, and then the colonel lifted the cover of t

boiled eggs fringing the dish, ovaled by a hedge of parsley and supplemented by a pyramid of potatoe

the d

ace when Chad, with a bow like a foldin

urn or two across the hearth. Major, dip a bit of celery in the salt and follow it with a mou'ful of claret. It will p

urn, Chad,-I wouldn't take a thousand dollars for you," repl

im an inherited instinct; one of the necessary preliminaries to all the important duties i

elery within fo'ty miles of Caarter Hall. My dear old aunt Nancy sends me a pair every week, bless her sweet soul! Fill yo' glasses and let

d, the re

ustr

said Fitz, with an

in the early mornin' that you are tastin', suh,-not molasses candy. You Nawtherners don't really treat a canvasback with any degree of respect. You ought never to come into his pr

it on venison

a propriety and justice in his endin' his days smothered in sweets; but the wild duck, suh, is bawn of the salt ice, braves the storm, an

ad, serv

mall clay pipes with reed stems and a buckskin bag of tobacco. This he poured out on a plate, bre

ly, and when he reached

for me; smoke a cig

a Virginian? I don't believe you have got a drop of Iris

or me," remon

is. Virginia tobacco, suh,-raised at Cartersville,-cured by my own servants. No? Well, you wi

o pays no tax. With a debt like ours it is the duty of every good citizen t

e colonel, and he laid

squ

shman and becomin' one of these money-makin' Yankees? Haven't we suffe'd enough-robbed of our property,

ustr

ocate any particular wholesale robbery, but

age which for mo' than a hundred years has enjoyed the privileges of free

with Cartersville?" asked

ago. A Yankee jedge jurisdictin' our laws, a Yankee sheriff enfo'cin' 'em

right, Colonel, and represe

; the Administration succeeding the war treated us s

and began pacing the floor, his

rn people suffe'd immediately after the fall of the Confeder

he Revolutionary War. Now, suh, let me tell you right here that the Talcott blood is as blue as the sky, and that every gentleman bearin' the name is known all over the county as a man whose honor is dearer to him than his life, and whose word is as good as his bond. Well, suh, on this mornin' Colonel Talcott left his plantation in charge of his overseer,-he w

that town. No sooner had this man taken possession than he began to be exclusive, suh, and to put on airs. The vehy fust air he put on was to build a fence in his office and compel our people to transact their business through a hole. This in itself was vehy gallin', suh, for up to that time the mail had always been dumped out on the table in the stage office and every gentle

y, the raisin' of a small loan upon his share of the crop. Not the crop that was planted, suh, but the crop that he expected to plant. "Colonel Talcott approached the ho

shment, suh, h

; but then he remembered that he was a Talcott and could not demean himself, and drawin' himself up again with that manner which was grace itself he requested the loan of a three-cent postage stamp until he should communicate with his fa

story. If it had not been for Major Tom Yancey, Jedg

k in his cha

d not hang t

rfoot vehy properly charged the coroner's jury that it was a matter of s

the sideboard, and produced a black bottle

nerved me. Allow me to share with you a thimbleful." Fitz drained his glass, ca