suh. I 'm de same nigger, but yuther folks ain't de same."
The colonel cleared his throat again and pulled off his spectacles, on which a mist had gathered.
"Whose land is this?" he asked presently.
"Stith Ingram's, suh."
"How far is his house?"
"Des cross dat fiel', suh."
"Well, take my hankcher and get me some more of the rocks. We'll take 'em home."
Uncle Shade gathered the specimens of quartz with alacrity. Then the two, Uncle Shade leading the horse, went across the field to Stith Ingram's, and, as they went, Jeff, the colonel's "nigger dog," fawned first on one and then on the other with the utmost impartiality, although he was too weary to cut up many capers.
Mr. Ingram himself, fat and saucy, was sitting on his piazza when the small procession came in sight. He stared at it until he saw who composed it, and then he began to laugh.
"Well, I declare!" he exclaimed. "Well, the great Tecumseh! Why, colonel! Why,
