Page:Folks from Dixie (1898).pdf/276

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FOLKS FROM DIXIE

me gret pleasuah to he'p you in dis way, an' I'll be jes' as delikit as anybody kin."

"Dat's right; dat's right."

"I won't mention yo' name too much."

"Dat's right."

"I'll jes' hint an' hint an' hint."

"Dat's right. You jes' got it right ezactly, an' you sha'n't lose nothin' by it, I tell you."

The "prosp'ous bachelor" rose in great elation, and shook Mr. Taft's hand vigorously as he departed.

"Miss Marfy, Miss Callena: Miss Callena, Miss Marfy," repeated Mr. Taft, as he stood musing after his visitor had gone.

It may have been zeal in the cause of his good friend, or it may have been some very natural desire for appreciation of his own merits, that prompted Alonzo Taft to dress with such extreme care for his visit to Miss Callena Johnson on the next night. He did explain his haste to make the call by telling himself that if he was going to do anything for Mr. Dunkin he had better be about it. But this anxiety on his protégé's account did not explain why he put on his fawn-coloured waistcoat, which he had never once worn when visit-

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