FOLKS FROM DIXIE
now met his eye, a doubt arose in his mind. He picked up his bag with a sigh, and approached a man who had been standing apart from the rest of the loungers and regarding him with indolent intentness.
"Could you direct me to the house of Stephen Gray?" asked the minister.
The interrogated took time to change his position from left foot to right and to shift his quid, before he drawled forth, "I reckon you 's de new Mefdis preachah, huh?"
"Yes," replied Howard, in the most conciliatory tone he could command, "and I hope I find in you one of my flock."
"No, suh, I 's a Babtist myse'f. I wa'n't raised up no place erroun' Mt. Hope; I'm nachelly fom way up in Adams County. Dey jes' sont me down hyeah to fin' you an' to tek you up to Steve's. Steve, he's workin' to-day an' could n't come down."
He laid particular stress upon the "to-day," as if Steve's spell of activity were not an everyday occurrence.
"Is it far from here?" asked Dokesbury.
"'T ain't mo' 'n a mile an' a ha'f by de shawt cut."
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