'zackly what dese niggers gits a day. Dey can't spen' money nowhars else; an' dey aint got no pockets to tote none."
"That's right, McDonald," the Colonel assented. "Zack's caught the idea. Lyttleton, that hammer and nails, please." The Colonel unwrapped his board and tacked up the official sign:
HOT CAT EATING HOUSE
MEALS AT ALL HOURS
When Zack had modified his smiles, he led Colonel Spottiswoode mysteriously behind a palm trunk: "Cunnel, please suh, don't let Mister Bim think no harm, but he ain't got onderstandin' 'bout niggers same as me an' you. It'd be a heap better ef y'all white gen'lemen stays away f'um dis catfish stan'—stay away entire. You knows how niggers is: dey don't love to hang aroun' whar de white folks kin watch 'em—'specially dese niggers. Mister Bim is been huntin' 'em an' huntin' 'em till dey scatters like partridges ev'y time he shows up." A hundred naked backs, headed for somewhere else, proved the truth of Zack's assertion.
"Sure, Zack, sure; we'll keep away." And the Colonel eased his British friends from that lo-
