You don't degrade a' oyster, a
soft shell crab, or a clam with confectionery; why a canvasback duck?
"Now, Chad, serve coffee."
The colonel pushed back his chair, and opened a drawer in a table on
his right, producing three small clay pipes with reed stems and a
buckskin bag of tobacco. This he poured out on a plate, breaking the
coarser grains with the palms of his hands, and filling the pipes with
the greatest care.
Fitz watched him curiously, and when he reached for the third pipe,
said:--
"No, Colonel, none for me; smoke a cigar--got a pocketful."
"Smoke yo' own cigars, will you, and in the presence of a Virginian?
I don't believe you have got a drop of Irish blood left in yo' veins,
or you would take this pipe."
"Too strong for me," remonstrated Fitz.
"Throw that villainous device away, I say, Fitz, and surprise yo'
nostrils with a whiff of this. Virginia tobacco, suh,--raised at
Cartersville,--cured by my own servants. No? Well, you will, Major.
Here, try that; every breath of it is a nosegay," said the colonel,
turning to me.
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