Prev | Current Page 120 | Next

Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 1838-1915

"Colonel Carter of Cartersville"

"
The colonel, anxious to place the exact situation before Major Yancey
so that he might go back fully assured that everything that a Carter
could do had been done, read the copy of the challenge, gave the details
of Fitz's efforts to find Klutchem, the repeated visits to his office,
and finally the call at his apartments.
The major listened attentively, consulted aside with the judge, and
then in an authoritative tone, made the more impressive by the decided
way with which he hitched up his trousers, said:--
"You have done all that a high-toned Southern gemman could do, Colonel.
Yo' honor, suh, is without a stain."
In which opinion he was sustained by Kerfoot, who proved to be a
ponderous sort of old-fashioned county judge, and who accentuated his
decision by bringing down his cane with a bang.
While all this was going on in the private office under cover of
profound secrecy, another sort of consultation of a much more public
character was being held in the office outside.
A very bright young man--one of the clerks--held in his hand a large
envelope, bearing on one end the printed address of the firm whose
private office the colonel was at that moment occupying as a council
chamber.


Pages:
108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132