Fitz, who up to this time had enjoyed every turn in the discussion,
and who had listened to Yancey with a face like a stone god, his knees
shaking with laughter, now threw another bombshell almost as disastrous
as the first.
"Besides, gentlemen, I don't think Mr. Klutchem's remarks were
insulting."
The colonel's head rose out of his collar with a jerk, and the forelegs
of Yancey's chair struck the floor with a thump. Both sprang to their
feet. The judge and I remained quiet. "Not insultin', suh, to call a
gemman a--a--Colonel, what did the scoundrel call you?"
"It was mo' his manner," replied the colonel. "He was familiar, suh,
and presumin' and offensive."
Yancey broke away again, but Fitz sidetracked him with a gesture, and
asked the colonel to repeat Klutchem's exact words.
The colonel gazed at the ceiling a moment, and replied:--
"Mr. Klutchem said that, outside of peanuts and sweet potatoes, all
my road would git for freight would be niggers and razor-back hogs."
"Mr. Klutchem was right, Colonel," said Fitz.
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