His was, in fact, the extremest limit of dishabille permissible even
on the hottest of summer afternoons in the most retired of back
yards,--no coat, no vest, no shoes. In one hand he held a crumpled
collar and a high, black silk stock; with the other he grasped the
julep. His hair was tousled, his face shriveled up and pinched by his
heavy nap, his eyes watery and vague. He reminded me of the man one
sometimes meets in the aisle of a sleeping-car when one boards the
train at a way station in the night.
"I hope you have had a refreshin' sleep, Jedge," said the colonel. "My
friend the major here did himself and me the honor of callin' upon
you, but findin' that you were restin', suh, he sought the cool of my
co'teyard until you should awake."
His Honor looked at me over the edge of his tumbler and bowed feebly.
The straw remained glued to his mouth.
"I have been tellin' him, suh, of the extr'o'd'nary boom to-day in
Garden Spots, as some of my young friends call the secu'ities of my
new road, work upon which will be begun next week.
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