ngeable, steeped in poverty of the most desolate description, and
living the narrowest lives possible in this great Republic. They had
attracted the attention of the Rev. Arthur Hill, an Episcopalian
minister, who conceived an idea that the squalid settlement near Azalia
afforded a fine field for missionary labor. Mr. Hill established himself
in Azalia, built and furnished a little church in the settlement, and
entered on a career of the most earnest and persevering charity. To all
appearances his labor was thrown away; but he was possessed by both
faith and hope, and never allowed himself to be disheartened. All his
time, as well as the modest fortune left him by his wife who was dead,
was devoted to the work of improving and elevating the Tackies; and he
never permitted himself to doubt for an instant that reasonable success
was crowning his efforts. He was gentle, patient, and somewhat finical.

This was the neighborhood toward which Miss Eustis and her aunt had
journeyed. Fortunately for these ladies, Major Haley, the genial
tavern-keeper, had a habit of sending a hack to meet every train that
stopped at Little Azalia. It was not a profitable habit in the long run;
but Major Haley thought little of the profits, so long as he was
conscious that the casual traveler had abundant reason to be grateful to
him. Major Haley himself was a native of Kentucky; but his wife was a
Georgian, inheriting her thrift and her economy from a generation that
knew more about the hand-loom, the spinning-wheel, and the cotton-cards,
than it did about the piano. She admired her husband, who was a large,
fine-looking man, with jocular tendencies; but she disposed of his
opinions without ceremony when they came in conflict with her own. Under
these circumstances it was natural that she should have charge of the
tavern and all that appertained thereto.

General Garwood, riding by from Little Azalia, whither his saddle-horse
had been sent to meet him, had informed the major that two ladies from
the North were coming in the hack, and begged him to make them as
comfortable as possible. This information Major Haley dutifully carried
to his wife.

"Good Lord!" exclaimed Mrs. Haley, "what do you reckon they want here?"

"I've been a-studyin'," said her husband thoughtfully. "The gener'l says
they're comin' fer their health."

"Well, it's a mighty fur cry for health," said Mrs. Haley emphatically.
"I've seen some monst'ous sick people around her