cent curls of
the young hunter were beside me; and it was no use taking the field
against such a rival. I was not jealous of him, however, nor he of me.
On the contrary, of all the men present, he appeared most inclined to be
courteous to me--as was evinced by his once or twice pushing within my
reach those delicate dishes, distributed at _very_ long distances over
the table. I felt an incipient friendship for this young man, which he
appeared to reciprocate. He saw that I was a stranger; and
notwithstanding the pretentious fashion of my dress, perhaps he noticed
my well-worn coat, and conjectured that I might be as poor and
friendless as himself. If it was to this conjecture I was indebted for
his sympathies, his instincts were not far astray.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

COLONEL KIPP.

As soon as I had swallowed supper, I hastened to place myself _en
rapport_ with the landlord of the hostelry--whose name I had ascertained
to be "Kipp," or "_Colonel_ Kipp," as his guests called him. Though I
had no intention of proceeding farther that night, I was desirous of
obtaining some information, about the whereabout of my new estate, with
such other facts in relation to it, as might be collected in Swampville.
The landlord would be the most likely person to give me the desired
intelligence. This distinguished individual I encountered soon after in
the verandah--seated upon a raw-hide rocking-chair, with his feet
elevated some six inches above the level of his nose, and resting across
the balustrade of the railing--beyond which his huge horse-skin boots
protruded a full half yard into the street. But that I had been already
made aware of the fact, I should have had some difficulty in
reconciling the portentous title of "colonel" with the exceedingly
unmilitary-looking personage before me--a tall lopsided tobacco-chewer,
who, at short intervals, of about half a minute each, projected the
juice in copious squirts into the street, sending it clean over the toes
of his boots!

When I first set eyes upon the colonel, he was in the centre of a circle
of tooth-pickers, who had just issued from the supper-room. These were
falling off one by one; and, noticing their defection, I waited for an
opportunity to speak to the colonel alone. This, after a short time,
offered itself.

The dignified gentleman took not the slightest notice of me as I
approached; nor until I had got so near, as to leave no doubt upon his
mind that a conver