poet's heart never grows old. You understand."

The school-master bowed majestically.

"My mother, Mr. Pettigrew, can never love where she can't idealize, nor
marry where she can't love; she's too true a woman for that. I expect
you to consider this talk confidential, of course. Now, I don't know,
sir, that she could ever idealize you, but against the bare possibility
that she might, I must ask you not to call again. Hm! That's all, sir."

Mr. Pettigrew rose up ashen and as mad as an adder. His hair puffed out,
his eyes glistened. John rose more leisurely, stepped to the hearth,
picked up a piece of box stuff and knocked a nail out of one end.

"I'll only add this, sir: If you don't like the terms, you can have
whatever satisfaction you want. But I remember"--he produced a large
spring-back dirk-knife, sprung it open and began curling off long
parings from the pine stick--"that in college, when any one of us vexed
you, you took your spite out on us, and generally on me, in words.
That's all right. We were boys and couldn't hold malice." A shaving fell
upon Mr. Pettigrew's shoulder and stayed there. "But once or twice your
venomous contempt came near including my father's name. Still that's
past, let it go. But now, if you do take your spite out in words be
careful to let them be entirely foreign to the real subject, and be dead
sure not to involve any name but mine. Or else don't begin till you've
packed your trunk and bought your railroad ticket; and you'd better have
a transatlantic steamer ticket, too."

Mr. Pettigrew had drawn near the door. With his hand on it he hissed,
"You'll find this is not the last of this, sir."

"I reckon it is," drawled John, with his eyes on his whittling. As the
door opened and shut he put away his knife, and was taking his hat when
his eye fell upon Cornelius's letter. He opened and read it.

The writing was Leggett's, but between the lines could be caught a
whisper that was plainly not the mulatto's.

He was ready, he wrote, "to interjuce an' suppote that bill to create
the Three Counties Colonization Company, Limited--which I has fo shawten
its name an takened out the tucks. The sed company will buy yo whole
Immense Track, paying for the same one third 1/3 its own stock--another
one third 1/3 to be subscribened by private parties--an the res to be
takened by the three counties and paid for in Cash to the sed Company
Limited--which the sed cash to be raised by a special tax to b