cry Peace, Peace, but there can be too much peace, sir!"

The General came out in an open letter, probably not so sententiously as
we condense it here, but in substance to this effect: "The king never
dies; citizenship never ceases; a bereaved citizenship has no right to
put on expensive mourning, and linger through a dressy widowhood before
it marries again.... There are men who, when their tree has been cut
down even with the ground, will try to sit in the shade of the stump....
Such men are those who, now that slavery is gone, still cling to a civil
order based on the old plantation system.... They are like a wood-sawyer
robbed of his saw-horse and trying to saw wood in his lap."

All these darts struck and stung, but a little soft mud, such as any
editor could supply, would soon have drawn out the sting--but for an
additional line or two, which gave poisonous and mortal offense.
Blackland and Clearwater replied in a storm of indignation. The Suez
Courier bade him keep out of Dixie on peril of his life. He came,
nevertheless, canvassing for business, and was not molested, but got
very few shipments. What he mainly secured were the flippant pledges of
such as required the largest possible advances indefinitely ahead of the
least possible cotton. Also a few Yankees shipped to him.

* * * * *

"Gen'l Halliday, howdy, sah?" It was dusk of the last day of this tour.
The voice came from a dark place on the sidewalk in Suez. "Don't you
know me, Gen'l? You often used to see me an' Majo' Gyarnet togetheh;
yes, sah. My name's Cornelius Leggett, sah."

"Why, Cornelius, to be sure! I thought I smelt whiskey. What can I do
for you?"

"Gen'l, I has the honor to espress to you, sah, my thanks faw the way
you espress yo'self in yo' letteh on the concerns an' prospec's o' we'
colo'ed people, sah. An likewise, they's thousands would like to espress
the same espressions, sah."

"Oh, that's all right."

"Gen'l, I represents a quantity of ow people what's move' down into
Blackland fum Rosemont and other hill places. They espress they'se'ves
to me as they agent that they like to confawm some prearrangement with
you, sah."

"Are you all on one plantation?"

"Oh, no, sah, they ain't ezac'ly on no plantation. Me? Ob, I been
a-goin' to the Freedman' Bureau school in Pulaski City as they agent.

"Sah? Yass, sah, at they espenses--p-he!

"They? They mos'ly strowed round in the woods in pole cabins an