night I put him in that nigger's care to feed and bed. Well, do you
know, I came home the other night and found that black rascal gone? I
went out to see if the dog was properly bedded, and by Jove, the dog was
gone too. Then I got suspicious. When a nigger and a dog go out together
at night, one draws certain conclusions. I thought I had heard bayin'
way out towards the edge of the town. So I stayed outside and watched.
In about an hour here came Dodson with a possum hung over his shoulder
and my dog trottin' at his heels. He 'd been possum huntin' with my
hound--with the finest hound in the State, sir. Now, I appeal to you
all, gentlemen, if that ain't total depravity, what is total depravity?"

"Not total depravity, Beachfield, I maintain, but the very
irresponsibility of which I have spoken. Why, gentlemen, I foresee the
day when these people themselves shall come to us Southerners of their
own accord and ask to be re-enslaved until such time as they shall be
fit for freedom." Old Horace was nothing if not logical.

"Well, do you think there 's any doubt of the darky's guilt?" asked
Colonel Saunders hesitatingly. He was the only man who had ever thought
of such a possibility. They turned on him as if he had been some
strange, unnatural animal.

"Any doubt!" cried Old Horace.

"Any doubt!" exclaimed Mr. Davis.

"Any doubt?" almost shrieked the rest. "Why, there can be no doubt. Why,
Colonel, what are you thinking of? Tell us who has got the money if he
has n't? Tell us where on earth the nigger got the money he 's been
putting in the bank? Doubt? Why, there is n't the least doubt about it."