noticed that he hardly seemed to see us."

"Yes, sir," Mr. Bradbury corroborated, with an
attempt at an amused laugh. "I noticed it, too.
Of course a man with all his cares and interests
must git absent-minded now and then."

"Of course he does," said the colonel. "A
man with all his responsibilities--"

"Yes, that's so," came a chorus of the brethren,
finding comfort and reassurance as their voices and
spirits began to recover from the blight.

"There's a party at the Judge's to-night," said
Mr. Bradbury--"kind of a ball Mamie Pike's givin'
for the young folks. Quite a doin's, I hear."

"That's another thing that's ruining Canaan,"
Mr. Arp declared, morosely. "These entertainments
they have nowadays. Spend all the money
out of town--band from Indianapolis, chicken
salad and darkey waiters from Chicago! And
what I want to know is, What's this town goin' to
do about the nigger question?"

"What about it?" asked Mr. Davey, belligerently.

"What about it?" Mr. Arp mocked, fiercely.
"You better say, `What about it?' "