spectacles, pushed open the door, and peered in good-humoredly.

The colonel sprang forward and seized him by both shoulders.

"What the devil do you mean, Fitz, by comin' ten minutes late? Don't
you know, suh, that the burnin' of a canvasback is a crime?

"Stuck in the snow? Well, I'll forgive you this once, but Chad won't.
Give me yo' coat--bless me! it is as wet as a setter dog. Now put yo'
belated carcass into this chair which I have been warmin' for you,
right next to my dearest old friend, the Major. Major, Fitz!--Fitz,
the Major! Take hold of each other. Does my heart good to get you both
together. Have you brought a copy of the prospectus of our railroad?
You know I want the Major in with us on the groun' flo'. But after
dinner--not a word befo'."

This railroad was the colonel's only hope for the impoverished acres
of Carter Hall, but lately saved from foreclosure by the generosity
of his aunt, Miss Nancy Carter, who had redeemed it with almost all
her savings, the house and half of the outlying lands being, thereupon,
deeded to her. The other half reverted to the colonel.

I explained to Fitz immediately after his hearty greeting that I was
a humble landscape painter, and not a major at all, having not the
remotest connection with any military organization whatever; but that
the colonel always insisted upon surrounding himself with a staff, and
that my promotion was in conformity with this habit.

The colonel laughed, seized the poker, and rapped three times on the
floor. A voice from the kitchen rumbled up:--