You know
they were comrades in the horse, as indeed was your own father."
"I know all that, of course; but you must not tell me that the
particular, prim bachelor goes so often to General Dunwoodie's
plantation merely for the sake of talking old soldier with your father.
The last time I was there, that yellow, sharp-nosed housekeeper of your
mother's took me into the pantry, and said that the colonel was no
despisable match, as she called it, and how the sale of his plantation
in Georgia had brought him--oh, Lord! I don't know how much."
"Quite likely," returned the captain, "Katy Haynes is no bad
calculator."
They had stopped during this conversation, in uncertainty whether their
new companion was to be left or not.
The old man listened to each word as it was uttered, with the most
intense interest; but, towards the conclusion of the dialogue, the
earnest attention of his countenance changed to a kind of inward smile.
He shook his head, and, passing his hands over his forehead, seemed to
be thinking of other times. Mason paid but little attention to the
expression of his features, and continued,--
"To me, she is selfishness embodied!"
"Her selfishness does but little harm," returned Dunwoodie. "One of her
greatest difficulties is her aversion to the blacks.
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