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account of the doings of the Grand Jury to ask, "Uh—Zed—you know, talkin' about that gal—you astin' me did I want to know her—well, how could I git to know her?"

Mr. Parrum halted amid a decameron of rustic misdemeanours.

"So you'd kinder like to set up to her after all?"

"No, I wouldn't," drawled Abner in irritation. "But I'd luff to know how I could!"

"Easy enough," declared Zed, coming back to the idea with the enthusiasm of a touch of alcohol. "All you got to do is jess walk over an' stan' 'in ten or twelve feet of her; jess keep stan'in' there, don't pay no mortal attention to her, an' purty soon I'll come by an' make you acquainted with her."

Abner nerved himself. "Well, I don't know anything about gittin' acquainted with nobody, but, dad burn my riggin', I'll do anything oncet."

"Well, she kain't eat you alive." observed Mr. Parrum cheerfully, "an' if she does she kain't swaller you whole. All right now, here we go!"

With this cheerful prophecy that Mr. Teeftallow would have to be masticated before being swallowed, Zed took himself off and out of the gate and, after a few moments, lost himself completely in the crowd.

Upon the withdrawal of Zed's moral support Abner's courage waned, but pride forced his legs to move slowly, with a fine imitation of inattention, in the direction of the girl. The thought that he was really about to get to speak to the girl with the corn-silk hair set up a queer tremulousness inside of him. He wondered how in the world Zed would ever bring it about. When he reached the spot where he should stop, his courage quite deserted him and he was tempted to continue walking. He felt uncomfortable from heel to scalp. Finally he did pause with an elaborate pretence of inspecting a mule hitched to the fence. He moved his head this way and that as if he were tremendously curious about the opposite side of the mule, but as if unfortunately his legs had