A dignified smile was the only reply she made, but in the smile was legible the progress his efforts were making. "John," he said, when she was gone, "that sort of a woman would have made a man of me." "But perhaps that sort of a woman wouldn't have undertaken the job," the Major replied. "Slow, John; but I guess you're right." "I think so. Women may be persistent, but they are generally quick to recognize the impossible." "Easy. But again I guess you're right. I gad, when the teachings of a man's mother leave him unfinished there isn't a great deal of encouragement for the wife. A man looks upon his wife as a part of himself, and a man will lie even to himself, John." "By the way," the Major asked, sitting down, "have you seen that fellow Mayo since he came back?" "Yes; I met him in the road once, but had no words with him." "It would hardly do for me to have words with him," the Major replied; and after a moment of musing he added: "I understand that he's organizing the negroes, and that's the first step toward trouble. The negro has learned to withdraw his faith from the politician, but labor organization is a new thing to him, and he will believe in it until the bubble bursts. That fellow is a shrewd scoundrel and there's no telling what harm he may not project." "Then why not hang him before he has time to launch his trouble? There's always a way to keep the cat from scratching you. Shoot the cat." "No," said the Major, "that won't do. It would put us at a disadvantage." "Yes; but I gad, our disadvantage wouldn't be as great as his. Nobody would be willing to swap places with a man that's hanged." "That's all very well, but we would be the aggressors, and distant eyes would look upon him as a martyr." "Yes, I know; but isn't it better to have one man looked on as a martyr than to have a whole community bathed in blood?" "It might be better for us, but not for our children. A blood-bath may be forgotten, but martyrdom lives in the minds of succeeding generations." "John, there spoke the man of business. You are always looking out for the future. I have agreed with myself to make the most of the present, and so far as the future is concerned, it will have to look out for itself--it always has. Was there ever a future that was not prepared to take care of itself? And is there a past that can be helped? Then let us fasten our minds to the present. Let me see. I wonder if we couldn't train a steer to gore that fellow to death. And I gad, that would do away with all possibility of martyrdom. What do you say?" "Nothing more on that subject; but I can say something concerning another matter, and it will interest you more than the martyrdom of all history." "Then out with it. I demand to be interested. But don't trifle with me, John. Remember that an old man's hide is thin." "I'll not trifle with you; I'll startle you. Sixty years ago, the grandfather of Admiral Semmes made whisky in the Tennessee Mountains."