Produced by Phil McLaury, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. COLONEL CARTER OF CARTERSVILLE BY F. HOPKINSON SMITH I dedicate this book to the memory of my counselor and my friend,--that most delightful of story-tellers, that most charming of comrades,--my dear old Mother; whose early life was spent near the shade of the Colonel's porch, and whose keen enjoyment of the stories between these covers--stories we have so often laughed over together--is still among my pleasantest recollections. F. H. S. New York, May, 1891. CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "My fire is my friend." I. THE COLONEL'S HOUSE IN BEDFORD PLACE. The Street Entrance. Chad "dishin' the Dinner." "Gentlemen, a true Southern lady." Fitz. II. THE GARDEN SPOT OF VIRGINIA SEEKS AN OUTLET TO THE SEA. "Chad was groaning under a square wicker basket." "The little negroes around the door." III. AN OLD FAMILY SERVANT. "Who's that?" The old Clock Tower. Mister Grocerman. IV. THE ARRIVAL OF A TRUE SOUTHERN LADY. V. AN ALLUSION TO A YELLOW DOG. The Colonel's Office. The Advance Agent. The Nervous Man. VI. CERTAIN IMPORTANT LETTERS. "Like an ebony Statue of Liberty." VII. THE OUTCOME OF A COUNCIL OF WAR. "Down a flight of stone steps." VIII. A HIGH SENSE OF HONOR. "Klutchem looked at him in perfect astonishment." IX. A VISIT OF CEREMONY. The Colonel's Door. X. CHAD IN SEARCH OF A COAL-FIELD. XI. CHAD ON HIS OWN CABIN FLOOR. Polishing the Parlor Floor. Henny. Some Stray Pickaninnies. XII. The ENGLISHMAN'S CHECK. CHAPTER I _The Colonel's House in Bedford Place_ The dinner was at the colonel's--an old-fashioned, partly furnished, two-story house nearly a century old which crouches down behind a larger and more modern dwelling fronting on Bedford Place within a stone's throw of the tall clock tower of Jefferson Market. The street entrance to this curious abode is marked by a swinging wooden gate opening into a narrow tunnel which dodges under the front house. It is an uncanny sort of passageway, mouldy and wet from a long-neglected leak overhead, and is lighted at night by a rusty lantern with dingy glass sides. On sunny days this gruesome tunnel frames from the street a delightful picture of a bit of the yard beyond, with the quaint colonial door and its three steps let down in a welcoming way.