Sellers reached out and touched a bell-button in the wall; set his eye upon the rear door and waited; touched it again and waited; and just as Hawkins was remarking admiringly that the Colonel was the most progressive and most alert man he had ever seen, in the matter of impressing into his service every modern convenience the moment it was invented, and always keeping breast to breast with the drum major in the great work of material civilization, he forsook the button (which hadn’t any wire attached to it,) rang a vast dinner bell which stood on the table, and remarked that he had tried that new-fangled dry battery, now, to his entire satisfaction, and had got enough of it; and added: “Nothing would do Graham Bell but I must try it; said the mere _fact_ of my trying it would secure public confidence, and get it a chance to show what it could do. I _told_ him that in theory a dry battery was just a curled darling and no mistake, but when it come to _practice_, sho!—and here’s the result. Was I right? What should _you_ say, Washington Hawkins? You’ve seen me try that button twice. Was I right?—that’s the idea. Did I know what I was talking about, or didn’t I?” “Well, you know how I feel about you, Colonel Sellers, and always have felt. It seems to me that you always know everything about _every_thing. If that man had known you as I know you he would have taken your judgment at the start, and dropped his dry battery where it was.” “Did you ring, Marse Sellers?” “No, Marse Sellers didn’t.” “Den it was you, Marse Washington. I’s heah, suh.” “No, it wasn’t Marse Washington, either.” “De good lan’! who did ring her, den?” “Lord Rossmore rang it!” The old negro flung up his hands and exclaimed: “Blame my skin if I hain’t gone en forgit dat name agin! Come heah, Jinny—run heah, honey.” Jinny arrived. “You take dish-yer order de lord gwine to give you I’s gwine down suller and study dat name tell I git it.” “I take de order! Who’s yo’ nigger las’ year? De bell rung for _you_.” “Dat don’t make no diffunce. When a bell ring for anybody, en old marster tell me to—” “Clear out, and settle it in the kitchen!” The noise of the quarreling presently sank to a murmur in the distance, and the earl added: “That’s a trouble with old house servants that were your slaves once and have been your personal friends always.” “Yes, and members of the family.” “Members of the family is just what they become—_the_ members of the family, in fact. And sometimes master and mistress of the household. These two are mighty good and loving and faithful and honest, but hang it, they do just about as they please, they chip into a conversation whenever they want to, and the plain fact is, they ought to be killed.” It was a random remark, but it gave him an idea—however, nothing could happen without that result. “What I wanted, Hawkins, was to send for the family and break the news to them.”