“Dat wuz ’bout de time, suh, dat de town boys wanter ku-kluck Hamp, an’ you an’ Marse Tumlin went out an’ ku-klucked dem. Hamp ain’t never forgot it, suh. He’d walk fum here to Atlanty fer you ef ’twould do you any good. He don’t say much, but I know how he feel. I hear ’im calling me now, suh.” “You haven’t told me about Paul Conant,” I suggested. “I’ll tell you, suh, ’fo’ you go.” In half a minute I heard Aunt Minervy Ann quarrelling and laughing at Hamp in the same breath. IV HOW SHE JOINED THE GEORGIA LEGISLATURE The second day of the fair, I saw more of Paul Conant. He insisted on taking charge of me, and, in his buggy, we visited every part of the fair-grounds, which had been laid out on a most liberal scale. When dinner-time came I was glad enough to excuse myself and hurry back to the refreshing shade of Major Perdue’s veranda. There I found Aunt Minervy Ann swinging the baby in a hammock. “I ’low’d maybe you’d git tired an’ come back, suh; an’ so I des let dinner sorter simmer whiles I got dish yer baby ter sleep. I dunner how you all does in Atlanty, but down here we has soon dinner. Dem what wanter kin have two meals a day, but dem what does sho ’nuff work better eat three. Me! I want three, whedder I works er not.” The baby stirred, and Aunt Minervy paused. At that moment a group of men, wearing badges, passed by, evidently officials of the fair going to dinner. They were evidently engaged in a very earnest discussion. “I’m for Conant,” said one, with considerable emphasis. “Oh, so am I,” assented another. “When Jim told me this morning that he was a candidate for the Legislature, I told him flat and plain that I was for Paul Conant.” “That’s right,” remarked a third. “We want a man there with some business sense, and Conant’s the man.” Aunt Minervy Ann laughed. “Ef de Legislatur’ up dar in Atlanty is like it wuz when I b’long’d ter it, dey can’t drag Marse Paul in dar; no, suh! dey can’t drag him in dar.” Amazement must have shown in my face, for Aunt Minervy Ann immediately became solemn. “Ain’t you never hear tell ’bout my j’inin’ de Legislatur’? You may look an’ you may laugh, but dat don’t wipe out de trufe. Dey wuz a time when I jined de Legislatur’ an’ when I b’long’d ter de gang same ez Hamp did. You don’t ’spute but what Hamp b’long’d ter de Legislatur’, suh?” asked Aunt Minervy Ann, anxious to make out the title of her own membership. No, I didn’t dispute Hamp’s credentials. He had been elected and he had served.