The wooden linch-pin of the cart had given way, and the weight of a half-dozen barrels of turpentine had thrown the box off its balance, and rolled the contents about in all directions. The appearance of the proprietor of this nondescript vehicle was in keeping with the establishment. His coat, which was much too short in the waist and much too long in the skirts, was of the common reddish gray linsey, and his nether garments, of the same material, stopped just below the knees. From there downwards, he wore only the covering that is said to have been the fashion in Paradise before Adam took to fig-leaves. His hat had a rim broader than a political platform, and his skin a color half way between that of tobacco-juice and a tallow candle. 'Wal, Cunnul, how dy'ge?' said the stranger, as we stepped from the carriage. 'Very well, Ned; how are you?' 'Purty wal, Cunnul; had the nagur lately, right smart, but'm gittin' 'roun.' 'You're in a bad fix here, I see. Can't Jim help you?' 'Wal, p'raps he moight. Jim, how dy'ge?' 'Sort o' smart, ole feller. But come, stir yerseff; we want ter gwo 'long,' replied Jim, with a manifest lack of courtesy that showed he regarded the white man as altogether too 'trashy' to be treated with much ceremony. With the aid of Jim, a new linch-pin was soon whittled out, the turpentine rolled on to the cart, and the vehicle put in a moving condition. 'Where are you hauling your turpentine?' asked the Colonel. 'To Sam Bell's, at the "Boro'."' 'What will he pay you?' 'Wal, I've four barr'ls of "dip," and tu of "hard." For the hull, I reckon he'll give three dollars a barr'l.' 'By tale?' 'No, for two hun'red and eighty pound.' 'Well, _I'll_ give you two dollars and a half by weight.' 'Can't take it, Cunnel; must get three dollar.' 'What, will you go sixty miles with this team, and waste five or six days, for fifty cents on six barrels--three dollars?' 'Can't 'ford the time, Cunnel, but must git three dollar a barr'l.' 'That fellow is a specimen of our "natives,"' said the Colonel, as we resumed our seats in the carriage. 'You'll see more of them before we get back to the plantation.' 'He puts a young cow to a decidedly original use,' I remarked. 'Oh no, not original here; the ox and the cow with us are both used for labor.' 'You don't mean to say that cows are generally worked here?' 'Of course I do. Our breeds are good for nothing as milkers, and we put them to the next best use. I never have cow's milk on my plantation.' 'You don't! why, I could have sworn it was in my coffee this morning.' 'I wouldn't trust you to buy brandy for me, if your organs of taste are not keener than that. It was goat's milk.' 'Then how do you get your butter?' 'From the North. I've had mine from my New York factors for over two years.'