he cand go fer all me. You couldn' pull me aouter Mizzourah with
pothooks these days," declared the big man earnestly. "What's that the
tramp-boy's sayin' naow?"

The tramp-boy was making a trumpet of his hands. "All ready!" he
shouted, with one of his high, musical yodels, "Le's start!"

The lesser activities of stowing away hampers, locking store doors,
wiping children's noses, broadened quickly into a wide concerted
movement. Everybody was picking up his reins. Everybody was clucking to
his horse. Every horse was starting. Everybody was gone. Canaan was
deserted.

A long irregular cavalcade crept out across the country toward Razor
Ridge. And as it went it was constantly augmented at the cross-roads by
farmers from We-all and Big Wheat and Pewee, until waggons and surreys
and buckboards and buggies and horseback riders stretched out endlessly,
the balloons of the children, the red neckties of the young men, the
gaily flowered hats of the girls making the spectacle joyous. Then, too,
everybody was laughing, everybody was glad about something.

When the cavalcade began to defile past Madeira Place, wild cheers rang
out. Samson at the side of the big house, inspanning the Kentucky
blacks, took the demonstration to himself with hysterical joy, bowing
and gesticulating, doubling over and holding his stomach, while he
danced up and down, his white teeth showing, his eyes rolling.

"Hurrah furrum! Hurrah furrum!" came in a great rollicking volume of
sound from the road.

"Thass all ri'. Yesseh! Thanky! Thass all ri'. Yasseh! You bet!" yelled
Samson up by the house.

A girl in a gauzy black gown and a drooping black hat came out on the
front porch of the house and waved to the passing people.

"We'll be along! Yes, we are coming! Yes, we'll hurry!" There were
bright tears in the girl's eyes. A man came out of the house and stood
behind her, his arm on the door post, his face smiling. She turned to
him, the tears in her eyes, the smile on her lips.

"Aren't they pretty splendid?" she cried, a fine enthusiasm on her face
as she watched the people, "Look at them! There's something in them!
There's the best of all America in them! And they will have their chance
now."

For answer the man put his arm about her. "Greatest State in the Union,
this Missouri," he said with tremendous conviction. "Where's Uncle
Bernique?"

"Gone an hour ago."

"Well then, can't we start, too?"

The same tingle of impatience seemed to