ady."

"Why didn't he want to talk to the black cat, Uncle Peter?"

"Why didn' he wan' ter talk ter de black cat? Whoever heared er sich a
queshtun! He didn' wan' ter talk wid no black cat, 'ca'se he wuz
skeered. Black cats brings 'nuff bad luck w'en dey doan' talk, let
'lone w'en dey does."

"I should like," said Phil, reflectively, "to talk to a black cat. I
think it would be great fun."

"Keep away f'm 'em, chile, keep away f'm 'em. Dey is some things too
deep fer little boys ter projec' wid, an' black cats is one of 'em."

They moved down the stream and were soon having better luck.

"Uncle Peter," said Phil, while they were on their way home, "there
couldn't be any ha'nts at all in the graveyard where my grandfather is
buried, could there? Graciella read a lot of the tombstones to me one
day, and they all said that all the people were good, and were resting
in peace, and had gone to heaven. Tombstones always tell the truth,
don't they, Uncle Peter?"

"Happen so, honey, happen so! De French tombstones does; an' as ter de
res', I ain' gwine to 'spute 'em, nohow, fer ef I did, de folks under
'em mought come back an' ha'nt me, jes' fer spite."

_Seventeen_

By considerable effort, and a moderate outlay, the colonel at length
secured a majority of interest in the Eureka mill site and made
application to the State, through Caxton, for the redemption of the
title. The opposition had either ceased or had proved ineffective.
There would be some little further delay, but the outcome seemed
practically certain, and the colonel did not wait longer to set in
motion his plans for the benefit of Clarendon.

"I'm told that Fetters says he'll get the mill anyway," said Caxton,
"and make more money buying it under foreclosure than by building a
new one. He's ready to lend on it now."

"Oh, damn Fetters!" exclaimed the colonel, elated with his victory. He
had never been a profane man, but strong language came so easy in
Clarendon that one dropped into it unconsciously. "The mill will be
running on full time when Fetters has been put out of business. We've
won our first fight, and I've never really seen the fellow yet."

As soon as the title was reasonably secure, the colonel began his
preparations for building the cotton mill. The first step was to send
for a New England architect who made a specialty of mills, to come
down and look the site over, and make plans for the dam, the mill
buildings and a number of m