en," he
continued. "You merely need to be reminded that ole King Sol'mon is no
ohdinary man. Mo'ovah he has a kine heaht; he nevah spoke a rough wohd
to anybody in this worl', an' he is as proud as Tecumseh of his good
name an' charactah. An', gentlemen," he added, bridling with an air of
mock gallantry and laying a hand on his heart, "if anythin' fu'thah is
required in the way of a puffect encomium, we all know that there isn't
anothah man among us who cuts as wide a swath among the ladies. The'foh,
if you have any appreciation of virtue, any magnanimity of heaht; if you
set a propah valuation upon the descendants of Virginia, that mothah of
Presidents; if you believe in the pure laws of Kentucky as the pioneer
bride of the Union; if you love America an' love the worl'--make me a
gen'rous, high-toned offah foh ole King Sol'mon!"

He ended his peroration amid a shout of laughter and applause, and
feeling satisfied that it was a good time for returning to a more
practical treatment of his subject, proceeded in a sincere tone:--

"He can easily earn from one to two dollahs a day, an' from three to six
hundred a yeah. There's not anothah white man in town capable of doin'
as much work. There's not a niggah ban' in the hemp factories with such
muscles an' such a chest. _Look_ at 'em! An', if you don't b'lieve me,
step fo'ward and _feel_ 'em. How much, then, is bid foh 'im?"

"One dollah!" said the owner of a hemp factory, who had walked forward
and felt the vagrant's arm, laughing, but coloring up also as the eyes
of all were quickly turned upon him. In those days it was not an
unheard-of thing for the muscles of a human being to be thus examined
when being sold into servitude to a new master.

"Thank you!" cried the sheriff, cheerily. "One precinc' heard from! One
dollah! I am offahed one dollah foh ole King Sol'mon. One dollah foh the
king! Make it a half. One dollah an' a half. Make it a half. One
dol-dol-dol-dollah!"

Two medical students, returning from lectures at the old Medical Hall,
now joined the group, and the sheriff explained:

"One dollah is bid foh the vagrant ole King Sol'mon, who is to be sole
into labah foh a twelvemonth. Is there any othah bid? Are you all done?
One dollah, once--"

"Dollah and a half," said one of the students, and remarked half
jestingly under his breath to his companion, "I'll buy him on the chance
of his dying. We'll dissect him."

"Would you own his body if he _should_ die?"