. Thet's good No. 2, what brings now two dollars an' two bits in
New-York, an' pays me 'bout a dollar a barr'l; it's got eout o' second
yar dip, an' as it comes eout uv th' still, is run through thet ar
strainer,' pointing to a coarse wire-sieve that lay near. 'Th' common
rosum, thet th' still's runnin' on now, is made eout on th' yaller
dip--thet's th' kine o' turpentine thet runs from th' tree arter two
yar's tappin'--we call it yallar dip 'case it's allers dark. We doan't
strain common 'tall, an' it's full uv chips and dirt. It's low now, but
ef it shud ever git up, I'd tap thet ar' heap, barr'l it up, run a
little fresh-stilled inter it, an' 'twould be a'most so good as new.'

'Then it is injured by being in the ground.'

'Not much; it's jest as good fur ev'ry thing but makin' ile, puttin' it
in the 'arth sort o' takes th' sap eout on it, an' th' sap's th' ile.
Natur' sucks thet eout, I s'pose, ter make th' trees grow--I expec' my
bones 'ill fodder 'em one on these days.'

'Rosin is put to very many uses.'

'Yes, but common's used mainly for ile and soap; th' Yankees put it
inter hard yaller soap, 'case it makes it weigh, an' yer folks is up ter
them doin's, and he looked at me and gave a sly laugh. I could not deny
the 'hard' impeachment, and said nothing. Taking a specimen of very
clear light-colored rosin from a shelf in the still-house, I asked him
what that quality was worth.

'Thet ar brought seven dollars for two hundred an' eighty pounds in
York, airly this yar. It's th' very best No. 1; an' it's hard ter make,
'case ef th' still gets overhet it turns it a tinge. Thet sort is run
through two sieves, the coarse 'un, an' thet ar,' pointing to another
wire strainer, the meshes of which were as fine as those of the
flour-sieve used by housewives.

'Do your seven field-hands produce enough 'dip' to keep your still a
running?'

'No, I buys th' rest uv my naboors who han't no stills; an' th' Cunnel's
down on me 'case I pay 'em more'n he will; but I go on Franklin's
princerpel: 'A nimble sixpence's better'n a slow shillin'. A great ole
feller thet, warn't he? I've got his life.'

'And you practice on his precepts; that's the reason you've got on so
well.'

'Yas, thet an' hard knocks. The best o' doctrins arn't wuth a d----n ef
ye doan't work on 'em.'

'That is true.'

We shortly afterward went to the house, and there I passed several hours
in conversation with my new friend and his excellent wife. The