way--nothin' particular."

"Haven't you? Well, I think I have. Jeff, I don't want to be put in the
position of pryin' into the private and the personal affairs of other
folks, reguardless of color. I have to do enough of that sort of thing
in my official capacity when I'm settin' in judgment up at the big cote
house. But unless I can get some confidential information frum you I
don't know where else I'm likely to git it, and at the same time I sort
of feel as ef I should try to get hold of it somewheres or other ef it's
humanly possible."

"Yas, suh."

"Now heretofore in this community the two races--white and black--have
got along purty tolerably well together. We managed to put up with your
shortcomings and you managed to put up with ours, which at times may
have been considerable of a strain on both sides. Still we've done it.
But it seems to me here of late there's been a kind of an undercurrent
of discontent stirrin' amongst your people--and no logical reason fur it
either, so fur as I kin see. Yet there it is.

"There wuz that rumpus two-three weeks ago down in Market Square. A
little more and that affair could have growed into a first-class race
riot. And here last Saturday night followed that mix-up out by the Union
Depot when Policeman Gip Futtrell got all carved up and two darkies got
purty extensively shot. And night before last the trouble that occurred
on that Belt Line car out in Hollandville; that looked mighty
threatenin', too, fur a while. And in between all these more serious
things a lot of little unpleasantnesses keep croppin' up--always takin'
the form of friction between whites and blacks.

"One of these here occurrences might be what you'd call an accident and
two of them in rapid succession a coincidence, but it looks to me like
now it's gittin' to be a habit. It's leadin' to bad blood and what's
worse it's leadin' to a lot of spilt blood and our city gittin' a bad
name and all that.

"And I know the respectable black folks in this town don't want that to
happen any more than the respectable white people do.

"Now then, Jeff, whut's at the bottom of all this--I mean on your side
of the color line? Who's stirrin' up old grudges and kindlin' new ones?
I've sort of got my own private suspicions, but I'd like to see ef your
ideas run along with mine. Got any suggestions as to the underlying
causes of this ill feelin' that's sprung up so lately and without any
good reason for it either so fur