ggy, en he look like he des step right out'n a ban'-box; en ef
ever I wuz glad ter see anybody, I wuz glad ter see dat man. Marster wuz
glad; en dis time, suh, Miss Lady wuz glad, en she show it right plain;
but Mistiss, she still sniff de a'r en hol' her head high. T'wa'n't
long, suh, 'fo' we all knowd dat Marse Fess wuz gwine marry Miss Lady.
I ain' know how dee fix it, kaze Mistiss never is come right out en say
she agreeable 'bout it, but Miss Lady wuz a Bledsoe too, en a Tomlinson
ter boot, en I ain' never see nobody w'at impatient nuff fer ter stan'
out 'g'inst dat gal. It ain' all happen, suh, quick ez I tell it, but it
happen; en but fer dat, I dunno w'at in de name er goodness would er
'come er dis place."

A few hours later, as I sat with Trunion on the veranda of his house, he
verified Aunt Fountain's story, but not until after he was convinced
that I was familiar with the history of the family. There was much in
that history he could afford to be proud of, modern though he was. A man
who believes in the results of blood in cattle is not likely to ignore
the possibility of similar results in human beings; and I think he
regarded the matter in some such practical light. He was a man, it
seemed, who was disposed to look lightly on trouble, once it was over
with; and I found he was not so much impressed with his struggle against
the positive scorn and contempt of Mrs. Tomlinson--a struggle that was
infinitely more important and protracted than Aunt Fountain had
described it to be--as he was with his conflict with Bermuda grass. He
told me laughingly of some of his troubles with his hot-headed neighbors
in the early days after the war, but nothing of this sort seemed to be
as important as his difficulties with Bermuda grass. Here the practical
and progressive man showed himself; for I have a very vivid recollection
of the desperate attempts of the farmers of that region to uproot and
destroy this particular variety.

As for Trunion, he conquered it by cultivating it for the benefit of
himself and his neighbors; and I suspect that this is the way he
conquered his other opponents. It was a great victory over the grass, at
any rate. I walked with him over the place, and the picture of it all is
still framed in my mind--the wonderful hedges of Cherokee roses, and the
fragrant and fertile stretches of green Bermuda through which beautiful
fawn-colored cattle were leisurely making their way. He had a theory
that this