will want to
drink from that bowl."

I begged his pardon hastily, and said that I supposed he was the
proprietor.

"I reckon that I must give over my ownership, while the army hangs
around here," said the man; "but I must endure what I can't cure."

Here he smiled grimly, and reached down the pewter cup. Then he bent
over a fresh bowl, and dexterously dipped the cup full of milk, without
seeming to break the cream.

"Drink that," he said; "and if there's any better milk in these parts, I
want to know the man."

He looked at me critically, while I emptied the vessel, and seemed to
enjoy my heartiness.

"If you had been smart enough to come this way, victorious," added the
man, straightforwardly, "instead of being out-generalled, whipped, and
driven, I should enjoy the loss of my property a great deal more!"

There was an irresistible heartiness in his tone and manner. He had,
evidently, resolved to bear the misfortunes of war bravely.

"You are a Northern man?" I said, inquiringly.

"How do you know?"

"There are no such dairies in Virginia; a Virginian never dipped a mug
of milk after your fashion; you haven't the Virginia inflection, and
very weak Virginia principles."

The man laughed dryly, and filled himself a cup, which he drank
sedately.

"I reckon you are correct," he said; "pretty much correct, any way. I'm
a New Yorker, from the Mohawk Valley, and I have been showing these
folks how they can't farm. If there's anybody that farms better than I
do, I want to know the man!"

He looked at the flowing water, the clean slabs and walls, the shining
tins, and smacked his lips satisfactorily. I asked him if he farmed with
negroes, and if the prejudices of the country affected either his social
or industrial interests. He answered that he was obliged to employ
negroes, as he had thrice tried the experiment of working with whites,
but with ill success.

"_I_ would have kept 'em," he added, in his great voice, closing a
prodigious fist, "but the men would not stay. I couldn't make the
neighbors respect them. There was nobody for 'em to associate with. They
were looked upon as niggers, and they got to feel it after a while. So I
have had only niggers latterly; but I get more work from them than any
other man in these parts. If there's anybody that gets more work out of
niggers than I do, I want to know the man!"

There was a sort of hard, hearty defiance about him, typical of his
severe, angular race, a