y. Jerkily pulling off his gloves, he said:

"I want a drink!"

"You must have caught his eye," Brent smiled, as the tactful Zack was
seen following from the house with two frosted, green-tipped goblets of
silver hugged close to his stomach. It was obviously an effort to shield
them from the windows of Miss Liz's room and her inquisitorial
lorgnette. Colonel May noticed this shameless evidence of stealth, and
colored.

"I wish I could drink in my own house like a gentleman, sir," he raged,
"without hurting the sensibilities of super-sensitive ladies! This
schoolboy tomfoolery is sickening, and I'm going to put a stop to it
right now, sir!" So when the servant drew near, with a sly smile that
did anything but assuage the Colonel's humor, he raged anew: "Zack, you
rascal, hereafter when you bring me a julep I want you first to ask Miss
Liz if she thinks it looks well enough to be served!"

That black worthy put the juleps quickly down and exploded with
uncontrollable laughter. Such a suggestion, he thought, was about the
most irresistible bit of humor the Colonel had ever achieved; and now,
holding his sides, between guffaws he gasped:

"Marse John, you'se gittin' funnier an' funnier eve'y day you lives!"

But at this moment his eyes wandered to the Colonel's face. The laughter
stopped with a dry croak. He saw that his old master and friend was
serious, and reaching for one of the goblets he anxiously exclaimed:

"Great day in de mawnin', Marse John! You suttenly don' mean dat! Drink
dis heah, quick! Ridin' in de sun's done tetched yoh haid!"

"Touched the devil," the old gentleman thundered. "Take it back this
instant and ask Miss Liz if she thinks it's pretty enough to serve!"

Uncle Zack was indeed troubled. His hand shook with more than its usual
wont, as he looked down at the offending beverage and then pleadingly
up.

"She done tol' me twict dis week dat I'se gwine buhn in hell for dis
heah julep makin'. De fu'st thing you-alls'll know ole Zack'll bust out
in flames--an' _den_ whar'll you git yoh comfo't from?"

But the Colonel's glowering brows said very distinctly that the
alternative was an immediate little hell right there beneath the trees
and, choosing the more remote, Zack turned slowly to the house. The old
gentleman's eyes followed him, and now he turned irritably to Brent:

"I will not drink my juleps in gulps behind trees and shrubs, sir! I
like to have them sit before me, and contemplate the