retold, his pet theories and hobbies advanced and
expanded, and the dream of the "Anecdotes and Reminiscences" served,
exaggerated and garbled. His favourite narrative--that of his duel
with Rathbone Culbertson--was not omitted, and it was delivered with
more fire, egotism, and gusto than the major himself put into it.

The monologue concluded with a quaint, delicious, witty little
lecture on the art of concocting a julep, illustrated by the act.
Here Major Talbot's delicate but showy science was reproduced to a
hair's breadth--from his dainty handling of the fragrant weed--"the
one-thousandth part of a grain too much pressure, gentlemen, and you
extract the bitterness, instead of the aroma, of this heaven-bestowed
plant"--to his solicitous selection of the oaten straws.

At the close of the scene the audience raised a tumultuous roar of
appreciation. The portrayal of the type was so exact, so sure and
thorough, that the leading characters in the play were forgotten.
After repeated calls, Hargraves came before the curtain and bowed, his
rather boyish face bright and flushed with the knowledge of success.

At last Miss Lydia turned and looked at the major. His thin nostrils
were working like the gills of a fish. He laid both shaking hands upon
the arms of his chair to rise.

"We will go, Lydia," he said chokingly. "This is an
abominable--desecration."

Before he could rise, she pulled him back into his seat. "We will
stay it out," she declared. "Do you want to advertise the copy by
exhibiting the original coat?" So they remained to the end.

Hargraves's success must have kept him up late that night, for neither
at the breakfast nor at the dinner table did he appear.

About three in the afternoon he tapped at the door of Major Talbot's
study. The major opened it, and Hargraves walked in with his hands
full of the morning papers--too full of his triumph to notice anything
unusual in the major's demeanour.

"I put it all over 'em last night, major," he began exultantly. "I had
my inning, and, I think, scored. Here's what the _Post_ says:

His conception and portrayal of the old-time Southern colonel,
with his absurd grandiloquence, his eccentric garb, his quaint
idioms and phrases, his moth-eaten pride of family, and his
really kind heart, fastidious sense of honour, and lovable
simplicity, is the best delineation of a character role on
the boards to-day. The coat worn by Colonel Calhoun is its