THE CAMP FIRE. 39 



" Find his body, sah ? Yes, sah, easy miff find his 

 body, sah ; de body crawled up on de bank before de 

 genleman got quite in the house, sah." 



Every one laughed at me, and I did not forget the 

 mishap until I became engaged in shooting, in which we 

 spent all the day. The next day was a repetition of pre- 

 cisely the same farce, except that the conduct of the ser- 

 vants became quite extraordinary, laughing outright, as I 

 went across the rice-field, and the little nigs came out 

 of the cabins in crowds, and crowed with delight. 



" Well, Charlie, my boy, how's the shooting to-day ?" 

 became a stereotype question at the table, and " tough 

 as an alligator, hey?" one of the commonest com- 

 parisons. 



At last my patience and my visit were finished 

 together, and as I was being pulled out to meet the 

 Mobile steamer in my friend's canoe, manned by eight 

 as good oarsmen as ever pulled a blade, in passing by 

 the head of the creek a heavy splash was heard in the 

 water, and my friend whispered to me, loud enough to 

 create a chuckle among the boatmen, "There's your 

 target, you have left behind." 



