A PEEP AT THE EVERGLADES 



MY first stroll in Miami was taken under the 

 pilotage of a lady who had already spent several 

 winters here. In the course of it we came sud- 

 denly upon a colored man lying face downward 

 in the grass, under a blazing sun, fast asleep. 

 It was no uncommon happening, my friend re- 

 marked; she was always stumbling over such 

 dusky sleepers. But in this Southern clime the 

 luxury of physical inactivity is not appreciated 

 by black people alone. I was walking away from 

 the city at a rather brisk pace, one morning, 

 when I passed a lonesome shanty. A white man 

 sat upon the rude piazza, and another man and 

 a boy stood near. 



" Are you going to work to-day? " asked the 

 boy of the occupant of the piazza. 



" No," was the answer, quick and pithy. 



"Why not?" 



" I ain't got time." 



I laid the words up as a treasure; I do not 

 expect to hear the philosophy of indolence more 

 succinctly and pointedly stated if I live a thou- 

 sand years. 



