A l^housand-Mik Walk 



lips, and their smooth cheeks flashing off light 

 as if made of glass. Seen anywhere but in the 

 South, the glossy pair would have been taken 

 for twin devils, but here it was only a negro 

 and his wife at their supper. 



I ventured forward to the radiant presence 

 of the black pair, and, after being stared at 

 with that desperate fixedness which is said to 

 subdue the lion, I was handed water in a gourd 

 from somewhere out of the darkness. I was 

 standing for a moment beside the big fire, look- 

 ing at the unsurpassable simplicity of the es- 

 tablishment, and asking questions about the 

 road to Gainesville, when my attention was 

 called to a black lump of something lying in 

 the ashes of the fire. It seemed to be made 

 of rubber; but ere I had time for much specu- 

 lation, the woman bent wooingly over the 

 black object and said with motherly kindness, 

 "Come, honey, eat yo' hominy." 



At the sound of "hominy" the rubber gave 

 strong manifestations of vitality and proved to 

 be a burly little negro boy, rising from the earth 

 [ io6 ] 



