The colonel made no reply as he continued his beat. After a few rounds he brought up before Mrs. Cane and asked irrelevantly, "Is there a band or a drum corps in this town?"
"Oh, yes!" she assured him. "We have an excellent cornet band and a drum corps as well."
"You'll hear them both this afternoon," Mr. Cane volunteered. "They're sure to be in the parade."
"Where do they do their practicing?" pursued the colonel.
"Sube can tell you more about that than I can," replied the host, turning to Sube who had just put in an appearance. "Where does the band practice, Sube?"
"They used to practice in the barber shop, but now they're practicin' in the town hall," Sube told him.
"Now?" asked the colonel with an unexpected show of interest.
"Oh, no. Not right now," replied Sube. "They only practice nights."
"Hum," said the colonel. "Where does this drum corps practice?"
"At the Henderson farm," replied Sube promptly; "that's three miles out in the country."