“Huh!” says he, and sort of scowled. “Medium. That means half-cooked, don’t it? It means the meat hain’t raw and hain’t done. Kind of red-like,” says he.
“Well,” says I, “that’s what a medium is, hain’t it?”
“What? Red?”
“Some of ’em is red,” says I. “There’s Injun spirits. Most mediums I ever heard of is on speakin’ terms with a Injun spirit named Laughin’ Water.”
“What kind of a way is it to call ‘red’ ‘medium’? How would I look sayin’ the Brownses’ house was medium when I meant it was red? Folks would think I was crazy.”
“It don’t mean red, exactly,” says I.
“Well, then, what does it mean?”
“It sort of means ‘not quite.’ See? Not quite raw and not quite cooked.”
“Middlin’?” says Tallow.
“Why, yes,” says I, “that’s about it! Standin’ in the middle.”