"Lord!" he said, after a little pause, "it's a heap stylisher!"
Presently he bent down and picked up a twig which lay on the ground at his feet. He began to strip the leaves from it with careful slowness, and he kept his eyes fixed on it as he went on talking.
"Ye'll never guess who I've ben a-talkin' to to-day, an' what I've ben talkin' to 'em about."
She put her hand on his knee caressingly.
"Tell me, father," she said.
He laughed a jerky, high-pitched laugh.
"I've ben talkin' to Jedge Powers," he said. "He's up yere from Howelsville, a-runnin' fer senator. He's sot his mind on makin' it, too, an' he was a-tellin' me what his principles was. He—he's got a heap o' principles. An' he told me his wife an' family was a-goin' to Europe. He was mighty sosherble—an' he said they was a-goin' to Europe."
He had stripped the last leaf from the twig and had begun upon the bark. Just at this juncture it slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. He bent down again to pick it up.
"Louisianny," he said, "how—would ye like to go to Europe?"
She started back amazed, but she could not catch even a glimpse of his face, he was so busy with the twig.