"Pinch me, fellows. I don't know whether I am awake or dreaming," said Stacy.
"You will wake up by and by," answered Ned.
"A splendid gentleman," nodded Tad thoughtfully. "We might all profit by Major Clowney's courtliness. Did you ask him what arrangements he had made for us, Professor?"
"No. He no doubt will explain when we see him this evening. Depend upon it, he has left nothing undone."
"Except to make the weather cool," answered Stacy. "Whew, but it's hot. Where is our baggage? I want to get into some togs that aren't so hot as these glad clothes."
"The baggage should be here very soon," answered Walter. "The men went after it before we came upstairs."
"I never saw so many colored folks in my life," declared Chunky. "Everything looks black to me now. I wonder if they are all black in this part of the country?"
"This is what is known as the Black Belt of the South," answered Professor Zepplin. "I believe there are four blacks to every white in this section. Further in we may find the proportion even greater."
"A regular study in light and shade," observed Rector.
"You had better keep tight hold of your valuables," advised Tad. "These gentlemen are light-fingered, I have heard."