"Parson, that's the very same horse!"
A shout rose from the hill in which the preacher joined.
"Dod bam it, did ye ever hear the beat o' that!" shouted a pious fellow who was inventing cuss words that would pass the charge of profanity.
A distinguished citizen of Fredericksburg passed along the lines wearing a tall new silk hat. He didn't get very far before he changed his line of march. A regular fusillade poured on him from the ranks.
"Say, man, is dat a hat er a bee gum?"
"Come down now!"
"Come down outen that hat an' help us with these Yanks!"
"Come down I say—I know you're up there for I can see your legs!"
When the silk hat vanished, a solemn country boy with slight knowledge of books began to discuss the great mysteries of eternity.
Ned had won his unbounded faith and admiration by spelling at the first trial the name of his native village in the Valley of Virginia—McGaheysville. Tom held this fact to be a marvellous intellectual achievement.