"I see," said Captain Lee. "I have often wondered why Northerners always spoke of the South as such a shabby place. They must have meant what you have just described--a lack of attention to detail."
"You have noticed it yourself?" asked Colonel Yancey, eagerly.
"You must remember that I have not been south of Washington for thirty years."
"Ah, yes, I remember. You had the luck to be in the Civil War."
"I was in it only the last two years before the surrender. I enlisted when I was fourteen, was a captain at sixteen, and was wounded in my last engagement."
"And you've never been back since?"
"Never!"
Colonel Yancey leaned back and sighed.
"Never go, then!" he said. "Take my advice and never go. Remember your beautiful unspoiled South as you see her in your dreams!"
"The South is like a petted woman who openly declares that she would rather be lied to agreeably than be told the truth to, objectionably," said Captain Lee, with a regretful smile. Then he added, with a mischievous glance at Carolina, "Do the ladies still--er--gossip, Colonel Yancey?"