Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/11



LD RELIABLE never did rightly get the hang of that white man's name—the one with the single-barreled specs who came to visit the Colonel on Sherwood Plantation. And 'twarn't only negroes that couldn't understand; even the white folks had a mighty lot of trouble. Zack heard Doctor Paulding laugh and inquire, "Look here, Colonel, I don't know what to call your English Lord. Can't quite get my tongue twisted around 'Your Lordship' or 'Your Serene Highness.' What's the correct thing, 'My Lord'? or 'Lord Meadowcroft'?"

"Reckon so," chuckled the Colonel. "This 'lord' business kinder got me for a while. I sasshayed around it until he commenced calling me 'Spottiswoode' and I called him 'Meadowcroft.' Fine fellow, isn't he?"

Zack cocked his head on one side and listened to everybody before addressing the distinguished stranger as, "Oh Lordy," and the problem of courtesy bothered Zack no more. viii