Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/64

 Zack bowed profoundly, and brushed his cap against the crimson carpet; then he straightened up, "Zack Foster, Ma'am; but ev'body, white an' black, in de whole ontire city o' Vicksburg, dey calls me 'Ole Reliable.

"Old Reliable?"

"Yas'm. Everybody sho do call me dat, an' I got a good right to it."

"What does he mean?" Aurora whispered.

"He means," Doris explained, "that people in America nickname a man for some trait of his character. And in that part of our country the people call Uncle Zack 'Old Reliable.

"What a splendid reputation!"

Zack smiled broadly at the radiant lady's praise, and opened his mouth so wide that if it hadn't been for his ears, the top of his head would have been an island.

"Yas'm, I got a pow'ful good reputation down yonder in Vicksburg, an' mos' everywhar. Ef you don't believe what I sez, you jes go an' ax Cunnel."

"Do you always travel with the Colonel?" Miss Stanton inquired.

"Yas'm; me and Cunnel allus goes together. He's gwine to Afriky Landin' to he'p me larn dem niggers how to raise cotton."

Reifenstein and the Italians drifted in and stood talking within a few feet of Aurora and