Just after the clock struck two, I distinctly heard the
man and the woman, and the girl and the dog scratch-
ing, and the horse out in the shed stamping and gnaw-
ing himself. Soon afterward the man exclaimed,
" Good God Almighty — mighty ! mighty ! mighty ! "
and jumping up, pulled off one of his stockings, shook
it, scratched his foot vehemently, put on the stocking,
and lay down again with a groan. The two doors were
open, and through the logs and the openings in the
roof I saw the clouds divide, and the moon and stars
reveal themselves. The woman, after being nearly
smothered by the smoke from the pan, which she had
originally placed close to her own pillow, rose and
placed it on the sill of the windward door, where it
burned feebly and smoked lustily, like an altar to the
Lares, all night. Fortunately the cabin was so open that
it gave us little annoyance, while it seemed to answer
the purpose of keeping all flying insects at a distance.
The Interior Cotton Districts 233



When, on rising in the morning, I said that I would
like to wash my face, water was given me for the pur-
in earthen pie-dish. Just as breakfast, which
was of exactly the same materials as my supper, was
ready, rain began to fall, presently in such a smart
shower as to put the fire out and compel us to move
the table under the least leaky part of the roof.
