. Highways and byways of the South. n rain earlier in the day, and the red clay mudin the road was something frightful. If a personwalked, it gathered on his shoes in great retardingclods. Nor was there any pleasure in riding, progresswas so slow and laborious. The town was crowded,for on days not suited to farm work the men from tenmiles around congregate there to trade and talk andloaf. That evening a fight occurred on one of the townbyways between a white man and a negro. The com-batants were separated, but none too soon according tothe white man. I was jus fixin for to cut the nig-gers thr
. Highways and byways of the South. n rain earlier in the day, and the red clay mudin the road was something frightful. If a personwalked, it gathered on his shoes in great retardingclods. Nor was there any pleasure in riding, progresswas so slow and laborious. The town was crowded,for on days not suited to farm work the men from tenmiles around congregate there to trade and talk andloaf. That evening a fight occurred on one of the townbyways between a white man and a negro. The com-batants were separated, but none too soon according tothe white man. I was jus fixin for to cut the nig-gers throat when they pulled me off, said he. When Iasked how the trouble began, I was told the nigger wassassy ; and it was generally conceded that any niggerwho was sassy and had his throat cut in retributionmet his just deserts. Some months previous a negrohad been taken from the jail and hung to the outsidecourt-house stairs, and this lynching took place onlythree miles from the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln! VII THE BLUE-GRASS COUNTRY. N O other sec-tion of theSouth is sofamed for its fertiHtyand high state ofcultivation as the Blue-grass region of Ken-tucky. I had alwaysheard of it and hadlong wished to see it — this land flowingwith milk and honey — and I journeyedthither with eager an-ticipation. I left therailroad at Lexingtonand at once started on a long walk out into the rural district was a real satisfaction to see the great smooth fields,and the abounding herds and flocks feeding on thesucculent sward. The grazing lands that had been 174 Weeding a Tobacco Bed The Blue-grass Country 175 long undisturbed by the plough were particularly charm-ing. On these grew the thick and velvety the grass gets its name was not apparent at theseason of my visit, but during fruiting the blue hue ofits seed vessels is a conspicuous feature. Kentuckyhas not by any means a sole claim to the grasses are more widely distributed, but in theKentucky
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