Juleps and Clover -- 1898 -- CHAPTER I. But come . , . . . and leave the Lot Of Kaikobkd and Kaikhosrh forgot Let Rustum lay about him as he will, Or Hitim cry Supper-heed them not. With me, along some Strip of Herbage strown That just divides the desert from the sown Where name of Slave and Sultan scarce is known- And pity Sultan Elahmud on his Throne. Ontar Khayydm. THIS air is like champagne, sir. It fills my lungs as no other air in the world can and the speaker drew in a long breath anci fanned his face with his black slouch hat. His companion smiled grimly, WitHout replying to what he evidently considered L harmless delusion his Northern blood failed to respond to the quickeniiig influences of the atxuosphere the other man found so exhilarating. A few moments Inter, the two Iorsemen emerged from the shelter of the woods into a low-lying river meadow where the direct rays of the midsummer sun, beating down upon them, speedily con- vinced the Southerner that whatever merits the climate might have, it cer- tainly did not deserve to be termed arctic. Then Wallace Ayer turned in his saddle toward his friend and said What I admire in you Southerners, Lee, is the absolute unanimity with which you all agree upon the beauty of Southern women, the merits of Southern air, Southern questions, institutions- in short, everything that concerns the South. You feel called on to flare up at the slightest criticism of anything that affects your section of the country. Now in the North, we have no special respect for Northern air or whiskey, or Northern horses or hotels as such, and would never dream of resenting any general criticism of our institutions. a If I were to tell you, he continued, that the air right here in these mountains, right here in Gods country was rather hotter and more stifiilg than I have found it in the Sahara Desert, you would probably flare up at the suggestion. Ho-ivard Lee laughed and replied goodnaturedly Oh, come now, you must not take us so seriously. We live by ourselves a good deal down here and perhaps, have become a trifle provincial. Those very faults you speak of, have their use -they all serve to bind us to our coun- Dry, and to keep us in the road laid out by our ancestors. Other sections of the nation could follow us with great advantage, in that respect. and Clover Perhaps you are right, replied Wallace Ayer, but then, too, some of us have ancestors, though we dont itt- tach much value to their example. There is one Southern institution, how- ever, that I do admire, without any qualifying adjectives whatsoever, aud that is your Southern woman. Now you are worthy of the hospi- tality of the South, cried the Virginian. Why, sir, the fiuest work of the Creator is a Southern molilall m110 can make a mint julep with just the proper quantity of brandy and rum. Lee involuntarily moistened his lips and continued The very idea makes me feel thirsty. In this fertile country nature provides the need and the means to fill it at the same time. Hum, returned the other, glancing dubiously at the turbulent stream roll- ing a few yards away through the meadow they were skirting, the his- nola looks to me solllewhat muddy. Juleps and Clover 5 Lee rode down to the river bank...