And
I no sooner heard it than I said to myself: "There is _one_ blossom
that never bloomed in Georgia!"
Another instance is the following: I was once approached by a
beggar in Atlanta, who saluted me thus: "Say, mister, can't you-all
give me a nickel?" Had I been accompanied it would have been all
right, but I was alone, and there was no other person near me
except the hobo. Did I give him the nickel? I should say not! I
said to myself: "He is a damned Yankee trying to pass himself off
for a Southerner."
Horrid glimmerings began to filter dimly through. And yet--
Next day came a letter calling my attention to an article, written years
ago by Joel Chandler Harris and Thomas Nelson Page, jointly, in which
they plead with northern writers not to misuse the disputed expression
by applying it in the singular.
That was another shock. I felt conviction tottering.... But she _did_
look at me.... She _didn't_ expect an answer from my companion....
And then behold! a missive from Mr. H.E. Jones, a member--and a worthy
one--of the Tallapoosa County Board of Education, and a resident of
Dadeville, Alabama. Mr. Jones' educational activities reach far beyond
Tallapoosa County, and far beyond the confines of his State, for he has
educated me.
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