Tom he took a look back over his shoulder, and says, “Too late⁠—he’s out of sight.”

“Yes, he’s gone, my son, and you must come in and eat your dinner with us; and then we’ll hitch up and take you down to Nichols’s.”

“Oh, I can’t make you so much trouble; I couldn’t think of it. I’ll walk⁠—I don’t mind the distance.”

“But we won’t let you walk⁠—it wouldn’t be Southern hospitality to do it. Come right in.”