If they touch a hair of
his head we'll sack the State of North Carolina from Morganton to the
sea."
"But the land?" I asked.
"Oh, a fig for the land," answered Nick; "as soon as Nollichucky Jack is
safe I'll follow you into Kentucky." He slapped me on the knee. "Egad,
Davy, it seems like a fairy tale. We always said we were going to
Kentucky, didn't we? What is the name of the place you are to startle
with your learning and calm by your example?"
"Louisville," I answered, laughing, "by the Falls of the Ohio."
"I shall turn up there when Jack Sevier is safe and I have won some more
land from Mr. Jackson. We'll have a rare old time together, though I
have no doubt you can drink me under the table. Beware of these sober
men. Egad, Davy, you need only a woolsack to become a full-fledged
judge. And now tell me how fortune has buffeted you."
It was my second night without sleep, for we sat burning candles in Mr.
Wright's house until the dawn, making up the time which we had lost away
from each other.
CHAPTER VII
I MEET A HERO
When left to myself, I was wont to slide into the commonplace; and where
my own dull life intrudes to clog the action I cut it down here and pare
it away there until I am merely explanatory, and not too much in
evidence. I rode out the Wilderness Trail, fell in with other
travellers, was welcomed by certain old familiar faces at Harrodstown,
and pressed on.
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