xt7kwh2d8b5q https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7kwh2d8b5q/data/mets.xml Norton, Frank H. (Frank Henry), 1836-1921 1883  books b92fn8232009 English The American News Company : New York Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 --Fiction The days of Daniel Boone. A romance of text The days of Daniel Boone. A romance of 1883 2009 true xt7kwh2d8b5q section xt7kwh2d8b5q 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
   THE

Days of Daniel Boone.

A ROMANCE

of

"THE DARK AND BLOODY GROUND."

BY

frank   h. norton.

"Manners, Morals, Customs change: the Passions are always the same."

MME. DE FLAHAUT.

new york:

THE   AMERICAN   NEWS COMPANY. 
    
   PREFACE.

The subject of American History has been, comparatively, but little drawn upon to form a basis for American Fiction.

Yet, a little reflection will show that the history of no other country offers more obvious or more frequent opportunities for just such application ; and it is matter for surprise that American romance writers have not more generally utilized the archives of their country in their professional work.

In the present volume, the author has entered this promising field, selecting for his subject a character, a section of country, and a period of which but little is generally known to American readers. : In undertaking to write a Romance of the Life and Times of Daniel Boone, the author's design has not been to write history. This explanation is necessary for such persons only as are accustomed to glean their knowledge of the history of France from Alexander Dumas pbrc and Charles Lever ; and that of Germany from Miss Mtihlbach.

To cater to any such misconception of the real uses of this class of literary work, is not the purpose of Historical Fiction.

On the contrary, while the author has in many into 
   4 PREFACE.

stances in the course of his work employed actual his torical occurrences and personages, it has been, designedly, in such wise that the reader should not be able to discern where the truth ended and the fiction began.

The purpose has been in this narrative to interest the reader in the character of Daniel Boone, by pictur-. ing him as he is authentically presented by history ; associated with events, historical or fictitious, always regarding the possibilities if not the probabilities of his life; but always holding the chief object to be the amusement and not the instruction of the reader. While, therefore, historical facts when given have been given accurately; and while Boone himself, and other personages who were actually associated with his life, have been described, and their characters and acts set forth, as nearly as was practicable, with historic truth : the reader is desired to remember that this is a Romance, bearing the same relation in literature to the facts of history, that in art is borne by the artist's painting of an historical composition, in its relation to the occurrence it is meant to signify rather than to depict.

Deprecating no just and reasonable criticism of his work, the highest praise of its construction to which the author's ambition aspires, may be best indicated by the Italian expression   

" Se non e vera, } ben trovato"

frank h. norton.

Edgewatzr-on-the-Hudson Octobir, 1883. 
   CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

In which the Reader is introduced to Daniel Boone, and is made acquainted -with the condition of his Majesty's Colony of North Carolina, in the year of our Lord 1768,.........

CHAPTER II.

Wherein Boone becomes the guest of Judge Anderson, and an important matter is considered ; and which presents Rafe Slaughter to the Reader, as a character not unworthy of study,.......

CHAPTER III. In which Judge Anderson elucidates his designs, without affording any material information either to Boone or to the Reader; while Rafe Slaughter demonstrates himself after his kind, and the hunter at length sets his face homeward,.........

CHAPTER IV. How Daniel Boone falls in with one of the Regulators, and what happens. Disclosing, moreover, the fact that there is nothing so easy as to overvalue the weight of words,.........

CHAPTER V.

In which the Reader is introduced to the hero and heroine of this story    as well as to some other important personages, .     .      . .

CHAPTER VI. How Daniel Boone disappeared, and how the most important characters in our narrative were set searching for him, and with what success ; with a hint at a romance to be hereinafter further developed,

CHAPTER VII. Harry Calvert, being formally introduced to the Reader by way of his antecedents, leads his party to Hillsborough.   Stephen Roberts sustains his reputation for argumentative capacity, and Mike Dooley succeeds in treeing the coon,    .     .     .     .     .     .     . ... 
   6

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII. Wherein the Reader becomes the witness to an exciting engagement, and the story progresses a material step forward,......ng

CHAPTER IX.

Christmas Eve and a Christmas present. With some reflections on the philosophy of the tender passion, and illustrations from the characters of this story. Concluding with a catastrophe, and the downfall of "great expectations,"......... 133

CHAPTER X.

Harry Calvert comes to a determination, and the Christmas festivities at Mount Moume to an abrupt conclusion. A family disturbance and a sudden severing of family ties.........1.53

CHAPTER XI. In which Stephen Roberts appears upon the scene for an instant, to the present horror of the Reader, and for the thickening of the mystery which begins to enfold the characters of this story,      .... 167

CHAPTER XII. Showing how the Regulators had occupied their time, and disclosing the result of Harry Calvert's visit to his Plantation.   With some relation of a journey made to Judge Anderson, and what had happened there,     . 176

CHAPTER XIII. A very long chapter, in which certain of the characters begin the practice of pioneer life in earnest. The Reader makes a third in a discussion on moral philosophy, which is interrupted by a very sudden and unexpected occurrence, and Mike Dooley increases his knowledge of Natural History, 196

CHAPTER XIV. The party of amateur explorers receives an unexpected addition to its numbers, and Rose once more experiences a collision with a piece of paper, which is not without its own importance,...... 2ig

CHAPTER XV. Which signifies that amateur exploring is not without its dangers as well as its delights, and introduces the Reader to the noble red man, as he appeared when on the war-path in the year of grace 1771,    .     .      . 231

CHAPTER XVI. Wherein the Reader is present at an interview between two important personages, and witnesses a very impressive and eventful and conclusive scene in the life of one of them,........248 
   CONTENTS.

7

CHAPTER XVII. Judge Anderson works out a serious problem in abstract reasoning to a correct conclusion, through an incorrect process, ...... 263

CHAPTER XVIII. In which the hapless condition of Squire and Lady O'Brien offers a lesson of charity and patience ; and the Squire, himself, concludes that he is being involved in the meshes of a network of mystery, .... 273

CHAPTER XIX. In which Judge Anderson and Squire O'Brien conclude to go West to look -after their several interests ; and the Reader is permitted to assist at the discussion of a communication which recalls the suggestion that''the evil that men do lives after them,"...... .     . 289

CHAPTER XX. In which Daniel Boone and Harry reappear, and the hunter quotes Scripture. The casting of the bread of kindness upon the waters of accident, is among the seed planted in the wilderness, to bring forth fruit " after many days "; and, Squire Boone having kept his appointment, the chain of events goes on unfolding,.........30c

CHAPTER XXI. A "Chapter of Accidents."   Capture of Boone's party, and all three in danger of a permanent loss of liberty, through an impending matrimonial catastrophe ; which is providentially averted,.....310

CHAPTER XXII. The beginning of the end.   Rafe Slaughter has presentiments     and Maude finds herself unexpectedly in possession of an important secret. A night-surprise followed by another, and Daniel Boone is heard from    with very decisive results.   Traitors in the camp   and out of it,     . 322

CHAPTER XXIII. The death of Indian John.   The mode of travel is changed, giving an opportunity for reflection, which is taken advantage of by certain of the characters of our story.   The travelers reach the last stage of their journey,.............344

CHAPTER XXIV.

Amid the sublimest efforts of Nature, in rugged rock and riven mountain-chain, our travelers pursue their way, joyfully. Then, all is changed ; and lingering by the bank of a chance stream, the blow falls ; their happiness is turned to mourning, and Rafe Slaughter's premonitions come

. to pass, . ........:     .     . 358 
   CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

In which Rafe Slaughter's last will and testament is read ; and the production and perusal of certaii* other documents, explain some of the mysteries which have infested this narrative. The murderer plays his last card, and, failing of success, exposes certain complications of interest. The friends of Rafe Slaughter bid him farewell......368

CHAPTER XXVI.

The return of the adventurers. A sad meeting, but a warm greeting. Battles are fought over again ; the past is related ; the present is enjoyed,, and the happiness of at least two of the party is secured for the future, 387

CHAPTER XXVII.

" On Watauga." Daniel Boone appears in a new character, and the Reader is present on an important historical occasion. The narrative fittingly concludes at the grave of one of its chief personages,   .... 399

 
   THE LIFE AND TIMES

of

DANIEL BOONE.

CHAPTER I.

In which the Reader is introduced to Daniel Boone, and is made acquainted with the condition of his Majesty's Colony of North Carolina, in the year of our Lord 1768.

" then yer won't jine us ? "

" No, Harmon ; I don't think it would be   so to speak   consistent."

" Consistent ? what's that ?"

" Well, yer see, the Judge is a kind of a friend of mine, an' I haven't   not quite   the notion that I could go agin him in a matter where the law's with him."

" Yer makin' a mistake, Dan'l, an' it'll mayhap be the worse fur yer."

The speaker, as he said this, looked significantly at several men who stood near by, and who seemed to be scanning the two who were conversing.

His companion turned his eyes in the same direction and gazed for a moment; then he smiled, and lifting the rifle which had been held loosely in his hand, brought it to his shoulder,- turning entirely about as he did so, and discharged it in the air. Those standing near looked to see what was being shot, and a hawk

(13) 
   I4 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

fell from somewhere, seemingly out of sight, to a point a few yards distant from the marksman.

" Yer must have eyes in the top of yer head, Dan'l, to have seen that fellow, for I go bail yer never turned."

He was reloading his gun, and merely said : " One feets a critter near him, after much living in the open    Injins, b'ars, an' sich   and I kinder hate hawks." And quietly shouldering his rifle he strode across the green.

He was a tall man, in the first prime of life, strongly but not heavily built ; his face and neck bronzed by constant exposure to the weather; his movements not rapid, but firm and apparently wary. His countenance was attractive, though somewhat stern and somber. He was dressed in a buckskin hunting-suit, to his belt being attached a sheath in which was his dangerous-looking long hunting-knife, while from his shoulder hung his powder-horn and bullet-pouch.

The first impression that his appearance would make upon the mind of the observer, would be that of confidence ; the next, of reticence.

His companion was a thick-set, red-faced man of forty-five years, or thereabouts, with closely-cropped hair, and features strongly marked   partly by evil passions, partly by the results of dissipation. Remaining still for a moment after the other had left him, and observing his tall form as it moved lightly across the grass, he gave vent to an oath ; then he joined the party who had been regarding these two.

"Well, Harmon Cox, what says he?" cried one of these, a slim man, with iron-gray hair and pallid features. 
   DANIEL BOONE. 15

" He says he'll have naught to do with you nor yer ways, an' be damned to him. An' he says more, ye're no better than Injins and b'ars, and a heap worse nor hawks "; and so speaking, he kicked the carcass of the dead bird which lay before him, and looked to see what the others thought of his message.

The three or four men whom he had joined were all armed, and all clad in various kinds of homespun    various as to antiquity and consequent tint   relieved occasionally by the presence of a buckskin hunting-shirt, trimmed with a fringe of the same.

They were all preoccupied in their manner, and their faces wore a stern and determined expression, as though they contemplated some action of import, either in the past or in the future. Among them the one who had questioned Harmon Cox appeared to be in authority, and the others regarded him curiously after the delivery of the lying speech which Cox had given as that of the tall hunter.

" Did he say that ?" queried the elder man.

The other looked away, and spat on the ground, as he answered : " Didn't I say so ? I ain't before the Judge, an' I ain't answerable for every word, but it was nigh to that as one could remember."

" It ain't like Dan'l to talk like that ere," put in a red-headed young man who was amusing himself throwing his hunting-knife into a tree before him.

"Ain't it like him?" sneered the other. "Well, then, he's been talkin' to me onlike himself, for I swar he used every word   Injin, an' b'ar, an' hawk." 
   i6

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

The elder man had been looking and listening; now he said : " Harmon, he may have said the words, but I misdoubt if he ever used them after that fashion ; but since he's against us   and it's easy to see that's so    why, he'll have to take the chances."

" An' that's jest exactly what I told him."

The period was the year of our Lord 1768. The scene was the town of Hillsborough, in the province of North Carolina, of the North American Colonies of his Majesty George the Third, " by the grace of God King of Great Britain and Ireland." King, also, by " the accident of an accident"   of such secondary matters as a baker's dozen of broad provinces three thousand miles across the ocean, and another baker's dozen of millions of loyal subjects thereunto pertaining.

George the Third was King in England, and Louis the Fifteenth was King in France. The one an obstinate imbecile^ destined to plunge his country into irretrievable disaster, and die miserably at last, a hopeless lunatic; the other an infamous and degraded sensualist, who robbed his people that his pleasures might be sustained, and who perished, victim to a loathsome disease, while his subjects held gleeful festivities in honor of his departure from the world he had disfigured.

These two Kings swayed all of North America that had as yet been bought, stolen, or wrested from the native Indian owners. They were men who, in the ordinary walks of life, would have attracted literally no attention ; save that one might have perished a drunken 
   DANIEL BOONE.

'7

vagabond in the slums of Havre or Marseilles; and the other have comfortably passed his existence as a Cheap-side haberdasher, and retained the limited senses which had been granted him until he died in his bed respected and forgotten.

Such are the wonderful dispensations of Providence.

Had George III. and Louis XV. been different from what they were, the political and social complexion of Europe and America would have been widely different from what they are. But such as they were, they had already succeeded in turning their loyal North American subjects into a grumbling, unhappy, and rebellious people, in which condition, and for various direct and subordinate reasons, the good folks of the province of North Carolina, especially, were seething and boiling at the time when the present narrative begins. It was March, 1768, and court was to be held in the town of Hillsborough.

Here, in the midst of the more thickly populated part of the province, the usually scattered settlement had drawn closer together, and the outlying farms centered upon the market-place, and the small, low building where court was held. It was a quiet, peaceful little town, where, usually, nothing more exciting than the ordinary farm gossip disturbed the community; but where, on this March morning, there appeared to be that stirring, which, judging from the gloomy and in some instances savage countenances about, might presently waken a storm.

Lounging about the court-house, the school-house 
   18 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

on the other side of the Common, and the store where Roderick McCandless dispensed his wares, were collected in groups of from five to twenty, quite three hundred people. They were nearly all men, clad in homespun, some with short stock-whips in their hands, a few with the customary flint-lock rifle,, while variety was given to the scene by a half-dozen plainly-clad women, who stood apart, in animated conversation. Within the small room which was sacred to the sessions of the Circuit Court, were to be seen standing in groups, or looking out of window, a number of persons whose appearance betokened a higher position in life than would have been expected from that of the populace without. Conspicuous among them, seated on a slightly raised platform, was a man of marked presence, and who was obviously a person of eminence in the community. This man was Col. Richard Anderson, Judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina, who had come to Hillsborough to hold court. Those about him were the leading farmers of the neighborhood, court officials, sheriff, tax-gatherers, and others of the more well-to-do of the population.

They were all engaged in earnest though desultory conversation, and as in the case of those without the building, all seemed impressed with the serious nature of the questions which were under discussion.

Not to be too historical in our relation, it may be . briefly stated that for several years matters in North Carolina had been approaching a culmination of outbreak which was now immediately threatening. The con- 
   DANIEL BOONE. 19

trol of public affairs in the hands of the royalist officials had become obnoxious to a large proportion of the population, and the aspect had been growing constantly more threatening. As is common in colonies and in new countries in general, appointments to high office with vast opportunity for doing public injury, had been vested in persons of unscrupulous character, only too willing to avail themselves of such opportunities whenever offered. Minor positions had been similarly filled by the creatures and tools of those who appointed them, and the result had become so distasteful to the poorer inhabitants, as to awaken a spirit of bitter resentment against their oppressors.

An additional occasion for popular ill-feeling at this period, was the fact that the greater part of the wealth of the Colony was in the hands of these objectionable officials, or in those of the Scotch and other traders and store-keepers, between whom and the farmers and hunters there was always debt, and consequently always ill-blood.

Besides, these traders and others lived in a style quite beyond the ability of the mass of the people, indulging in luxuries unknown to them, and thereby constantly awakening jealousies which had at length turned to pure hatred, and now only needed an incident and an opportunity for dangerous manifestation.

It was to the very center and hot-bed of all this malignant sentiment that Judge Anderson had come to hold the regular court; and the presence of far more than the usual number of loungers about the court- 
   20

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

house, as well as the appearance of a threatening demeanor in the case of most of them, may also be thus accounted for.

The hunter who had been spoken to by the name of " Dan'l," had directed his steps toward the court-house after the incident we have recounted, but he was stopped and addressed by several on his way, and so it chanced that the pallid man with iron-gray hair, who had questioned Harmon Cox, reached that point before him.

Entering the open door, this man threaded his way through the groups standing about, until he faced Judge Anderson. At the same moment it might have been observed that there was a general movement among all the men on the green and lounging about the buildings, and that at once the general interest had centered in the court-house.

Observing who had approached him, the Judge addressed him: " Well, Stephen Roberts, what would you have?"

" Judge, is our case against that fellow McCandless to come to trial this term ?"

" My directions from the Governor are not to recognize any case on the part of your people against his Majesty's officials."

There was a movement on the utterance of this statement, and loud murmurs were heard in all directions as its nature was carried from one to another.

Roderick McCandless, the thrifty Scotch shop-keeper opposite the court-house, had held from the Crown the appointment of local tax-gatherer for a year past, and 
   DANIEL BOONE.

21

in that capacity had managed to make himself obnoxious to the entire community, even to an extent not common to tax-gatherers. It was hinted about and generally believed that he had succeeded in drawing from the people, in the way of taxes, far more than was legal, and that his returns by no means represented his collections. As his case, though flagrant, was but one of many of the same nature, it had been made a test, and, backed up by a number of the Hillsborough people, was being sought to be prosecuted through a motion to call for the examination of McCandless' books in behalf of the Crown.

The motion was perfectly regular, having been made by Stephen Roberts, himself educated as a lawyer, and was in proper form   and no little surprise was evinced when Judge Anderson announced his intention to refuse it a hearing. Some, even, of those standing about him, and who had themselves somewhat to fear in the case of trouble, remonstrated with him regarding his determination. But to all he turned a deaf ear, replying shortly, though pleasantly enough, that he had his instructions and must comply with them, and that no case presented by the so-called " Regulators" could be recognized.

Perceiving the impossibility of moving the Judge, Roberts quietly left the court-house. Outside he was joined by Cox and a number of others, and a hasty conference was held.

While this was going on   and it had taken but a very few moments   the hunter had entered the court- 
   22

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

house, and could be seen talking earnestly to Judge Anderson, who listened attentively, but evidently without being impressed or induced to change his intention.

The Judge presently rose, the hunter retiring from him as he did so, and was about to give the direction to clear the court-room, preparatory to opening court. At this moment an accidental occurrence precipitated what followed, and entirely changed the aspect of affairs   and for the worse.

There was heard a confusion of sounds in the direction of the store, and a rush was made thitherward by the crowd without. Then a child cried out, a man's voice sounded in loud altercation, and the burly form of Roderick McCandless, himself, was seem emerging from his premises.

His appearance was not prepossessing. He was sandy-haired, high-cheek-boned, freckled, and pockmarked. He was tall and gaunt, and his low forehead and snapping eyes gave him a mean expression. At present he held by the shoulder a small boy, whom he shook with more vigor than seemed necessary, and who bawled lustily.

" Whose child is it ?" queried the Judge, as he arrested his action for a moment, disturbed by the outcry.

" It is Daniel Boone's," replied the person addressed.

Hearing that, the tall hunter turned sharply about, took in the situation at a glance, and the next moment was striding across the green in the direction of the in-furiated Scotchman and his prey. 
   DANIEL BOONE. .53

He said nothing as he approached him, but passing his rifle from one hand to the other, with his disengaged right arm gave McCandless a single buffet that flung him staggering to the ground, while, at the same moment, he dexterously rescued the little boy from his clutches.

There was a wild howl of triumph and derision from the crowd, and the fallen trader was at once pitched upon and kicked and tossed from one to the other, each and all having grievances enough for which to bestow upon the unhappy victim each his separate blow.

But the Scotchman was not without his friends and adherents, as a man who made his money easily and knew how to distribute it to advantage must needs have. And first his men and underlings in the store rushed to his aid, and then as the fight became general others gathered from various points, summoned hastily to aid the Crown officers, and what at first seemed no more than a petty quarrel, assumed the proportions of a riot.

Stones were used freely, and clubs, and then the sharp ping of a rifle was followed by the report of a horse-pistol, and the crash of broken glass, yells of rage, and cries of pain made a noise frightful to hear.

At the beginning, Judge Anderson, followed by the Sheriff and other court officers, had hurried to the scene; and the man whom they called Daniel Boone, having left his child in a place of safety, had returned and joined them. 
   24 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF

" Why did he quarrel with the child, Boone ? " asked the Judge.

" I have no knowledge, Judge; he was ill-treating the boy, and I took him away from him. But I did not think it would make this disorder."

" Oh, that has nothing to do with it; or, rather, is only an excuse. They have been itching to get at old McCandless for a year past, and I only hope they'll spare his life. Ha! they're taking to fire-arms; this must be stopped."

And so saying, the whole party rushed into the midst of the fracas.

The Scotchman was being badly handled, but he was not killed, and it was Boone's own strong arms that lifted his battered and bloody form from among the trampling feet of the " Regulators."

He was a repulsive-looking object enough, with his hair matted with blood and dirt, his eyes bloodshot, a terrible gash in one cheek, and blood flowing freely from what seemed to be a knife or tomahawk wound in the right shoulder, and which disabled that arm. He was, however, plucky enough, and seemed ready to rush upon his assailants, who had retired a little from the attack of the new-comers. But at that moment the cries rose higher than ever, and it became apparent that a new victim had been discovered.

This was, in fact, no other than the Sheriff himself,' Caleb Glennie by name, who, by the vigor with which he had prosecuted distraining for non-payment of taxes or for ordinary debt, had won for himself a name by 
   DANIEL BOONE. 2$

which he was held up to general execration. His appearance in the train of the Judge had been the signal for a general rush in his direction. He was seized, dragged from the protection of his associates, and in another moment the trembling wretch was standing beneath, a tree, while one of the Regulators fastened a rope to an overhanging branch, the pending noose having been first deftly swung over the Sheriff's head, and drawn tightly about his neck.

" Egad ! you're a good hangman   see how you like it yourself/'

" Ye'll be wishin' ye might be distrained in a minute, Cale."

. " Rise the thievin' villain ! up now, an' make haste about it!"

And with such cries, the rope was suddenly drawn, and the wretch swung several feet in the air.

At that instant the crack of a rifle was heard; the pe, pierced by the bullet, snapped in twain, and Caleb lennie fell to the ground   where he had both sense d strength enough to escape as fast as his legs would rry him, to where the smoking rifle of Daniel Boone owed him his saviour. The execrations of the disappointed Regulators were ud and deep, and a movement was made to intercept e runaway, but just then an unexpected diversion anged their minds. Smoke was seen coming out of McCandless' store in ge volumes, while a crowd rushing in and out of it, re from it every article they could lay their hands 
   26 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF '.

upon. Tobacco, whisky, jerked meat, powder and balls, fire-arms, knives and tomahawks   every article that was of value to the frontiersman, or that tickled his fancy, was to be found in quantity in the Scotchman's store, and was now eagerly seized by the incendiaries.

But the affair had by this time aroused the attention of the entire neighborhood ; and fearing for their own homes, and having no particular interest with the Regulators, who came mostly from other settlements, the towns-people gathered in force and supported Judge Anderson and his friends and subordinates in quelling the riot. They speedily outnumbered the rioters, and in less than half an hour the latter had begun to retreat. But before they went, they made a simultaneous attack on the Judge, raising loud cries as they rushed upon him : " You shall hold no court here to deal out injustice !" " We're keepin' watch of you, Dick Anderson ; look out for your big barn some of these fine nights !"

The Judge was plucky and determined, but he was unarmed, and had not Boone and others closely guarded him and accompanied him to his horse, he could not have saved himself from the fury of the attacking party.

With the half-executed Sheriff clinging timorously to his side, Boone shouldered his way past the rioters, having the Judge close behind him, while a dozen or more of their friends kept the way clear, striking right and left with whatever they chanced to have in their hands.

Beneath a low shed next the meeting-house, were 
   DANIEL BOONE. 27

tied the horses of the party, and here, too, was Boone's son, a boy of twelve years, or thereabouts, in the care of an old negro to whom he had been hurriedly given over by the hunter for safe keeping.

It was the work of a moment to mount their horses, Boone taking his boy behind him, and as a wild yell from the discomfited Regulators filled the air, the whole party rode rapidly away in the direction of the adjoining county of Granville, where was Judge Anderson's residence, and to which section all of his party, excepting Boone, belonged. 
   CHAPTER II.

Wherein Boone becomes the guest of Judge Anderson, and an important matter is considered ; and which presents Rafe Slaughter to the Reader, as a character not unworthy of study.

It was nightfall of the day following that of the exciting events in Hillsborough, and Daniel Boone and Judge Anderson were seated in the handsome library of the latter, in his residence in Granville County.

The Judge was a man of large private fortune, while his official position gave him not only high standing, but afforded him frequent opportunities of adding to his wealth. He was possessed of a most enterprising and energetic nature, and a mind peculiarly adapted for the conception and carrying out of large schemes, and difficult and even dangerous operations. He had been on intimate terms with Boone ever since the latter had come to North Carolina to live, being well acquainted also with his father, who, about fifteen years prior to the period of this narrative, had brought his family to the banks of the Yadkin, where they still resided.

Though old farmer Boone had several sons, the Judge had become chiefly interested in Daniel, who had at an early age shown an adventurous disposition, and the

reticence and decision which still characterized him,

(28) 
   DANIEL BOONE. 29

and which were qualities that strongly appealed to the thoughtful, scheming man of the world, ever on the lookout for instruments to conduct his ideas to a successful conclusion.

In fact, having all this in his mind, he had sent a message to Boone's home on the Yadkin, requesting his presence at Hillsborough, at term time, for a conference. Boone happened to be at home when the message arrived   and this was by no means a common occurrence with a man who only felt that he lived when he was in the wilderness   and having no