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Show Page 99 I saw his shoulders move in the darkness. "Perhaps if the Indians were planning a surprise attack on their enemy," he said. Again the owl hooted. "That call comes from a feathered creature though," he added. "Then it could be an Indian," I chuckled, "for do they not wear a great many feathers upon their person?" "You have me there," John agreed. "They do indeed." As we left behind the fallen white oak that marked the end of the Mills' land, I frantically searched my mind for further conversation. At last I asked, "And of what age is William, your brother?" I could feel him concentrating in the darkness. "He should be ten this year," he said at last. I then recalled more of our earlier discourse. "You spoke of a headright," I ventured. "I know not what that is." "The Company has passed a ruling that anyone who pays his own fare to emigrate to the colony before 1625, or who sends or brings over another person, is entitled to fifty acres of land. So if I pay the fare for William to come to Virginia, I receive fifty acres of land of my choosing--my headright." "And what must you pay to claim the land?" I asked, my voice rising to a squeak in anticipation. "No more than the fare itself, though I've heard it's wise to slip the secretary a pound or two, or some tobacco, when he delivers the title." |