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Show 356 llJCIIARD UUHDIS. as a rogue, and sells his property und?r tl~c hammer of ~ sheriff, wliilo the church frowns upon hun f_rom the mo~nent he ceases to drop his :Mexic:m in the clw_nty hat. Samts m_1d devils nrc pretty much tho same l)coplc, 1f the wcn~h cr prev:ull:i with cqunl force in their favor; bu~ when tlJe wmd cha_ngcs and blig hts the Cl'O}) of the one, and npcns thnt of the ?t.h01, ten to one, the first grows to be a general bcuc:actor ancl1s _blessed. by all, while the otilor is d1~ivcn fr~m socJCty a~ n m1scra~lc skunk, whom it is mere <'hanty to k1ck out of CXJStcncc. lou should not bother youl' head i.n wishing for bolter followers or a dominion less questionable. If you have fiflccn hundred men willing to fight and die for you, and not minding tile laws on the subject, you nrc n better and a greater man thtm the governor of Mississippi •. who, do l• i~ .best, cnn not com~n:.wd :fifteen hundred voles. To my mind, it 1s clear tl1at yours IS the greater distinction." . . . . . "'l'hat is true j and yet, "\Villiams, wllat IS diStinctiOn, maced, but a. sort of solitude-a. dreary eminence, wl•ich, tl•ough '~'e may bcl1old many laboring at all seasons to scr:unblc up 1ts side how few do we sec able to occupy it, how much more few the ~umber to kee11 it. ~ly eminence, imposing ns it may seem to you, is nt best very insecure. I have rivnls~some who seck to restrain me and to crush my power, by loppiug ofl' my best friends at every oppol'tun ity, and on the sl igbtcs~ pretences. rl'hesc I am bound to save, yet I do so nt grC'at pcnl to myse~f. i risk my own rule, nor my rule only-! risk my life daily, Ill tllis connection, by seekit•g to sa,·e, as I am resolute always to do, thP friend, h owever wanting in other respects, ·who has proved true to my desires and cause." I saw which way these remarks tended; and re~olvcd: at once, to pnt a salisfa?tot·y co~Jclusion to the ~~p.prchens\~.:: which 1 saw pre\•ailcd m tl10 mmcl of my ~ompa1110~. , llc_ obliquely seeking to justify himself for Ius course Ill tcgfnd to Eberly, which he saw that I knew-and, probably, he ":as aimin(J' to discover in how far I might be relied on in susta;nin( J' him in :my partisan conflict with t.he rivals o~ w.l•om •e sp~ke. My nnswcr was not without its art; and It fully answered its intended purpose. " . 1 uy011 "You do no more than you should, was my I ep Y· TilE AFA!Il GRI)\\":-> :'IIOHF: I~TH.I CATE . 357 nrc bound to succor your friends c,·cn agaiust the laws of your comrades, since they risk the jJC'ril of these bws in serving you. I understand your difficulty. Indeed, it did not 11eed that you should declare it to me, in order to make me know it. I had not been nn hour in your camp on the Sipsy before I snw the secret strife which wns going on; and, I mny say, :Foster, once for all, you may count upon me to sustain you against nny rival that may be rnised UJ) in Oil position to your just rule from among the confederates. Count on me, I sny, to Sllj)port yon ngainst \VPbber nnd his clan, for it strikes me thnt he is the fCIlow you have most to fear." "You arc right!" he said, grasping my hnnd ncn·ously " you arc quite righ t, and I ndmirc your keenness of· observation, only less than the warmth of your personal regard for me. "\Vcbbcr is, indeed, lite person who is now })lotting secretly against me. T here will be a trial of strength between us in the council of twelve to-morrow-and I shaH defeat him there, though by so small a vote that it will tend to stimulate ltim to still greater exertions, and to make him more inveterate in his hostility, which he lws still grncc enough to seek to hide." H e would probably l1ave gone on much further in the development of the miserable strife that followed hard upon his state, but that a movement of my own interrupted him. 1\f y eyes lmd been for some t ime turned watchfully upon the group of three persons to wl1ich I have already called tl1e reader's attention. Tlwy had left tl1e little knoll on which they seated tl1emselves when Foster first emerged with them from the place of conference, and had advanced somewhat fmther into the valley, and consequently rnther nearer to my place of repose, which was l1alf way down one of tl1e hills out of which it was scooped. This approach enabled me to observe them better; and, as they moved about among another party, who were pitching quoits, my eyes gradually distinguished their pcrsOlJS first, and at length their features. This discovery led to my intenuption of Foster's developmcnh;. What was my consternation and wonder to recognise John Hm·dis in one, and Ben Pickett in another of this group. With difficulty I kept myself from leaping upright-my finger was iuvoluntariJy extended towal'd them. |