IN THE- DAY ,^ • JEFFERSON BY HEZEKIAH-BUTTERWORTH ; - ' ■ : i / . B^f ■" If » '/v % rA®£^ ~ F%.*j Bfcgsa >,V.H-^ 4Tc^s^i>5^<<»>>^:^to^ ahp S. 11 Hill library PZ7 B982 Intj North (Earnlina £tat? Hnitiprstty FROM THE LIBRARY OF ANNE LEACH TURNER :I;ool 5. 1 IPrisc. Jov ^tez^CCcLt^f $FOfe S01 947459 S THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE INDICATED BELOW AND IS SUB- JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS de!k ED AT ^ he circ ulation Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/indaysofjeffersoOObutt IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH. Uaiform Edition. Each, L2mo, cloth, $1.50. In the Days of Jefferson ; or, The Six Golden Horseshoes. Illustrated by F. T. Merrill and Others. The Story of Magellan. A Tale of the Discovery of the Philippines. Illustrated by F. T. Merrill and Others. The Treasure Ship. A Story of Sir William Phipps and the Inter-Charter Period in Massachusetts. Illustrated by B. West Clinedinst and Others. The Pilot of the Mayflower. Illustrated by H. Winthrop Peirce and Others. True to his Home. A Tale of the Boyhood of Franklin. Illustrated by H. Winthrop Peirce. The Wampum Belt ; or, The Fairest Page of His- tory. A Tale of William Penn's Treaty with the Indians. With 6 full-page Illustrations. The Knight of Liberty. A Tale of the Fortunes of Lafayette. With 6 full-page Illustrations. The Patriot Schoolmaster. A Tale of the Minute- men and the Sons of Liberty. With 6 full-page Illustrations by H. Winthrop Peirce. In the Boyhood of Lincoln. A Story of the Black Hawk War and the Tunker Schoolmaster. With 12 Illustrations and colored Frontispiece. The Boys of Greenway Court. A Story of the F.arly Years of Washington. With io full-page Illustrations. The Log School-House on the Columbia. With 13 full-page Illustrations by J. Carter Beard, E. J. Austen, and Others. D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK. He played a minuet for the Indian chief. (See page 12.) IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON Or, THE SIX GOLDEN HORSESHOES A TALE OF REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH AUTHOR OF THE STORY OF MAGELLAN, IN THE BOYHOOD OK LINCOLN, THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE ON THE COLUMBIA, THE PILOT OK THE MAYFLOWER, HIE TREASURE SHIP, ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK T. MERRILL NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1900 Copyright. 1900, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. "Mr. Jefferson's life and deeds .are now the best text- books to be studied and re-studied by the old and young. The preservation of individual liberty in this republic is the only assurance we can have of our nation's permanence." Thomas Donaldson. "Taken as a whole, history presents nothing so grand, so beautiful, so peculiarly felicitous in all great points as the life of Thomas Jefferson." Judge Dabney Carr. PREFACE In the last book of the Creators of Liberty Series of historical fiction for young people I told the story of Sir "William Phipps and some of the remarkable tales of old Boston at the intercharter period. In this volume I relate a story of a friendship formed by Thomas Jeiferson in his boyhood, which greatly influenced the opinions which he gave to the world in the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson's friendship with the young political enthusiast Dabney Carr was ideal, and is one of the most inspiring examples of noble association in boyhood which we have ever known. As a means of interpretation I have retold the wonder tale of the Wild Man of the Shenandoah, one of the most curious and remarkable stories of early pioneer history in Virginia. This mysterious Algerine doubtless illustrated to Thomas Jefferson the nobility that is born in all men, and also the truth that he and his boyhood friend had learned together under their favorite oak at Monticello that " all men are created equal, and endowed with certain inalien- vii viii IX THE DAYS OP JEFFERSON able rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." To the noble friendship of Thomas Jefferson and Dab- ney ( 'arr the world owes a debt of gratitude, and it is a pleasure to tell this story of true-hearted life. Quite as attractive is the character of " Elder *" John Leland, the forest preacher, who is said to have made Madison Presi- dent by an act of magnanimity, and who presented Presi- dent Jefferson the " great Cheshire cheese." My purpose in this book is so to tell the story of Jeffer- son's early life as to illustrate two decisive points of Ameri- can history: 1st The early experiences and habits of thought out of which grew the twelve immortal line- of the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: 2d. The events that led to the purchase of the great Louisiana Territory and to the principles of the Monroe doctrine. The book, like the other volumes of this series, pr< - for the most part, facts in a setting of fiction. Jefferson's early years in the Virginia wilderness were quite unlike - of Samuel Adams, or of the Pilgrim-. Penn, or Lafa- yette. The " Old Dominion " preceded the orators of the Revolution, and the planters' home- were rich in int. ing legends, and some of these we have sought to present in story form, especially those which picture early republi- can simplicity. In this volume we have aimed to collect the most pleas- PKEPACE IX ing incidents and legends of Jefferson's home life, espe- cially those of his early friendships, and of his love of Na- ture, of the violin, and of the poems of Ossian. It was in his early home that Jefferson formed his opinions that changed empires, and it is as " Farmer Jefferson " that we present him here. H. B. February 1, 1900. CONTENTS CFUPTF.R I- II.- III.- IV.- V.- VI.- VII.- VIII.- IX.- X.- XI.- XII.- XIII.- XIV- XV- XVI.- XVII.- XVIII.- XIX.- XX.— PAGE TnE CABIN PULLING 1 Ontasette and tiie seven Chekokees .... 8 His " chum " 14 •Ontasette's strange story 19 •The Wild Man of the Shenandoah 25 ■The great oak of Monticello 32 Ontasette's farewell to his people .... 38 A visit to the Wild Man of the Woods ... 44 -The pledge of friendship and the golden horseshoe . 49 -Dabney Care and Thomas Jefferson go to the won- derful Natural Bridge 56 •The man of mystery 62 •The turning point in life 67 -a kit story — the seven beasts that were tamed . . 78 Selim makes a disclosure 86 Slum's remarkable dream 96 ■An unaccountable lad — Patrick Henry .... 100 a most notable page of history — that strange boy AGAIN 109 -Patrick Henry studying oratory 114 Dabney tells Jefferson a secret — Jefferson reveals his own heart to Dabney 120 A holiday night at Dabney Carr's — the happy " man in the tub" 125 x ii IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON CHAPTER PAGE XXI. — TWO MORE REMARKABLE BOYS 136 XXII. — Selim of the windmill 145 XXIII. — The saddlebag preacher 150 XXIV. — Jefferson surrenders to Dabney Carr the great OPPORTUNITY OF HIS LIFE 158 XXV. — A VOICE IN THE WINDOW 109 XXVI. — The masterpiece of American oratory . . . 175 XXVII. — The principles of the Declaration of Independ- ence begin to form in farmer Jefferson's young mind 178 XXVIII. — The writing of the immortal Declaration . . 185 XXIX. — " Who shall it be ? " 191 XXX. — '• Troopers, troopers ! " 195 XXXI. — A restless boy 201 XXXII. — The Indian in the chimney 207 XXXIII.— Has he changed? 210 XXXIV. — Farmer Jefferson mounts his horse and goes to be inaugurated 223 XXXV. — The great Cheshire cheese 229 XXXVI. — " Republican simplicity " 239 XXXVII.— Louisiana— the march through the " Drowned Lands" 246 XXXVIIL— "The Louisiana purchase" 250 XXXIX.— Home again 256 XL. — Selim's ride in a sedan chair 265 XLI. — Poor— immortal • 270 APPENDIX Chastellux's description of Monticello 275 Jefferson's review of his early life 279 Jefferson's maxims 282 LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATION'S He played a minuet for the Indian chief ••I raised my gun to fire" .... The golden horseshoe gleamed in the setting sun "Elder Leland " mounted the rude pulpit He stopped by the way Thomas Jefferson "The orescent moon!" FACING PAGE Frontispiece 28 93 155 225 240 269 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON CHAPTEE I THE CABIX PULLING The house stood on the country road of Albemarle, five miles east of Charlottesville, Virginia, and commanded a view of primeval landscape rarely surpassed. Before its doors lay the Rivanna River, and the green valley of the Rivanna. It was on this clearing among the scattered families of Indians that a very curious scene occurred, and in it we will introduce our readers to one of the most notable families of the history of liberty in the world. There stood one morning in the door of the tavernlike mansion a man who had the form of a giant. He was Peter Jefferson. His dogs leaped about the yard as he came to the door, and his little boy Thomas, who was born in that house on April 13, 1743, darted under the pioneer's arm and stood on the green among the sycamore trees that tow- ered among the outbuildings of the place. " Friday — Friday, and Saturday, and the rest of ye, here, come here ! " The voice of the pioneer rang clear on the sunny air. 1 2 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSOX Three negro slaves came out of some cabins under the locust trees. The dogs jumped around little Thomas Jefferson, and one of them stood up on his legs comically, as if looking for further orders from the forest lord, Peter Jefferson. " Sar? " said Friday. " Sar? " :-aid Saturday. •' Sar? " said a young negro, whatever his name might have been. The dogs seemed to be intent on some such inquiry. " This day that old cabin must come down." " Yes. sar," said Friday. " But how is it to be done? " " Never ask how a thing is to be done, but do it. Get some ropes and grappling irons, and put the grappling irons over the ridgepole of the roof, and pull and pull, and the old cabin will come rattling down." " But that there ole cabin was made of oak, Massa Peter, and the wood is as hard as horns. The def [death] ticks have begun to make holes there — I've slept there, Massa Peter — but you can't pull down a building like that till the def [death] ticks have made it their habitation for a longer time than now." "Habitation! " Friday's eyes rolled at this great word which he had heard from a traveling preacher. " Don't stop to argue with me; off to the old house, dogs and all." " I am not a Samson, sar." "■ Then be one — off, dogs and all," said the pioneer with good-humored gruffness. "• May I go to the cabin. pulling? " asked little Thomas Jefferson. an pin THE CABIN PULLING 3 " Yes, yes. See that the negroes pull like Samson, and don't get hurt as he did, and Friday, look out for Tom when the roof comes down. It will fall quick when it takes the cant." The negroes went to the outbuildings and secured some ropes and grappling irons. Then they passed along a bowery road toward the old building, which had been a sort of a wayfarers' lodge before the new house was built. The dogs passed after them, and little Thomas followed all. It was an easy thing to put the grappling irons over the ridgepole. The youngest negro leaped up to the lean-to roof, and cast the ropes down to Friday and Saturday. He jumped clown and joined the others. The three negroes seized the ends of the ropes and pulled, but the cabin stood firm. "Samson himself couldn't move that oak ruff [roof]," said Friday. " Pull again, now ! " said Saturday. Pull they did. Not a beam creaked. " Let me help you," said little Thomas. " No, no, Massa Thomas, you are only a little shaver, and couldn't pull a pound. You may do the grunting for us, and we will do the pulling. Now pull again, all — pull hard — pull with all your might." They pulled, but the building did not move. Not a joint creaked or a knee bent. " Three Samsons could never start that ruff," said Friday. " I'll go and get the broad axes, and we will cut the thing down. The house is petrified— turned to bone, like old Squire Doolittle's heart, as the doctor said." There was a sudden silence. The giant form of 4 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON Peter Jefferson, the pioneer, came striding clown the open path. " Haven't you toppled that old shell of a cabin over yet? If one wants anything done, he must do it himself. Here, let me take the ropes, all three of them. Now stand out of the way, all." He grasped the ropes, and then threw his form back, his hat falling from his head. The roof began to move and the joints to creak. He stuck his feet into the firm earth, and pulled again. Slowly the roof bent inward, and the cabin began to bow. " Now," said the Samson of the forest, " here it comes! " There was a swift movement of the roof. Friday cried out, " A marvel of de Lord ! " The dogs howled and the negroes ran back. " Heave now ! " said Peter Jefferson to himself with a Titan effort. The cabin came crashing down. The negroes rolled their eyes, the dogs barked. " The days of signs and wonders are not past," said Friday. " The story of Samson that the preacher he tell am true. I'ze seen it wid mine eyes in Massa Peter to-day," said Saturday. Little Tommy ran home, the dogs at his heels, to tell his mother the story of what had happened, a tale that in his imagination rivaled the biblical narrative of Samson. What a father the little boy had! To him the days of the Judges had come back, or of Hercules and the ISTemean THE CABIN PULLING 5 lion. He would have liked to publish the wonder abroad — but where? Here was the wilderness. But ah, Thomas Jefferson, you will one day pull down an older and greater structure than this! Thomas liked to follow his strong father on his rides through the Virginia highways. There was a queer old powder house or magazine at Williamsburg which had been erected at considerable ex- pense and with great ingenuity by good Governor Spots- wood. Thomas had heard of this curious building, and he may have been told that it was founded by " Tubal Cain," which the Governor was sometimes called. So one day, when liis father was going to ride on horse- back over to Williamsburg, he obtained permission to ride after him on his pony, and when they came to the powder magazine, Thomas asked, probably: " Who was this Tubal Cain? " " Governor Spotswood." " And what did Governor Spotswood do that he should be called Tubal Cain?" " He dug iron and made forges in the forest." This picture of the good Governor must have been very interesting to a boy with an inquiring mind. It was a mellow day, and the octagonal magazine rose sunny and silent with iron-barred doors. Some visitors were there. They, too, had come on horseback, and their horses stood hobbled by the bowery roadside. Among the visitors was an aged planter, who wore on his waistcoat a golden horseshoe. Thomas's eye fell upon the glittering ornament, and fol- 6 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSOX lowed it. The gray-haired planter saw that it had awak- ened the boy's interest. " You may well look at that," said the old man. ' ; What do von think, my boy? That was given to me by the Gov- ernor himself. Mark yon, mark you, mark you " — and here he turned around three times — " there is a bigger country behind the mountains than lies before it. The world has not yet seen the West — it will one day follow the Sir Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. That will be a great day. You may be in it; we can not tell what will happen. In the Louisiana land lies a great future for America." Thomas looked much pleased at the planter's animation. What did the planter mean? Old men like to excite the wonder of young people. The planter saw a new light in the boy's gray eyes, and he stepped under a tree outside of the wall and lifted his cane. " Boy, c journey and to live out of doors. So parties of these Indians at times came wandering up from Georgia. through the burning Carolinas, in summer, to the settle- ments in Virginia, where they beheld a new people and order of life, which to them seemed like encampments of the gods on earth, and of which they carried back wonder- ful tales to their camps on the Savannah, Tuskegee, and the Alabama. TVhen new houses were framed in Virginia there were rustic festivals called " house raisings," and when the first ONTASETTE AND THE SEVEN CHEROKEES 9 fires were kindled on new hearths there were given feasts called " house warmings." The hospitalities on such occa- sions were bounteous; there were served to the people an abundance of food, and hogsheads of cider and plenteous tobacco. People came to these merriments from " all the country around," as sparsely settled neighborhoods were then called. At these rural feasts appeared the Indians — how, no one but themselves knew; whence, no one but themselves knew. How the news of the house raisings got to them was as mysterious. But they came, as the birds of the air come. Flying feet must have conveyed the news, for some of these red visitors came from distant rivers. But they were welcome. The festivals would not have been complete without them. The chiefs and chief men of the tribes were especially welcome. Among these wandering lords of the sunny forests in the Indian towns over the blue mountains was Ontasette, a Cherokee chief. " He was always the guest of my father on his journeys to Williamsburg," once wrote Thomas Jef- ferson in some recollections of his boyhood. The Indians must have regarded the giant Peter Jefferson, a man hale and hearty with a word of cheer for all, as a kind of a chief. Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia. Here people had grown rich, and had come to live in an almost baronial style or in the style of the Cavaliers. The plantation houses around the city covered a great extent of ground, in some cases two acres, and the plantations themselves were vast estates of thousands of acres. At this city was held a kind of viceroyal court, and there grew up around it a prhni- JO IN THE HAYS OF JEFFERSOX tive aristocracy, such as was found nowhere else among the colonies. George H was on the throne. It became a plan of the magistrates of the Virginia colony at Williamsburg to send delegations of noble Indians to London, and to present them to the court, in order to exhibit the conditions of the colon v. Ontasette desired to go to England, not to be exhibited, but to plead before the throne the cause of his own people. Never was a purpose more noble. One evening in autumn, after the great crops of corn and tobacco had been gathered in and the bright still days of fox hunting had come, Ontasette came stalking up to the new forest house, whose light shone out on the valley. He was followed by some of his chief men. He rapped at the door. The family were at supper. " Who is there '. " asked Peter Jefferson, in a resonant voice. " I am Ontasette," the voice returned. Peter Jefferson rose and opened the door, bowed, and swept back his broad hand. '• Welcome, Ontasette," he said. " Welcome to our table and fir- ! The Indians were served with an evening meal, when Ontasette sank down on his blanket before the fire, and said : " Smoke talk — let us have smoke talk. How far is it to Lunnon [London] \ " The question drew the whole family around him. " Forty notch sticks?" he continued. " Three thousand miles," said Peter Jefferson. ONTASETTE AND THE SEVEN CHEROKEES H '' Twice forty?" said Ontasette, counting two fingers. " Twice forty notch sticks? " " More, Ontasette." 'Three times forty?" he asked, holding up three fingers. Mr. Jefferson held up all his fingers and said: "Ten times forty, and ten times forty, and ten times forty, and more and more and more." ' Then Ontasette, he can no go but for his people. He would go to plead for his people, his own people." "How many houses are there in Lunnon?" continued the Indian. " As many as the stars," said the pioneer. "Much eat? Ontasette much wonder." The pioneer bowed. "Much drink? Much wonder." The pioneer bowed again. " Open doors? Much wonder." " Open doors for chief Indians," said the pioneer. A row of apples was set down before the fire to roast, and Ontasette began to feel the comforts of a civilized home in a way that made London whose homes were " as many as the stars " grow more attractive to him. " Will the King's house be open? " " To Ontasette," said the pioneer. "Much sleep?" asked Ontasette. Much eat, much drink, much sleep, and open doors," said the pioneer. "Much wonder— Lunnon it make Ontasette much wonder. Much eat, much drink, much sleep, then Onta- sette he go. Will the sun follow him? " 12 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON - Yes, Ontasette." " And the raoon: 1 " " Yes, Ontasette.'* -And the stars f" "Yes, yes.' 5 " But not Lis people." " But Ontasette will come back to Lis people, tLe ocean will bring him back."' Little TLoinas Jefferson became as greatly excited over tliis visit of Ontasette as at tLe pulling down of tLe old cabin, and said to Lis father: " I wish that Dabney were Lere to-night." " Your heart is always turning to Dabney," said Lis fatber. TLe cliieftain's eye followed tLe boy. " Boy, tLe fire burns LigL — I will tell yon a story. It is of a boy. It will make yon much wonder.''' "To-morrow, under tLe tree*," said tLe boy; "Dabney will be Lere." " To-morrow night Ontasette will tell tLe boy a story by tLe fire." " And Dabney will come and stay all night with me. I would only Lave half ears without him." " You and Dabney Lave tLe same eyes, tLe same ears, and tLe same heart," said Peter Jefferson. " It is curious Low some boys like each otLer. It takes two to make life happy in all tilings. We find onr joy not in our own but in another's heart." Thomas pitied the distressed Indian cLief. He wisLed to comfort Lira. How could Le do it ? He suddenly crossed tLe room, and took from a sLelf Lis violin. ONTASETTE AND THE SEVEN CHEROKEES 13 The violin was as magic to him. Mozart's Court or Don Giovanni minuet must have had peculiar charms for him. He tuned the violin and threw the haunting rhythms of a minuet upon the air. The enchantment found a tender place in the royal In- dian's heart. It awakened a thrill of patriotism for his race. When the music ceased the Indian lifted his hand, and said: " To plead the cause of my own people, me go away." There was nobility and tenderness in that Indian's voice. I HAPTEK III :::- "" chum " Dabxey " — who was Dabney of whom little Thomas Jefferson had spoken so fondly, of whom he though! much that he did not wish to listen to an Indian story without him? He was Dabney Can*, a boy whom Thomas deemed well nigh perfect, and whose opinion of him never changed. Little Dabnev Carr was the heart of the heart of little Thomas Jefferson. The two boys loved each oth^ : ardently that they had all things in common, and each was happy when the other was happy, and neither had content- ment without the other. Noble companionship in boyhood as a rule will make noble men. The choice of an intimate friend or chum is a point of suggestion that colors the whole life. The com- panionship of the Wesleys and vThiteneld at college bnilded the three lives. Arthur Hallam. whom Tennyson celebrates in In Memoriam. died young, but his noble life inspired both Tennyson and Gladstone, and helped make them the powers for the world-wide influence that they exercised in their generation. He who studies the lives of Tennyson and Gladstone — and there are few nobler studies — reads Arthur Hallam's influence in the ennobling achievements of these 14 HIS "CHUM" 15 men. Young Zinzendorf and his boy companions formed a little society called " The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed," and the harvest was the Christian civilization of Greenland and a part of the western islands. Friendships formed among boys for good, like the friendship of David and Jonathan, lead to long and sacred memories. This is our story. Dabney Can* had a wonderful mind. He seemed to see what other boys could only reason out. He loved every- body, believed in the good of everybody, and helped every- body by his faith in them. We help every one by faith in good qualities; such an influence roots out evil tendencies; promotes the growth of what is noble, and casts out what is unworthy. Talk to a tempted man of his one good qual- ity, and that quality will grow, and become the good angel of his life. It was a fortunate thing for the whole world that Thomas Jefferson in his boyhood came to lock hands with Dabney Carr. Without that friendship which was never broken, Jefferson, as we think, would not have known how to have written so well the immortal preamble to the Declaration of Independence. That preamble which for a century was spoken by boys on the Fourth of July festival platform every year, in all or nearly all towns in America, and which was echoed by the world, grew out of Jefferson's life, and was written, as it were, out of the ink of his life, after he had formed these principles in his boyhood under the influence of his hand- in-hand companion, who seemed born with a true vision of human rights. When Jefferson sat down in his room at Philadelphia and wrote for the emancipation, not only of 16 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON the United Colonies, but of mankind. " All men are created equal, 1 " lie but voiced an influence behind the influence, and one that repeated the teachings of little Dabney, the boy politician of the woods of the Uivanna. Dabney lived among grand people, in the " Old Domin- ion." as the territory was called, because Virginia had been true to Charles in Cromwell's time, and had invited the exiled monarch to come over the sea and be her King. But Dabney cared little for the court and Cavaliers and the fine estates that had grown tip in the Old Dominion. He wanted everybody to be free and happy, and saw the time coming when all men should be kings. He was a child prophet, or seems to have been. It hurt his heart t' - anything injured, even a beast or bird. He not only hived every one, and helped every one, but plead every one's cause. AYhere was there another boy with such ideas. whose heart went out to everybody 1 He found such a spirit in Thomas Jefferson, and the two pledged their friendship for each other, and began to roam the roads of the mountains and valleys together, and to talk of all that they would like to preach to the world and to do for the world. Thomas's father, the giant Peter Jefferson, had the same spirit. He loved justice, and was ready to defend any man's rights. The mother of Jefferson was a noble woman, but she belonged to polite society, and to a gay class of people who followed the maimers of the English Cavaliers. Young Jefferson would be soon tempted to fol- low either the little world of fashion at the capital of the Virginia wilderness or the spirit of little Dabney Carr. "Which would it be I HIS "CHUM" 17 He would do both for a ■ time, under influence. He would wear velvets, silk hose, and silver buckles; he would play the fiddle, sing, and dance, be a beau with no little vanity; but would such a life satisfy him, after listening to the thoughts of the boy orator, little Dabney, who saw what every one owes to mankind? We shall see. In the early Virginia morning, a musical morning in summer, when a thousand birds sang in the woods, but one now of cawing jays and falling leaves, Thomas Jefferson's pony's legs flew over the rude forest ways, and came to the home of Dabney and stopped before the door. Dabney saw him coming, and ran to meet him. " O Dabney, Dabney," said Thomas, " come home with me! What do you think? Ontasette has come with his warriors! You should see them all, plumes and blankets and shakings of shells! He is a lord. He is going to tell a story to-night by the fire. He began to tell the story last night, but I asked him before all the people to wait until you came. It is a story of a boy." Dabney's eyes glowed. The coming of a circus to a boy of a later period would not have been more of a wonder. Ontasette? Dabney had heard of the tall Cherokee. He believed in Indians. He wished to see the Indians grow in the knowledge of all that is good and become mighty men, brothers of the white people. He had heard of a plan of the seven noble Indians to go to England to plead the cause of their race. This filled his heart with delight. He had a vivid imagination. He dreamed of the wonder that these Indians would feel when they saw great London, heard the bells ringing, and were 18 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON welcomed by King George II and his brilliant court. He imagined the King would receive their petition. Dabney ran back to the house for a word with hi; parents, and then the two boys hurried back to Peter Jef- ferson's, the one riding behind the other, and holding him by the shoulder. The pony himself seemed to be a chum to them, and to make three, for Thomas Jefferson loved horses, as well his violin. He always had a favorite horse. He early made friendships with noble animals as well as noble people. He was proud of his pony, and his pony was proud of him. The two boys and the pony were alike happy on this crisp morning. The pony was carrying the " pre- amble " then, though the boys knew it not. They were now going to hear a story by an Indian lord, by a great fire that would be kindled on the hearth of giant Peter Jef- ferson. CHAPTER IV ONTASETTE S STRANGE STORY There was a notable gathering around the great hearth of Peter Jefferson that night. Mr. Jefferson himself as well as Thomas made intimate friends — he went neighbor- ing. At one period of his life his favorite neighbor, a lusty planter, visited him every week, and he returned the visit as often, and sometimes remained overnight at the agree- able planter's house. In those days of " neighboring " two men as well as two boys would become brothers to each other. Such intimacies are not common now in associated life, but they were not uncommon then, when one planter would find in another a companion and adviser in all he thought and did. Such inti- macies did not make the good wives jealous; they too made them among themselves. " Neighboring " was one of the charms of scattered provincial society. Peter Jefferson had brought his heart's brother, the planter, over to hear Ontasette's story. Mrs. Jefferson, one of the most active and lovely women of the province, had also invited her friends to meet the Indian chief. The overseers gathered in the great room with these friendly neighbors, and the colored house servants were ready to listen at the doors. 3 19 ■_ IX THE DATS OF .JEFFERSON The neighbors talked of the old times of Captain John Smith, and of Bacon and his men. A pile of pine knots and cones had been gathered by the fire, and each neighbor as he was about to speak threw a pine knot or cone on the fire, and talked as it blazed up and sent a gleam through the rooni. The dogs started up at these movements, and seemed to wait for the wonder talks like the rest. In the midst of the friendly discourse Ontasette, lying beside the fire, suddenly raised his arm. All the men threw pine cones on the fire: there was a crackling and a high red gleam; then all was still. " In the Cherokee land," said the chief. " we Indians meet in lodges; we hold up torches and tell tales. "When the torch is burnt out, the tale is done. The torch never burns again; it goes away, and it never comes again. ^Ve, I . are torches — the story-teller, the story — as well as the light. VTe go away, we change as the torches do into smoke, and the smoke changes into some form that we can not see, but we can breathe it after it has gone. It goes to Xature, and it builds up other forms. I wonder if so goes out the torch of life. VTe can not see. TTe come, we go. '* You tell the story of the Indian girl Pocahontas who saved the life of the great Captain Smith. 'Bright Stream' the Indians called her by the woodland council fires. She married the young planter, and went away over the sea where no Indian canoe has ever gone. I dream of the great water where no canoes go. They tell me at "Williamsburg to gc over the sea. Ontasette may go. Lunnon [London] is not beyond the stars — Ontasette may go over the sea." He paused, and the men threw pine knots and cones on the fire, and the dogs started up. ONTASETTE'S STRANGE STORY 21 " You tell stories," he continued, " about that Indian girl who was a flying cloud, a wandering bird, the light of river chieftain's heart. Listen to Ontasette. We do not tell that tale so. It was a boy that first saved the life of the great captain." He paused again. Here was a new view of the adven- tures of Captain John Smith in the colony. Was the hero of the Turkish wars, the commissioner of King James, the " father of America," twice saved from death by a young Indian? Again the red flames shot up from the burning cones. Ontasette continued: " Your great white Captain John Smith went among the Chickahominies. He had heard of the long river Chicka- hominy. His King over the sea, beyond the paddles of the canoes, had ordered him to travel over the country and to break the waters of new streams. " He wanted a guide, and there came to him an Indian boy, little Talking Wind. And the great captain said to little Talking Wind, ' Will you guide me honestly, and will you be true ? ' And the little Indian boy told the great captain that he would guide him honestly and be true. The heart of a little Indian is always true. The Indian grows cunning; after he has seen the white man much he grows so, but his young heart is true. His foot is as true as the wing of the bird in the air to the nest in the tree. " The great captain took two white men with him, and hired two Indians to paddle his boat, and they all started to see the river Chickahominy — where it came from, where it went to, what it was all about, so that the great captain might write a letter to the King, 22 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON " Talking Wind was a favorite of the tribe. He was bright, lie was nimble. He had wandered the forest ways with the warriors, he had tossed pine cones on the fires of the lodges. He was handsome, and wore plumes of the sea birds. " The great captain left his men at a point on the shore, and he said: " ' Talking Wind is light, his feet are swift, and his hands make the paddles go.' " And the boy said : ' I am light, my feet are swift, and I make the paddles fly.' " The great captain said : ' The river is shallow now. I will take a light boat, and Talking "Wind shall paddle for me.' " He commanded the men not to leave the large boat until he should come back, and then he and little Talking- Wind went away. " The men he had left did not obey the great captain. They went on shore and built a fire. " A company of Indians found them there in camp, and they killed the white men and then went in pursuit of the great captain to kill him. " There was an Indian town up the stream called Orpax. Here the great captain landed, and began to journey with little Talking Wind through the woods. " The Indians who had killed the two white men that the great captain had left behind followed them, stealing along after them softly — softly like the lynxes after their prey. " Suddenly the great captain heard a sharp voice in the air. It was an arrow. Then there was a flight of ONTASETTE'S STRANGE STORY 23 arrows, like hawks' wings. The bushes stirred behind him. " Then little Talking Wind, he say: ' They are my people; they will not shoot me. They will kill you. Let me leap up on your shoulders, tie me on to your back and run. They will not shoot at me.' " The great captain tied Talking Wind on to his back by a rope around his arm, and ran, and the Indians would not shoot at little Talking Wind. Some people say that the captain he compel little Talking Wind to mount his arm. That would not be like true chief — no, no! 'No, no! " The great captain ran into the thick swamp and sank into the mud, and the Indians found him there. They did not kill him, but carried him to their chief. Then the girl whom you call Pocahontas saved him again. But the boy saved him first." There was a quick throwing of pine knots on to the fire. " I would like to have seen the little Indian boy covering the captain," said Thomas Jefferson, " and the captain run- ning, and the Indians following him, but holding their bows. How must the boy have felt ! " " I can see them in my mind," said Dabney. " The boy was a living shield. He was willing to be made a sacri- fice — a living sacrifice on a living altar — I never heard of a story like that. I would like to have met that Indian boy." ' " How would you like to have been that Indian boy? " asked Peter Jefferson. Ontasette shrugged his shoulders with an ougli. One of the dogs started up and howled, as though he understood the import of the story. The other dogs did the like, when 24 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON all the company burst into merry laughter, and Peter Jef- ferson said: " That was a good story, and I hope it was true. Tom- my, bring your fiddle now." Thomas Jefferson could handle the bow, when a boy. - dexterously that he had become a wonder as a musician in all the country round. He played The Flowers of the Forests for the merry company. Hot drinks were seryed, apples were roasted. The hot and smoky atmosphere of the great room made all sleepy at last, and the company found rest in the many chambers. They long discussed the question, " Did the Indian boy offer himself to Captain Smith as a hying shield, or did the captain compel him to be one -. " CHAPTER V THE WILD MAN OF THE SHENANDOAH In the midst of this discussion a loud rap was heard at the door. Peter Jefferson answered the call, and two men appeared, one of whom was a hunter in the Shenandoah and whom Mr. Jefferson had met at Staunton, the principal town of the neighboring county of Augusta. The counties of Augusta and Albemarle were separated by the Blue Ridge. Staunton was the county seat of Augusta. " Welcome," said Peter Jefferson, with his usual hos- pitality. " I have met you beyond the mountains. You have brought a stranger, as I see. You are both welcome." It was a cold, crisp evening, and the visitors drew near the fire, and stood before it. The company made way for them as they did so, throwing pine cones on the living coals, causing showers of red sparks to dance amid the crane and pot hooks. But each one stared at the stranger as he moved aside. ~Ro one had ever seen such a person as that before. The hunter of the Shenandoah led him to the fire, and said: "Yes, colonel, I have brought a stranger with me; a stranger to me, and a stranger to the world, I would say, if he had not a human form. I never knew that any such 25 26 DJ THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON person as he was to be found on this planet, and I sometimes think he must have come down to this world from some other world than this. Look at him." The hunter of the Shenandoah threw off a rude cape of skins from the stranger's shoulders, and an amazing figure presented itself. He was a brown man, but was not an Indian, nor a negro. His hair was black and unkempt, his beard was very long, and his feet were wrapped in rags. On his head was a deep scar. He wore a linsey tunic and leather leg- gings. There was silence in the room. Ontasette started up, faced the stranger, and looked at him with superstitious eyes. The hunter of the Shenandoah removed the hat from the brow of this strange being. " He is not a beast, you see," said he. " He is a wild man." The man of the woods was indeed not a beast. His fore- head was high, and the upper part of his face was very in- telligent ami beautiful. Dressed in a costume of high civi- lization he would have looked noble. As the hunter re- moved the man's hat, the latter bowed. "What is your friend's name?" asked Peter Jefferson. " For that matter, colonel, you know as well as I. He says ' Selim.' and I call him ' Selim.' " "What language does he speak?" asked Mr. Jefferson. " I do not know." said the hunter. " I never heard such a tongue before, nor has any one at Staunton. That is what brings me here. I was told that Ontasette and his men were crossing the mountains on their way to Williamsburg, THE WILD MAN OP THE SHENANDOAH 27 and I knew that he would stop here. So I have followed him here, hoping that he might be able to talk with the man." " But this is all very strange," said the colonel; " where did you first meet the stranger ? " " 'Tis a curious story, the strangest event of my life, and I have seen some of the strange things in the woods. I have roamed all over the great woods of the Shenandoah with dog and gun, but I never met anything like this. I am an old man now, but I can hardly myself credit the story that I am about to tell. " Well, listen all, while I sit down before the fire. Selim, sit down." The man said, " Selim-Selim." The hunter pointed to a mat beside the fire, and the man of the woods sat down, and drew up his legs and clasped them in his hands. They offered him a chair. " He does not sit on chairs," said the hunter. " He does not know how." " Is his name Selim-Selim? " asked the colonel. " I do not know. He speaks a few words that I can understand. He says ' Selim-Selim ' and ' God save ye,' and some plantation words of the far South — Creole words, they may be. I can not tell." " He is a runaway slave from Louisiana," said Peter Jefferson. " That can not be, colonel. He is not a negro. But now I will tell you how and where I first met him. " I was off on one of my hunting trips in the great woods. I was looking for deer, for my family needed veni- son. I had not met with any deer that clay, when suddenly 28 EN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON I came upon the trunk of a great tree that had fallen, rotted, and fed a mass of vegetation that sprang up from the bark. " The tree had been such a monster, such a king of the forest, that I stopped to look at it. Presently the tall bushes and vines that had sprung up from the decaying substance of it parted, and began to wave to and fro. I saw that there was something living behind the green leaves; I thought it might be the head of a deer, and I raised my gun to fire. Deer often stand still and look through the opening of bushes when a hunter approaches. " The bushes parted more widely as if they opened themselves. Then two eyes appeared at the opening — two eyes and some long hair. I could see nothing more. I thought they were the eyes of a deer, though I had never seen just such eyes before. They were his eyes. " I took aim to fire when he rose up out of the clump of bushes on the fallen tree. Had one risen out of the earth or come down from heaven I would not have been more surprised. He was naked then, except some pelts about his loins. " "WTlo was he ? I saw that he was not an Indian, a negro, a Spaniard, nor a Creole. His face looked like that of a prince. Iris body like that of a beast. " ' "Who are you? ' I called out. " He said : ' Selim-Selim. God so re ye ! ' " But that voice! It was like nothing that I ever heard before. I tried to talk with him, but lie uttered unknown words. TVe could only talk by signs. " His body was covered with hair. There were elf locks about his head. His feet were wrapped in rags, and his I raised my srun to fire. THE WILD MAN OF THE SHENANDOAH 29 arms were bleeding. His cheeks were hollow, and his legs and arms shriveled. I saw that he had not had suffi- cient food, and as I turned away I made signs to him to follow me. " He kept at my heels like a dog. I shot a deer, and he helped me dress it and bear the meat home. I felt that he was half a man and half an animal. When I asked him whence he came, he pointed to the sun. I thought that he might belong to some tribe of whom Ontasette might know, and so I have brought him here. " Will Ontasette talk with him? " Ontasette rose up, and bent his eyes on the wood wan- derer on the mat. " Selim, rise up," said the hunter, lifting his arm. Selim arose, and the two men, the Indian and the un- known, stood before the great fire. "What is your name?" asked Ontasette. " Selim-Selim," answered the wanderer. " God save ye!" " What is your country? " asked Ontasette. The woodman shook his head, and then waved his hands around his head in circles. "What is your name?" asked Ontasette. " Your name? " " Selim-Selim." " That is not an Indian word. He is not an Indian of any tribe." Ontasette addressed him in the Indian language of the Cherokee nation, but he did not understand. Selim pressed his hand against the great scar on his head as though he were in pain. 30 DJ THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON Ontasette spoke to him in Algonquin, but the man listened to it as to the wind. " lie is no man of this world," said one of the Indians; " he came down ; he live among the stars." The Indian pointed up. The man of the woods comprehended. He shook his head, stepped aside by himself, facing the company in the light of the lire, and pointed to the deep sear on his head. He presented a strange appearance indeed as he stood there in the light of the fire. " Gods do not have scars," said the Indian chieftain, pointing to the woodman, who seemed in great distress at what was going on around him, only a part of which he was able to comprehend. He turned his face upward. It grew beautiful. There was a look of lofty intelligence in it; he lifted his hands. The Indians leaped up. They thonght he was about to ascend. He stood there like a statue. Then his lips parted, and amid the deep silence he said: " Allah' " His voice rose, in some unknown and beau- tiful language, such as a poet might use. Was he praying? Was he calling on the gods? Who was he, whence did he come? Whither was it his purpose to go? I should say to the reader that, although in this pen picture of the past I sometimes use fictitious incidents and dialogue for the sake of interpretation of leading fact-, the story of this strange being is substantially true, and I know of few stories more marvelous, or of equal worth as a study of life in American history. The story of Sir Wil- liam Phipps, in the Treasure Ship, was interwoven with in- THE WILD MAN OF THE SHENANDOAH 31 cidents that seemed past belief, but which were true; but the narrative of Selim, the Wild Man of the Shenandoah, is one of the strangest, and in its end one of the noblest of the fireside tales of the early settlements of the western world. I well love to tell it, and I wish I could relate it better, for it was one of those many incidents which in the develop- ment of his life would one day lead Thomas Jefferson to re- peat, " All men are created equal." The clock struck eleven. The guests went to their rooms, all except Selim; he laid down on a mat, and saying something to " Allah," fell asleep, and the fire went clown. CHAPTER VI THE GREAT OAK OF MONTICELLO The next morning Ontasette and the Wild Man of the Shenandoah went away, one to Williamsburg, then the capital of Virginia, and the other over the mountains to the hunter's cabin. The Wild Man had excited an intense interest. " I will teach him English," said the hunter, " and then he will tell his own story." "What would that story be? When would it be told? The Indians declared again that the mysterious being did not belong to this world at all; that he had descended from the sky, or formed in the air, or come in a boat from some unknown land beyond the great water. He indeed did not belong to any savage race, Indian or African. His face was a type of high civilization; his ap- pearance was that of a religious man. One of the neighbors sought to solve the mystery by saying: " He is a mountain prophet." The mysterious stranger awakened an intense interest in all the families of the counties of Augusta and Albe- marle, especially among the old people and young. 32 THE GREAT OAK OF MONTICELLO 33 Dabney Carr remained at the forest house with Thomas Jefferson for several days, as he was accustomed to do. The two rode together on horseback, but they little cared for play. They were boys of books and discussions. Dabney had a peculiar mind; he loved the company of people who could think, and especially of those whose thoughts went beyond the common opinion. His thought was always on the wing. The two boys came to love each other more and more, and to find in each other a supreme desire to live for others in the future ; to do something that would live. Their love was no passing sentiment; it struck deep into the heart of each, and their high ambitions were no desire for show, but for influence. Dabney found no such great ambitions in any other boy but Tommy, nor did Thomas Jefferson prob- ably ever meet any one who so dreamed of being noble in the future. A hill that commanded extended views rose out of the valley. It was called Monticello — " little mount " — and the c in the word came to be pronounced ch. On the top of this hill stood a gigantic oak, a monarch of the forest. It was the delight of the two boys to lie down under this great oak tent, and to talk of what they hoped to be and to do in life. As their years grew, their friendship strengthened until neither had any experience that he did not share with the other. Their school days passed into college days, but their hearts were one. One day, beneath the great oak of Monticello, these two boys pledged their friendship to each other for life. It was a strange, unusual pledge, but I am writing a prac- tically true incident, or one substantially true. Of how 34 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON they redeemed the pledge that they came to make to each other, I shall speak in another chapter. The root of this friendship was a common purpose in life. Dabney Carr believed that God manifested himself to all men, that all were alike endowed with special talents and possibilities, and that all were created equal. These were large thoughts for so young a head and heart at that time. Ontasette and the Wild Man of the Shenandoah excited the curiosity of the two boys, but they awakened an interest in them that was more than that. They called the mys- terious stranger the " Wild Woodman." On the morning after the strange event, the two boys went up the mountain together to the great oak. Their minds were full of the Wild Woodman. " You can not tell what is in him," said Dabney. " One can not know what is in any man until the man reveals him- self. All men are created equal." "Is that so, Dabney? Are you sure? All men of the same order in life are created equal. You can not think that the Wild Woodman is created equal to your- self." Dabney aspired to be an orator. Oratory was in the air. There were a number of Virginia boys whe were preparing to become orators, among them Patrick Henry, though he knew it not. It is strange how young people who seem to be preparing for some great united work in life grow up at the same period, and are at first unknown to each other. They become acquainted through a common instinct. It was so with the Wesleys, AYhitefleld. and their coadjutors; the Adamses, Warren, Otis, and Hancock; the young liter- THE GREAT OAK OF MONTICELLO 35 ary lights of Oxford in Arthur Hallam's time; Boston poets; the Brook Farm cult, and it was so in ancient days. Dabney loved to speak in an oratorical way under the great oak, with " Tommy," as he called Jefferson, for an audience. He little dreamed what an audience he had. He talked like a boy, at the beginning of one of his little orations, but he ended like a sage. To-day he felt the oratorical instinct stirring within him. He wished to mold the mind of Tommy to his opinions. ' The Wild Woodman," he said, " may, for aught that you can say or I, be capable of more noble acts than I would think of doing. It is not race, or color, or society that makes a man. There are men who would give themselves for others, who would starve for others, who would become out- casts for a principle, that such society as we meet would never receive, or would cast out. How do you know what story the Wild Woodman may tell when he learns the lan- guage? Fugitives are sometimes heroes. Heroes are often fugitives. How can you tell that he would not give up life for a principle ? " " Oh, Dabney," said Thomas, " you have a great heart, but there is little to be expected of a man like the Wild Woodman. If he were to become a neighbor, instead of a wanderer, and give up his wild desires for a principle, I too would accept what you say that all men were created equal." " I hope," said Dabney, " that that man may live to tell his story, and to show what any man may become. He will. I can see it in my mind. There is a Pocahontas nobility in every heart. " Tommy, listen ! I wish I might be an orator. It is 36 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON grand to have a voice. Words live in a voice. It is the tone of the voice that moves men. Xot only are all men created equal, all men are possessed of equal rights — equal rights of which no man has any right to deprive them. The royal governors had no right to punish Morgan's men for defending their homes without a commission. It was the duty of those men to defend their rights. Right is an in- born principle, and no man, not even the King, has any right to deprive another of his rights." The little orator's face was filled with his own words. He raised his hand as though he were speaking to a multi- tude. " I would thunder that declaration through the world if I could." " Declaration " was a large word for the young orator under the oak. " Stop, stop, Dabney, you are only talking to me and the crows and the squirrels." " Only to you — but what a heart you have when people let you act yourself. Only to you! Why, you may face a Parliament some day — you may grow up to plead for the justice of all men! " " I can write better than I can speak," said Thomas. " I would do anything to make you an orator. You would have something to say, but who would hear it? What you say now is like treason. Do you think that my father has rights of which King George has no right to deprive him? " " Yes, I do. Xo man has any right to deprive another of his rights." "But the law?" " There are laws higher than those made by any man, THE GREAT OAK OF MONTICELLO 37 which every true man will obey, else there would be no martyrs. It is the right of any true man to live, it is his right to be free, and to make his own happiness. Every man is born to inherent rights " A little squirrel had seemed to be listening, with lifted fore legs, on a bough. At the last words he fled. Tommy called out, "Run, squirrel, rim!" ami rolled over on the ground. " Dabney, you ought to go to "Williamsburg and be an orator. That principle would do for a whole oration." " But what I say is true. Think of it when you first wake up in the morning. Then the mind sees. I am going to study oratory." " And I will study how to express your thoughts in ink. I believe in everybody, just as you do, Dabney. But that word — my memory can't hold it now." " It will, later!" " Let us go the way of the squirrel," said Thomas. Dabney Carr will speak again some day. He has begun his work of life under the oak of Monticello. In one sense the voice that was to plead fur universal freedom first arose there; the Declaration that was to overturn thrones and make new empires may be said to have been bom there. " I will be a hero," said young Horatio Xelson, walking the deck on a moonlit sea. In that hour was born the vic- tories of the Xile and Trafalgar. The suggestions of great events often have arisen in simple, lonely places, as that to Moses before the burning bush, or to King Alfred in his wanderings. CHAPTER VII • :~TASETTE's FAKKVTZll TO HIS PEOPLE Thomas Jkhpbbsoh and Dabney Carr delighted in riding on horseback, together, through forest ways, under the lift- ed mountains of the Blue Ridge, which traversed a natural park. There the air was as pure as the streams. The giant forests were yet a hunting ground of the Indians; here were heard the settlers' axes, and there rose through the dark pines the blue smoke of the pioneers' cabins. TThen Ontasette returned from Williamsburg, he had remarkable news to relate. The agents of the Commercial Company had resolved to send some agen*- to Ix ndon, and they were willing that Ontasette should accompany them. This noble-looking lord of the forest represented a great nation, whose dominion spread over almost the entire mid- dle South. He could speak English imperfectly. He knew the wide country of the pine forests as few chiefs did. He could present a view of the Cherokee country as few others could. So when the commissioners said to him. " Ontasette may go to London and be presented at court," he an- swered: " Ontasette will dare the great sea; he must serve his time and people." He called together his chief men who had journeyed toward the white settlements of the Virginia River country, ONTASETTE'S FAREWELL TO HIS PEOPLE 39 and told them of his commission. He appointed a place where he would meet his people and bid them fare- well. Jefferson from boyhood to his death was a defender of the rights of the Indians. Dabney Carr had the same heart. Both were thrilled by the poetry of the woods — Indian oratory. From Ontasette he heard a word that was a wonder — Louisiana. One day the swift pony of Thomas Jefferson appeared before the door of Dabney Carr's home, and Dabney came running into the yard. " Ontasette is going away," said Tommy. " He has called his people to meet him at the rocks; he is going to make a farewell address — we must hear it — what a scene it will be! Ontasette asked me to hear him speak, but I couldn't go without you; saddle your horse, we have no time to lose." In an hour the two boys were on their way to the rocks where Ontasette was to meet his people for the last time. " Ontasette is an orator," said Dabney. " The Indian orator speaks Nature's own words — I would not have missed hearing Ontasette to-day. You never leave me behind, Thomas." " I will never leave you behind, Dabney, as long as I live — I was born to share everything with you. It shall be so always. You have a heart for all the world, and my heart goes out to you as to no one else. Your doctrine of rights, natural rights, grows on me. I wish I could be an orator, but that can never be. I can feel and write what I can not speak." 40 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON They galloped on, talking more like two men than boys. When they spoke of " human rights " they used the solemn language of philosophers. Jefferson talked lightly among merry-making sons of the planters; he could frolic and fiddle and dance, hut with Dabney he was old in thought. He seemed to feel that some great destiny awaited him a- often as he heard Dabney talk in his earnest way on human rights. They came at last to a great meadow under towering rocks. A column of smoke arose there, and around it sat a company of Indians on blankets. Ontasette was among them. It was past high noon. The air was bright and still. The Indians did not move as the two boys approached on their ponies. They did not turn their heads — they were smoking. '■ "When will the chief r-peak? " asked Tommy of one of the Indians, who was not a Cherokee. •" When the moon risea — he will speak to the moon. Ir is the last time. I will interpret him for you; you play on the box of the air " (violin). The two beys galloped away and rested by themselves for a time under the great trees by the mountain river. They then went to a great mill with a wooden wheel, and - jnred a supper of the miller. In the evening they returned to the great meadow. A company of white people had gathered there to listen to Ontasette's farewell. The Indians were still smoking, regardless of those who were going r,r corning. The evening came on still, like a drifting shadow. Then ONTASETTE'S FAREWELL TO HIS PEOPLE 41 the world seemed lighting up again, and the red rim of the moon rose over the hills of the Shenandoah. Ontasette stood up. There was a natural platform in the rocks, some srx or ten feet above the great meadows. He ascended to it slowly, halting after each step, and at last stood upon it, and faced the Indians, saying: " My children of the forest, it is the last time — but On- tasette is not his own. The leaf on the wind may not answer the wind. The unknown beckons to me, and my feet are raised to go." He stood in silence, as the full moon came out over the great meadows, above the long dark mountain lines. He then lifted his face to the moon and the beams of the planet fell upon it.* " It is the last time, O sons of the Cherokees! The moon will rise on the mountain and go down on the sea, but we shall never meet again as we now meet. Lay down your pipes and listen to me. " The Great Spirit is changing the world. The moon will forever come again, but the Cherokees may not gather as we do now. They may go to the graves of their fathers, and the moon look down upon them, where the tribes lie still. * I know much of the great Ontasette, the warrior and orator of the Cherokees ; he was always the guest of my father on his journeys to and from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when he made his great farewell oration to his people, the evening before his departure for England. The moon was in full splendor, and to her he seemed to address himself in his prayers for his own safety on the voyage, and that of his people during his absence. His sounding voice, distinct articulation, animated action, and the solemn silence of his people at their several fires, filled me with awe and veneration. — Jefferson. 42 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON "lam going to iny brother King, over the sea, to plead your cause. I may return, and I may never return — the waters are wide, and men's hearts are hard; but while the stars shall come to the night, and the sun shall redden the mountains, wherever I may be, the heart of Ontasette will be true to the Cherokees. " O light of the heavens, who led my people out of the unknown, and who will guide them into the unknown. I can not go beyond thy light, Tribes may come and tribes may go, the springs may light up the hills, the summer sun at noon turn down the eyes of the living with fire, the au- tumn sunset burn like woods of flame, but thou shalt roll on forever, and while the eyes of Ontasette shall see thy light, his heart shall be true To his people. Thou art not more fixed in thy course than the heart of Ontasette. This heart may fail, these knees may fall, but. by the light above me and the earth beneath me, the heart of Ontasette shall be true to his people. The grave shall rind Ontasette true to his people, eternally true as the lights above, and his people will be true to Ontasette. So it is spoken in Nature — so it is said in the course of the stars." He dropped his eyes, and repeated the declaration: " My people, I go away — the ocean waits to receive me, and bear me to lands I have never seen. The sun may fail, the moon, the stars, the ocean may dry up in the sun, and the earth may wither, but the love of my heart for the Cherokees, and the love of my people for Ontasette will never falter or fail. There is a Spirit that rises over the lights above and the world beneath, and he has said that whatever the white man may be, or whatever he may do. the love of the red man for the red man and the Cherokee for ONTASETTE'S FAREWELL TO HIS PEOPLE 43 the Cherokee shall forever endure, and he has made for us all a better country than this. Farewell — I have done." He descended the rocks. He saw Dabney, and touched him and said: " "White boy, do not forget Ontasette. The waves will bear him away. He may come again." The two boys rode home in the moonlight, talking on the old subject of human rights all of the way. Young- Jefferson was filled with a desire to champion the rights of Indian tribes, for he saw that these rights were being ignored. His character was forming to utter great truths when the day for them should come. " I wish I had a cause to plead," said Dabney. " I feel it in me to do so. Did you not feel the Indian's heart? " " Yes, I felt it — I feel it now, and always will; to plead the cause of a people is the noblest of all things. I will do it — you will — we will." The Indian plead the cause of his people, but in vain. "What will these two cantering little patriots do? CHAPTEE VIII A VISIT TO THE WILD MAX OF THE WOODS The story of the appearance of the mysterious Man of the Woods in the Shenandoah Valley ran through all the colony and excited a great interest wherever it was told. People went to visit him, reported curious things about him, and the wonder grew. This was true in regard to him: he was learning to speak English rapidly, and had begun to tell the storj of his life. He said that he was born in Algiers, and the word went abroad that he was a Moor. But if he was a native of the Barbary coast how did he come to the Shenandoah wilderness? Xo ships had brought such a person to the Virginia coast. " The Wild Man is a Moor/' so the strange news ran. "But what is a Moor? " was asked in many homes. " The Moor is an Arabian," some answered, but why should an Arabian be found here? In the summer after the hunter and his strange com- panion had come over the Blue Ridge, our two boys, Jeffer- son and Dabney. started out for a ride over the Blue Ridge. The wilderness was in its primitive glory then, fall of leaves, flowers, and songs of birds. The days were long, the sky blazed, the great oaks were towers, the brooks flowed among the greenery of ferns. 44 A VISIT TO THE WILD MAN OP THE WOODS 45 They were going to Staunton, over the hills. " They say that the Wild Man is a Moor," said Dabney to Jefferson, as they galloped along. " He is learning Eng- lish, and he has told a part of his story. He is an Arabian." " But how did a Moor find his way here? iSTo Moors have come to Virginia on any ships. The ships that trade on the coast of Africa for slaves have brought no Moors to Virginia." " That he can not yet explain, but he will do so in time. Let us visit the Wild Man. He is coming out of his shell. Let us question him. He can speak much English now." " Agreed. We may find a hero in him. That would accord with your theory, Dabney. Let us go." They mounted the Ridge. The world, as it were, lay beneath them. The air was bright and hot, but it was cooled in the woods by the new green leaves that hung like curtains over the way, and covered it. Mountains rose above them into the pure sunlight. Eagles screamed and wheeled in the sky. They made their way to Staunton, a ride of some thirty or more miles, and there met with directions to the home of the hunter. In the long red twilight they came to the cabin. The Wild Man was there, sitting with a far away look, before the door. The hunter welcomed the two boys, gave them a supper, cared for their horses, and then all sat down with them among the pines in the glimmering dusk. The Wild Man's thoughts seemed far away. Dabney touched him on the knee, and said: "You are a Moor? " 46 IN THE DAYS OP JEFFERSON The "Wild Man's soul seemed to come back to him, as from some f ar-away imagination. " Selim— Selim is Al Jerira." " Al Jerira ? " said Dabney. " Where is .4/ Jerira ? " They looked at each other. " Is it Algiers? " asked the lad. The woodman's eyes lit up with a sudden joy. "Algiers — so the English him say. Algiers — Algiers! I see — you see — Algiers! Algiers! Selim speak true — Algiers!" "Then you are an Algerine?" The man of the woods rose up, and lifted his face and said : -Allah!" Then he looked down gratefully on Dabney: " Selim he is one Algerine, so the Engli-h Bay." He closed his eyes and stood there like a beautiful head on the form of a beast. But his brow was disfigured by the deep scar. A linsey garment hung around him. " He seems to be praying five times a day." said the hunter. " He faces the east when he prays, and then he sings. His voice seems far away. He sometimes goes up on the peak to pray and sing. He does that in the morn- ing. The first light of the sun falls on his face. Sometimes I think that he is no man at all. Do you believe in gods? " Selim opened his eyes. " A hard lot you have had \ " said Dabney. The man comprehended and answered, " Islam, Islam," and his face was a picture of peace. His name was Selim and he claimed to be an Algerine, this much was certain. He was not an Arabian. A VISIT TO THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS 47 " How did you come here? " asked Dabney. The man looked bewildered. k Where came you from — where? " asked Dabney again. " Istamboul." The man's face lighted again. " Know you Istamboul? " he asked. " Constantinople? " asked Dabney. Joy filled the man's face. " The English they say Constantinople." " An Algerine from Constantinople," said Dabney. " That would be impossible." " But," said the hunter, " there is truth in his face and in his tone. I can read truth or falsehood in a man's tone. A true ear can. He is telling the truth — I know not how, but he is a man of Algiers from Constantinople." " How is it possible that a man of Algiers from Con- stantinople should be found naked in a thicket in the valley of the Shenandoah? " asked Dabney. " I can not answer that," said the hunter. " Algiers is on one side of the Mediterranean and Istam- boul is on the other," said Dabney. " They are far apart." He spoke both to the hunter and to the woodman. The latter did not comprehend. " Constantinople is not in Algiers," he added, looking at the woodman. The Wild Man lifted his hand to his head as in pain. He could see that his words had been misapprehended or doubted. He suddenly raised his hand and said: " God save ye ! " He repeated these words often in after years. He turned away slowly, and went up the rocky peak. 4 s IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSOX " He is going away to pray now," said the hunter. " He will pray to the sunset," said Dabney. The sunset was dying. He did not turn his face toward the sunset sky, but toward the east, and he stood like a dark statue in the fading light making mystic signs. " I sometimes expect to see him go up when he does that," said the hunter. The man came down in the evening, and went to a room over the stable to sleep. They tried to question him when he came back, but he would only say, " God save ye! " His feelings had been hurt, but he had a forgiving man- ner. Whoever he was, or from wherever he came, he had a refined and sensitive soul. The boys left the cabin in the morning, and the mystery of the life of the Wild Man of the Shenandoah seemed greater than before. After they had ridden away they remembered the deep scar on Selim's face. Had he been in a war? " We must return to him again in the fall," said Dab- ney, " and ask him about the scar." CHAPTEK IX THE PLEDGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE Thomas Jefferson and Dabney Carr became closer friends as their lives expanded. They pursued their studies together at school; then college days and vacations came. They met, book in hand, one in heart, one in thought, and one in purpose of life. They shared the training for some unknown service to mankind. Dabney more and more believed in the people, and in the right of the people to make their own laws. He was born to love the people. He must have found his heroes in such men as Alfred the Great, Simon de Montfort, Hamp- den, Robinson of Leyden, and William Penn. He caught the spirit of progressive liberty, and he desired to make his friend see the great opportunity that the future might bring America — and him. They went with books together up the high hill of Monti- cello to study day by day as they faced manhood. The great oak was their schoolroom. "What an oak it was! It had probably spread its leaves over the turf for centuries, or at least for a century. What an outlook the plat of ground under it commanded — a hundred and more miles of hori- zon! Was there ever a better study to school one in the great thoughts of honor and liberty? 49 50 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON It was the first liberty liall in the new world, or one of the first. In this memorable shade the two boys grew, and the longer they studied together the more noble they became for the sake of each other. They seemed to feel the spirit of coming events, and to anticipate the future with a single eye and heart. One day as they dropped their books and looked out over the great forests whose green leaves rippled in the light summer winds under a long sunset, Thomas Jefferson said: " To every man something is possible. Ontasette taught me that. He has poetry, oratory, and nobility in him. I wonder what there may be in the heart of the Wild Man." '• We must watch his course," said Dabney. " We learn from men what we can not find in books. The time will come when a man's country will be the earth, and when his people will be all mankind. Patriotism that stops short of that is, in one sense, selfishness. "Why should not men be regarded as free and equal? All have one divine origin; all breathe the same air, see the same stars, are nursed in the same way at the breast, and mingle on the same earth. All come out of the unknown past, and all will go, even Shakespeare himself, into oblivion. " Tommy, I do not feel myself to be superior to any true soul that can see the sunset and feel the invisible presence of the Divine Being. I love all men alike; I would help every creature that breathes, and I would hinder no man, however humble he may be." " Dabney, I feel all the force of what you say, and I love you for it. Let us be more than friends." " We are friends: we have been; we are going to be." PLEDGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND TPIE GOLDEN HORSESHOE 51 " Let us always be friends," said Jefferson, " and more, let us be brothers to the end of life, and after, if there be an after life, and this life tells me that there must be an- other and a higher one. Let us make to each other a pledge of brotherhood. Dabney, Dabney Carr, there will never be a time in life when I will not need you." He crept toward Dabney on the moss and the two locked their right hands. " Dabney, after what you have just said, it would make me happy to give up myself for you. I would rather see you succeed in the world than to do so myself. Dabney, wait, and trust my heart; if there should come a time when the people were to choose between you and me I would give my chance to you." " Thomas Jefferson, I do not doubt it. Let us renew the pledge we made to each other when we first began to associate with each other." The two rose up, hand locked in hand. " We will be friends forever," said Thomas; " and if you or yours need me, all I have is yours, for I love your happiness better than myself." " If I should die first," said Dabney, " I would be buried where you will be laid. I would desire to rest at last where you will come." "Under the oak, Dabney?" " Under the oak of Monticello." " You may live long, and forget me." " Never."' " I will never forget you." " ISFo one ever forgets the true hearts of his youth." " This ground is mine," said Jefferson. " On this moun- 52 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON tain by this oak I will make my home. It shall be your home. I will make a graveyard by it. There you shall come to me, or I will come to you. The grave shall not divide us. Our friendship shall last while life shall last, and go beyond." Strange words were these. They would seem unreal, sentimental, romantic were they not almost literally true. Jefferson had a very poetic nature, and Dabney was a born knight. There was. as it were, in the air at this time a strange suggestion — it was like a star. Let me tell you of it. When Governor Spotswood instituted the Order of the Golden Horseshoe in Virginia, to inspire the young planters to explore Louisiana, as the West was then called, and which now comprehends twelve States and Territories, he had some very curious horseshoes made of gold in England, and a legend stamped upon them. The original motto was in Latin, and translated ran, " Thus we swear to cross the mountains," meaning to explore the West. He desired to make a suggestion that would ever haunt the hearts of young and chivalrous Virginians that one of the great enter- prises of the future would be to explore Louisiana, or the territory lying west of the Mississippi. This suggestion was now being revived again. The Order of the Golden Horseshoe had lived, and had had other golden horseshoes made, and there were men who caught the spirit of Governor Spotswood, and traveled about with the one idea of inspiring men for such enterprises. One of these characters we shall call the " Sir Knight of the Golden Horseshoe." He was a very old man with thin hair and long beard. He had joined the order in his PLEDGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE 53 youth; he was a horseback rider even in his old age, as most Virginians were. He owned a plantation in the garden of Virginia, but it delighted his heart to ride about the mountains and over them, and to talk of the wonders that Western exploration would one day reveal to the world. He held some high office in the Order of the Golden Horseshoe and superintended the making of horseshoes, and he had new horseshoes made for adventurers whom he could induce to unite with the society. In his old age, he one day met some of the members of the order, and said: " Ho, ho, ho! See what I have done." He held out in his hand six golden horseshoes, on which was engraved, " Thus we swear to cross the mountains." " I am going to travel," he said, " all over Virginia, wandering. This country is to be great — glorious. I can see it with my inward eyes — some people see double — I do. " I am about to travel," he continued, repeating, " and visit the plantations from Vorktown to the AVilderness, and I will rest at the inns and the plantation houses. I am going to make a study of the young men of Virginia, and ho, ho, ho! it is my purpose to give a golden horseshoe to the six young men who, in my judgment, are likely to have the greatest influence in the future. " I am about to ride in search of six young knights who will have Governor Spotswood's spirit, and my soul will know them when I see them. " I am old, and I can not do much now to advance the cause. But this country must have liberty, gain Louisiana, and protect herself from European domain. The young .-,4 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON men are born that will bring about these events and I am going in search of them. I will travel with the sun, with the moon and stars. I will put the horseshoe into the hands of six yoimg men, and say: •• A golden horseshoe I give to thee. The whole of America must be free, And her bounds extend from sea to sea, And safe from Europe must ever be. "lis so we cross the mountains." People did strange things in those days, and for a gen- eration afterward preachers traveled about preaching and singing in schoolhouses and under great trees. One might hear their voices in the air, singing songs like these : '• How precious is the Name! Brethren, sing.'' or " There's a sound of a going in the mulberry trees," or " When I set out for glory I left the world behind, For to glory I would go, I would go." Rustic orators talked in courthouses and in. barns. There were few public halls and no opera houses; then all was simple, primitive, and rude, except a few stately man- sions of rich planters. So the old man started forth on horseback to study the young men of Virginia, and to try to find six sons of the planters whom he thought would become the leaders of great events, to whom to give his six horseshoes. It was a strange mission. He stopped at inns and plantation houses and related PLEDGE OF FRIENDSHIP AND THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE 55 the adventures of Governor Spotswood. He was a natural story-teller; lie had keen eyes and "quick wit, and he was welcome always, this Sir Knight of the Golden Horseshoe, to the benches under wayside trees and to household fires. Each old planter hoped that this venerable rider might discover a leader of the events of the future among his sons. So planters stood at the gate to meet him when he was seen coming up the valleys or down the hill with his pro- phetic horseshoes. CHAPTER X DABXEY CARS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON GO TO THE WONDERFUL NATURAL BEIDGE Young Thomas Jefferson delighted in making long trips on horseback through the wild Virginian mountain wars. As a result of one of these journeys, he made the stupendous Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County, in Vir- ginia, known to the world. His description of the bridge set the feet of travelers toward the place, and many pen pictures of the lofty arch, among them Ali~~ Martineau's, have served to place it among the wonders of the world. Rockbridge County lies in a valley of great beauty, in young Jefferson's day filled with giant trees, forest patri- archs, under which the Indian made his tent and kindled his evening fire. The arch of the bridge spans a chasm r«p hundred and sixty feet in height, or more than two hundred feet if we add the height of the trees and towering foliage. The bridge was a waymark in old Indian days. Young Jefferson had heard by the old home fire the wonders of the bridge. Hunters like to describe it, and to picture it as one of the most beautiful chasms on earth. The young riders of the old Virginian tobacco farms made it a place of summer resort, for a ride of a hundred miles in the summer wilderness was a matter of small moment 56 THE WONDERFUL NATURAL BRIDGE 57 to them. Horseback rides lasted a week then, and the rude inns along the old Virginian roads were places of jovial hos- pitality, within whose summer doors and by whose kitchen fires thrilling stories were told. Jefferson himself came to own the bridge; it was on one of his estates, some eighty miles from Monticello, or Shadewell, as his early home was called. Young Jefferson's heart was always seeking to bring some new surprise to Dabney Carr. Whatever filled his young friend with delight made his own heart beat faster and happier. One day, in his youth, he visited the great forest wonder, probably with his father. It towered above him in its green- ness from the glen. " What would Dabney say to that? " was the thought of his heart. " We must come here." He returned over the Blue Ridge to his home, where Dabney had come to meet him. " I have seen the wonder of the valley," said Jefferson. " You must go there with me; we must see it together." " Do you mean the bridge? " asked Dabney. " Yes, the bridge that Time has made. Time must have been thousands of years in making it. The history of the world is in it if one could read it." One summer day the two started out together on horse- back to cross the mountains and visit the bridge. It must have been a journey of several days through forests of live oaks, magnolias, gum trees, and pine, under almost continu- ous roofs of boughs, fragrant and cool, except when the hills emerged from their coverings and revealed the green ex- panses below them. IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON They came at last to a deflection from the forest way, and stopped their horses on some bedded rock. Far down below them rippled a stream, glittering in the sim. " This." said Jefferson. " is the bridge." k ' But I do not see it." said Dabney. " Dismount and look down." Dabney left the saddle, and bent over what had seemed to him a shelf of rock. A mighty chasm appeared, nearly two hundred feet deep from where he stood. " It turns my head to look," said he; ' ; but where is the bridge?" " We will go down into the glen and look up," said Jef- ferson. From the glen the bridge appeared in all of its stupen- dous proportions, ]ike a monument to the untiring forces of Time. The bridge was embowered with trees and shrubbery, and, to the two youths, it was not only a great natural won- der, but as an outline of the past ages which it represented it had the force of a revelation. How old were these hills? When began this great Virginian wilderness? How would Time end the silent work that it had begun eras ago in this sublime arch? After a rest in the glen Dabney said: " Let ns ride over to Staunton, and see what more the Wild Man has learned. He is the wonder of the valley now. Wno can tell what there may he in that man's soul, or in any man's soul \ We think too much of things that are without us. Nature herself is but spirit in form: un- seen forces work all the wonders of life. That man has a THE WONDERFUL NATURAL BRIDGE 59 history. He draws me toward him. I want to know his life. Let us be friends to him; he needs friends." They looked up to the walls inside of the arch. Some thirty feet from the ground two letters appeared on the stonework that Nature had formed — G. W. "Who placed those letters there?" asked Dabney. " Some one, it must have been, who wished to be remem- bered as having visited the place. He has made the bridge a monument to his admiration of it. Place your initials •under it." " I think those letters were made by George Washing- ton, the aid of Braddock, who warned Braddock against the danger of Indian surprise in the wilderness. He lived near Winchester in his youth with Lord Fairfax, and was a companion of the old lord. He became one of the sur- veyors of the Shenandoah. He led the expedition to Great Meadows. He lives at Mount Vernon, a plantation on the Potomac, which Washington's brother named for Admiral Vernon. Lie was one of the heroes of the Northern cam- paign, and you have heard the planters tell the story of young Washington's warning. He placed his initials high. He used to ride down the Shenandoah road." " It is his testimony to his sense of the grandeur of the place," said Dabney. " High and alone it stands — G. W. But Washington failed at Great Meadows. He has failed in all of his campaigns." " But he has kept his honor. Honor keeps a man a man; nothing is lost until honor is lost." The two friends may have seen something prophetic in the initials that for many years stood solitary amid Nature's own records of the solemn past. We do not know. They 60 DJ THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON turned their horses' heads toward Staunton and rode for- ward in the shaded midsummer air. The red sunset shone through the giant tree?, and the night overhung the great tree shadows with glory. An inn was ahead, and the two friends talked as they rode on their silent way, hoping to see the lights of the hotel appear. " It were vain to carve one's name on any monument." said Dabney. " Time effaces all, even the names on the pyramids: only influence lives." They rode on in silence. Dabney was thinking. Hi- thoughts were not like other lads. He was what the farmers called " strange." " It were vain to collect a treasury of wealth." con- tinued Dabney. " Xo man has ever taken a farthing all his possessions into the unknown world: it is only the worth of a man's soul that can live. The dust of the lord and the slave is the same dust, and the same earth covers all men and gathers all into oblivion. Jefferson, a man's country should be the whole world, his neighbors should be all the families of mankind. Every man who i- true to himself is a brother to me: the Indian, the black man. the unknown Selim — Selim is a man. I would givp to every man his birthright — even to the slave. I would have all men alike — all have the same feelings, all rejoice and suffer. I say these things over and over. I can not help it." " Dabney, had I the power. I would give the slave his birthright and to all men the wealth they create." " I would give to every man his due." said Dabney. " The right to be free and receive a just compensation THE WONDERFUL NATURAL BRIDGE 61 for everything is an inherent right. Is not that the exact truth of life?" "The exact truth of life!" tk You must teach that, when you stand face to face with the world." "I will write it out. You must teach it; you know how to give to truth a tongue." " And you, a pen." It was a hot, still night. The tavern lights gleamed at last amid the sparks of fireflies through the trees. They rested at the old log tavern that night, and the next day they went on their way to Staunton, where they found Selim, and prepared again to discover the mystery of his life. Thev were friends to him. CHAPTER XI THE MAX OF MYSTERY Selim had improved in his looks. He wore the clothes of the valley and his heard had been partly shaven. His high forehead and luminous eyes impressed the two youths more than before. " Selim is beginning to talk our language,'" said the old hunter, " and he is either a little off in mind or else his true history is coming out. The minister from Winchester thought he was a dervish, but he is not." Selim rose up. " Me no dervish — no, no! Selim no dervish. No " He whirled around swiftly, after the manner of the dervish or the wandering monks of the African and Ara- bian deserts. His turning movements formed circles, and with each circle he said: " Xo, no! Selim no dervish." " But he has seen dervishes,'" said Dabney to the hunter. Dabney had seen pictures of dervishes. " NTo one could execute those movements unless he had seen them done. He must know the dance of the dervishes. I can read so much plainly." The old hunter's own heart seemed to go out to this strange man. 62 THE MAN OF MYSTERY 63 " Now," said he, " I want you to help me question him, and this hot morning, when I can not go to the fields, we will try to find out the mystery." The hunter took a chair and sat down under a great tree that stood between the road and the inn. Selim sunk on the ground beside him. Some Virginians came riding up, in the morning heat, and sat at rest on their perspir- ing horses. " Selim," said the hunter, " where is your home — where your home land? " He had asked that question many times. He deter- mined to settle it now. Selim rose up. He felt the friendliness of his master's tone, and saw the same spirit in the others' eyes. He desired to tell his history. There was a beautiful and noble honesty in his face. He strode into the inn. He returned and held up some dates which he had bought from a traveling peddler from Winchester, and said: " Home land, home land ! " " He was born in the land of the fig," said one of the Virginians on horseback. " Fig — Selim — home land ! " He strode into the inn again, and brought out an orange, and held it up in the sunlight glimmering through the trees. " Home land," said he, " home land! " This last picture showed his attachment to the South, but did not add to the information, for the lands of orange groves are many. He looked down on the valley. It was like the outlook from a summer house over a green sea. A new idea seemed 64 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON to light up Selim's niind, and he exclaimed, as in a vision of delight: -Kiosk! kiosk! ** The words conveyed no meaning at the time. Xo one of the little company gathered under the great tree ever heard of a kiosk. They thought that the word described Selim's state as a man — his office or past business in some land of figs, oranges, hot suns, and mysteries. " Kiosk! kiosk! " he exclaimed again. All shook their heads, and his face fell. He walked around the tree as in great perplexity. At last he gazed upon the clear, blue sky which hung over the valley. The fiery sun filled it with splendor. Here and there was an eagle in the air, when suddenly his eye caught an object that made him leap. lie turned to the company with a face full of excitement and said: " The same, the same, Allah! " He ran into the open space and beckoned the company to follow him. The men hurried to the place where he stood. He pointed to the sky. In the far blue expanse, almost ob- scured by the blaze of the sun, was the moon, quite dis- cernible, a- it i- sometimes late in the morning, even on a sunny day. It looked like a thin moon, like the shadow of the moon. '" The same! " he exclaimed again. " The home land, the home land ! " •• The moon,"' said a man on horseback- " That is noth- ing: we sometimes see the moon by day." " Kb — not ze moon, not ze moon. Luna crescente! Juna crescente! Juna crescente!" THE MAN OF MYSTERY 65 He spread out his hands and bowed over. " Luna crescente! Allah! Allah!" He whirled like a desert dervish, and then stood still. The sun rose high, with a withering heat. The morn- ing moon faded in the light. Selim's attitude went to the heart of Dabney. He read in it deep feeling and some sublime mystery of soul. " He is a Mediterranean pirate," said one of the Vir- ginians. " No," said Dabney. " Let us think as well of all men as we can. He is a seeker after truth, in some way; there is no crime in his soul. I would be willing to trust myself in the wilderness with him anywhere. He would be true to me. " That man," he added, " has a soul, high and lofty. He wants to know God; he would die for what he believed to be the truth. He is no common man. His ideas are higher than our own. He has the soul of a prophet. He is being led into the light. The moon had a meaning to him that it has not for us. Only high souls read destiny in the heavenly bodies. The heavens to such are the fields of God." Dabney was waxing fervent in his usual manner, and he continued to pour forth his belief that Selim was some high soul, in unusual language. The Virginians listened, half in amusement, half in wonder, and they could not but feel that in so praising Selim, and seeing a high soul in him, young Dabney himself showed a high soul. A true man sees himself in another as in a clear glass, and a man's estimate of a stranger is usually G$ IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON that of himself. As Dabney loved every one, he saw only what was good in every one. ■' Selim is a brother to all true souls," he said, in a clear tone. He was dreaming his dream of liberty again. The two young students rode away in the oool of the afternoon, and the mystery of Selim was as deep and more interesting than ever. In the evening Dabney suddenly called after his friend: «g| |op — halt! Something has come to me ! That moon was a ■ " But what meaning has that- " " The crescent rnoon stands for Islam, the East, the faith of the prophet, Mohammedanism." •• I n ." said Jefferson. " He is a Mohammedan." CHAPTER XII THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE The two friends ascended the mountains. But there was something in the personality of Selim that held their thoughts, and their talk again and again reverted to the Wild Man of the Shenandoah, a man who was destined incidentally to come into Jefferson's experience and thoughts for many years. Young Dabney, as we have said, saw glorious possi- bilities in evety one. He lived in his thoughts while on his journey. To ride was to think. " That wanderer," said he, " is a seeker after truth. There are no nobler souls on earth than seekers after truth, be they brown, or white, or black. "With a face to the light, color does not count. I am sorry that I did not ex- press my faith in him to him. Tell a man that you believe in him, and his soul will grow. Show a man that you have seen his good qualities, and the good that is in him will expand and east out the evil. I could convert the world in that way if I had the opportunity. Help every man, and hinder none, and give to every man his birthright." " I have heard you say that so many times, Dabney, that I have come to look upon you as a principle. You seem to measure all men alike, as though all would have 6 67 68 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON equal possibilities, if they bad equal opportunities. You are content to be numbered as just one man among the whole human race, to be neither higher nor lower than others, but to help all men to rise higher. In your view all the world i^ one man, and that one man is struggling to be a better man." " Jefferson, Jefferson, I am a believer in inherent rights, which is the universal law. You are inclined to lie a freethinker; whatever you think, and however, your inner life tells you that the principles proclaimed by Christ on the Mount of Beatitudes are true." "Yes, Dabney, that I do believe, although you may think me a wanderer from the faith. I will treat every man as I would have him treat me." " Are you sure of that' " " Yes, sure." " Then you, like me, believe in the inherent rights of every man." " Yes, Dabney." " Then we are brothers in the true sense, and what you believe you must live." His young soul seemed inspired in these bright days of dewy mornings and red evenings as he passed over the mountains. Suddenly he reined his horse. •' Jefferson, there was one clew that we did not follow at the inn." '• And what was that?" "The scar. As the face of Selim grow- more beauti- ful that ugly scar deepens and blackens. "Why did we not try to find out more about that in sign language '. " THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE 69 " It may have been a battle scar." " Dervishes do not light." " But you have no proof that Selim is a monk of the desert. If so, how came he here, of all places in the world, hundreds of miles from any coast, and no man seems to have seen him until he rose up, as a wild man, from the bushes." " That scar may be a noble one, Jefferson." " You see something noble in every scar. Dabney, you will yet see some high and good intent in the heart of George III. A wolf has white teeth and a hawk strong pens. Did you notice anything peculiar about that scar?" " Yes, it was deep, and the hand that made it was a malicious one. It was not made by a battle-axe, but was dealt by a malicious hand, and Selim gave no cause for the blow:' " How do you know? " " All the rest of Selim's face bears witness that the scar was unjustly dealt. You must agree with me there. Selim is a victim of some great injustice. I feel that it is so in my soul. My heart goes out to him." " Your heart goes out to every one who has suffered wrong. Dabney, I account it a blessing that my life has fallen under such an influence as yours. It was a fortu- nate day that I locked hands with you. My affection for vou grows stronger and stronger. If I ever have great influence in the world, how much of it I will owe to you! I believe in friendship. It makes or breaks life. My life must follow your heart." Jefferson indeed believed in friendship. His friends came to make the atmosphere in which he grew. 7" IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON It is a g'»od ideal for a youth to have some intimate friend, and one whom he can lift or who will lift him. The power of the lmman heart is one of the greatest of influences. Sympathy as an influence outlives everything. Longfellow," said Lowell, "is not the greatest poet of this generation, but he will outlive us all." He who sym- pathizes most with mankind will live the longest in the heart of mankind. It is not only a noble thing for a youth to have an intimate, good companion of his own age who will help him grow into usefulness and honor, but it is also a very wise thing for a lad to share the intimate companionship of some older person whose right principles in life are settled, and tbe fruits of whose life show the soil from which they sprang. Such a friend young Jefferson made. As he rode up to his home he found this friend there. This man's name was George Wythe. He was a Greek scholar, a mathematician, and a moral philosopher. This man for a long term of years became a heart friend of Jeffer- son. He led him, as it were, up toward the heights from his youth. Would not the reader like to have a clear view of the character of this man. whom, next to Dabney Oarr, to whom he had pledged brotherhood, voting Jefferson chose for his companion, and followed as though he were a Heaven-appointed guardian. TTe will let Jefferson describe him in his own lan- guage, and the passages of this quotation will bear reading twice. Says Jefferson in his Xotes for the Biography of this friend : '• Xo man ever left behind him a character more ven- THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE 71 erated than George Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity inflexible and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and, devoted as he was to liberty and the natural and equal rights of man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country without the avarice of the Koman, for a more disinterested person never lived. Temperance and regularity in all his habits gave him a general good health, and his unaffected modesty and suavity of man- ners endeared him to every one. He was of easy elocu- tion, his language chaste, methodical in the arrangement of his matter, learned and logical in the use of it, and of great urbanity in debate; not quick of apprehension, but, with a little time, profound in penetration and sound in conclusion. In his philosophy he was firm, and neither troubling, nor perhaps trusting, any one with his religious creed, he left the world to the conclusion that that religion must be good which could produce a life of such exem- plary virtue." Jefferson went to college at Williamsburg. There came a brief period of gayety and variety into Jefferson's life at this time. He wore ruffles and laces, danced much, and lent himself to the charms of the violin. He describes this period in certain letters to John Page, his college chum, afterward Governor of Virginia. Mr. Page came to build up an enchanting estate called Kosewell, per- haps on account of the rose gardens there. Selim spent his last days on this estate, as you shall be told, but he would never sleep in the house there. He was there Selim of the haystacks or of the barns. Houses seemed like prisons to him; his fevered brain must seek rest in free places, in the unconfmed air. 72 IN THE DAYS OP JEFFEESON In those brief gay days Jefferson used to dance in the Apollo room of the old Raleigh Tavern, and to play the riddle before the roaring fires of great country houses. He had not seen much of the world at this time. To read his letters, one would suppose that the " vice-regal " court at Williamsburg in Governor Fauquier's time was almost as splendid as that of the Georges. This Governor was a roisterer, a gambler, a hard drinker, a man of social polish and of the world. He rilled his " vice-regal " court with men like himself, was somewhat of a philosopher, and his heart warmed up toward young Thomas Jefferson. He was no fit host for the young student, notwithstanding his elegant manner, his " palace," and his cultured company. Jefferson, who had loved the violin from his boyhood, now developed a passion for music. He came to own a historic violin, and to make one of his own. His soul found happy interpretation in music and he was able to throw enchantment into the violin. He loved to play the instru- ment all of his life, but only at this period does it seem to have become a passion with him. The hours that he passed at the " palace " were very different from those he had spent with Dabney Carr in the woods discoursing on the rights of man and what men could become if they were to be governed by justice. Would the heart of young Thomas Jefferson follow the example of gay Governor Fauquier or would it return to Dabney Carr? From which would his life receive the ruling suggestion ? Which would become the school of his soul — the simple home of Dabney Carr or the " palace " of the roistering, gambling, vice-royal Governor? THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE 73 The college stood at one end of the town and the so- called palace at the other, and in one Jefferson studied hard by day and to the other he sometimes lent the charm of his fiddle by night. Governor Fauquier had two attractions for young Jef- ferson — his political knowledge and his philosophy. The Governor gambled freely and he loved tobacco. Jefferson never learned to play cards, and, after a time, would not have a card in his . house. He had no time for the idle- ness of tobacco. The violin seemed to be the only enchanter that tended to lead him into frivolous life. Thomas Jefferson used to meet at the tables and in the halls of the palace that most worthy man of the times, George Wythe, a chancellor, a Q&e^y^/fi y^A& moralist, and a Hebrew and Greek scholar, who discussed life with the courtly Governor from the highest viewpoints, and who sought to exercise a benef- icent influence over him. His character was as white and shaftlike as marble; he was a wholly incorruptible man amid triflers. From the true companionship of Dabney Carr the heart of Jefferson turned, not to the vanities of the Gov- ernor's little court, but to the thoughts of George Wythe. The Governor had accomplishments without correct habits; the chancellor had those high ideals and moral views that compelled a life of conspicuous virtues. There came a time when Jefferson saw that he must 74 IX THE DAYS OP JEFFERSON follow the best that was in him, when he niust turn from frivolities to the habits that make men. The lights of the hall of idling pleasures are not the stars. He must end all deleterious tendencies, and in his inner consciousness he said " Stop! " Jefferson said little about these matters to his friends at the time. Inward convictions are often silent. Years afterward he told the tale to his grandson. It is worthy to be read many times. '" When," he says. " I recollect the various sort- of bad company with which I associated from time to time, I am astonished that I did not turn off with some of them and become as worthless to society as they were. But I had the good fortune to become acquainted very early with some characters of high standing, and to feel an incessant wish to become what they were." . These words " incessant wish " are golden. They ex- press gravitation and ruling suggestions of life. Among these men of truly honest lives were Mr. Wythe, Dr. Small, and Peyton Randolph. Their characters were held in unqualified respect. The young student came to see that character is everything. The rest of his narrative records the decisive hours of his life. All that followed was pivoted upon the experience of which he thus speaks: " Under temptations and difficulties I would ask my- self, " TThat would Dr. Small do in such a case I AYliat would Mr. Wythe do? Peyton Randolph? TVTiat would these men do in such a situation? TYliat course in such a case shall I pursue that would secure the approbation of men of honor like the- THE TURNING POINT IN LIFE 75 " I am certain that this mode of deciding on my con- duct in life tended more to correctness than any reasoning I possessed. I never could be in doubt which of any two courses they would pursue." George Wythe was almost twice the student's age, but the latter saw in him the character that he would him- self form in time. Men, as a rule, become a part of those with whom they associate. Says Tennyson, " I am a part of all whom I have met." There comes a time in most young lives when a choice of companions and ways of influence is decisive. It was thus with Jefferson. On going home from college, he used sometimes to stop at the houses of his kinsmen, and he was especially wel- come there during the holidays if he had his kit with him. The violin, especially if a small, portable one, was called a " kit " in those merrymaking days. There was another lad who made the " kit " a witchery in the Blue Kidge country. This lively player was Patrick Henry, and a prosperous planter invited both of these young violinists to spend some time at his house during the Christmas holidays. A r isits after the old Virginia hospitality rarely lasted less than a week. ■ Hosts and guests were usually Episcopalians, and the Episcopal Church has been famous in all Christian places and times for its celebration of Christmas. With the English Church in many places Christmas has not been a day, but a tide — Yuletide — the festival lasting from Christmas eve to Twelfth-night, or twelve days from Christmas. 7.; IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON The host waa a burgess. EEs invitation- to sit down before roaring fires and tell candlelight stories at Yule- tide were accepted by the prosperous tobacco planters in all " the country round." And with them came young courtly Thomas Jefferson with his kit and rude, awkward Patrick Henry with his riddle. It was the first time that these young men met. Mistletoes gladdened the halls, snuffboxes made euitous journeys about the rooms, and " natural story- tellers " reddened their faces before the fire. At this particular merrymaking Jefferson was on his way to college at Williamsburg. It was his cus- tom to stop at hospitable farmhouses and to make long visits on the road. He was related to a num- ber of the best families of the province, and a lad with a fine family name who could play the kit. or entertain in any way. was always welcome to the planters' door-. Patrick Henry could do more than play the violin. He could crack joke- as well as walnuts, and he could mimic whatever he found that was droll or insincere in life. He was looked upon as a " merry blade " — to use a common term. Christmas eve, the time of gladsome devotion, passed, and Christmas night, the time of frolics, came, and the two lads played singly and together. The table- were laden with the luxuries of the time, and were spread open and free to all. Every one rode on horsebar-k at that time, and many people in coaches in those abundant day-: and horses 3 hoofs, and betimes chariot-, were heard outside "f the great oak portico. THE TURNING POIXT IX LIFE 77 The old people told stories in the early evening before the frolics, and the two violinists played lively tunes be- tween the story-telling. The story-telling began — kit stories, or stories with " interludes " of violin solos or duets. chapter xrn A KIT STORY THE SEVEN BEASTS THAT WERE TAMED The " natural story-teller/' as he was called, was on this occasion a tall man, with thick eyebrows and with hair sprinkled with gray. " It all happened in Governor Spotswood's day." he began. He held up a curious object in the light of the candles; he turned it. and as he did so it flashed. It was a golden horseshoe. " The Governor gave me that." he said. " after we had climbed the Blue Ridge. I will tell my story, and. Pat- rick, when I come to an interesting point — if I do — where the people here should stop and imagine, play us a lively air — the Devil's Dream or a hornpipe." Patrick Henry sat just outside of the room, in his usual careless, awkward way. on a meal chest, kit in hand. " Go on — go on with your story, and if it be worth hearin" IT1 catch it up this way " He struck up a lively air on the violin, which caused all the men to beat their feet on the floor after the haunt- ing rhythm. " Now that's a good air." said the natural story-teller. " That sets my mind to goin'. It is a story of seven beasts that I have to tell, and there is a Christmas meanin' in 78 A KIT STORY 79 the story — a soul. Every story should have a soul; a story will not live if it have no soul. " We were encamped on the Blue Ridge — Governor Spotswood and as merry a troop of men as ever broke the wilderness. The Indians who journey from the south, from as far as Louisiana, to the sea, encamp on that place, for it overlooks the forests and mountains, and the streams begin to gather there and form rivers; the great waters that flow to the Mississippi start there; the sunrises and sunsets are glorious; one there seems to stand above the earth. " There are Indian trails that run from the place to the river country. One of them is said to go all the way to the Ohio, and the other to the Mississippi in the Louisi- ana country. " While we were encamped there I met an old Indian woman who could talk a little English. I had learned something of the common words of the Indians of the river country, and we sat down to talk together. I said to her: " ' Nigar wie,' and she answered, 'Ugh.' There was a friendly sound in the ' ugh,' and she moved into the sun- light as she uttered that one word, which I deemed a good sign. " A pond gleamed beneath us a mile or more distant, but full in view. The old woman opened her blanket, and, pointing downward with her withered hand, said: " ' Sy-sip.' " I understood her. She meant ' duck.' " ' I go see,' said I. Game was needed in the camp, and if there were good duck hunting in the lake below I was ready to meet the need. 80 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON " But as I said ' I go see ' lier small, black eves began to spread open, so as to almost cover the top of her flat face. " ' No go,' she said. ' Beasts are there — seven beasts — nish wissic — seven.' She bowed her head seven times and repeated, ' Nish wissic — seven.' " I much wondered what she could mean. There might be wild beasts, such as panthers, bears, or catamounts, there, but why should there be seven? "'Seven?' I asked. " ' Ah ' (yes). " ' Only seven? ' " ' Nish wissic — seven.' " She sat in silence, smoking. Some crows flew over, and she said, ' Ca cawken.' Then she pointed down again and said, ' ^Ya wois ' (goose, or white goose). " She gathered herself up, wrapping her blanket again around her, and as she did so seemed to fling down the words ' Na may ' (sturgeon). " I understood that the lake was full of game. I gazed down silently for a time, and I saw a blue spiral of smoke rising from the shores. " ' I go see,' said I again. " ' ~No go,' said the squaw, her eyes dilating again. ' Beasts — seven beasts.' "'Seven?' said I. " ' Seven,' said she. ' Hate English — seven beasts — hate English.' " I started up. " I had by my side a pouch in which were certain trinkets which I carried with me for presents to any wan- A KIT STORY 81 clering Indians I might meet, and whose favor I might like to secure. Among these trinkets were pieces of steel (appets) for striking fire. " I opened the pouch to find some suitable gift to give the friendly old woman, when I chanced to take out a piece of fire steel. " She bent forward with wide, distending eyes. " ' Appet,' she said. ' Seven appets kill seven beasts that hate English.' " My wonder grew at these words. I gave her a string of glass beads. " She rose up slowly. " ' Give me seven fire steels,' said she. ' I go with yon. I kill the seven beasts with the seven fire steels. I know how.' " I counted out seven fire steels, or appets, and handed them to the old crone. I could see a kindly look come into her hard face. " ' I go,' she said. ' You follow.' " I followed her down to the pond. " She acted strangely as Ave approached the pond. She would stop at times and say, ' Tish ! ' " We came to a grassy opening, where a tent of skins rose out of the river weeds. " Presently a tall Indian came out of the tent. He uttered a quick cry as he saw us, and then six other tall Indians appeared — seven in all. " The scene that followed haunts me now. I can see it in my mind." Here Patrick Henry's fiddle sent out a mournful air, and suddenly stopped like a sympathetic accompaniment. 82 EN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON " The seven Indians formed a row. One was an old man and the others were young. I saw that they were the old man's sons. They all suddenly lifted their hands to their foreheads, as if shading the sun. The old woman stopped and held up her beads and shook them. I halted beside her. " The seven Indians began to approach us, bowing their heads and saying. ' Wey, wey, wey! ' " They halted after a certain number of steps, and then repeated, 'Wey, wey, wey! 3 and moved again, as if plunging forward. "Their breasts were painted. They wore their his- tory on their skin, for the figures on their breasts recounted deeds of valor. " They approached us slowly in this way. I dropped my gun by my side, and assumed a look of confidence. '"As they came nearer, saying, c Wey, wey, wey!' and halting, they began to form a circle around us, and at last stopped, so that we were surrounded by the seven hunters and warriors. " ' Seven beasts/ said the old crone. ' Seven beasts in here.' She put her hand over her heart. ' Seven beasts in here — painters [panthers] — and they fly at the English. They no fly at you. I kill the beasts.' " I stood amazed. What was to follow I " Here the young Virginian's fiddle struck up My Love is in the Cold Ground, but stopped suddenly as before, so as to stimulate expectation. " One of the Indians went back to the tent of the skins, and returned with seven war clubs, six of which he gave to the others. A KIT STORY §3 Seven beasts,' said the old crone. ' They whet their claws, but they no harm you.' "I had a peace pipe in my pouch. I took it out of the pouch and carried it to the old Indian and offered it to him. " He raised his left hand, turned it aside to his head, and stood with it turned aside. The six other Indians did the same. It meant hostility, as I could see. He would not receive the peace pipe. " I was now alarmed. I was surrounded by seven stout Indians with war clubs, and only the friendly look of the old woman seemed to stand between me and cap- tivity. "How could the situation change? "The old woman moved toward the chief Indian— whom I could see was her brave— slowly, as if under a spell. " He waited her coming, stolid as though he had been made of a piece of clay. " She took a piece of the flint steel from her apron, and held it up and said: " 'Appet.' She pointed up to the sun and then at me, and held out the appet to the old man. " He did not move. But presently he raised his face to the sun. Then he dropped his club and held out his hand for the fire steel. ' One beast dead,' said the old crone in English. ' He gone away— gone away to look for the darkness. He come no more again. Peyac ' (one). " She gave an appet to the oldest of the young hunters. He received it, looking up to the sun. 7 S4 IX THE DAYS OF JEFFERSOX " ' Two beasts dead. They come no more. Gone to look for the night. Nishea ' (two). " She gave an appet to another young Indian. He took it and began to dance. " ' Three beasts dead,' said she. ' Nishten ' (three). " She gave an appet to the fourth Indian. He seized it and began to leap about. " ' Four beasts dead/ said she. ' What a mighty hunter am I. Ho, ho! Four painters dead. Newway ' (four). " The other three Indians rushed toward her and seized the appets she intended for them. All of the In- dians now began to shout and to leap about, holding up the appets in their black hands. " ' Seven beasts dead,' said the old woman. ' They are all gone — gone into the air to look for the dark. Kill the beast in here,' she said, putting her hand on her breast, ' and a painter becomes your friend. This is the way the good spirits make war.' " Her face really beamed with benevolence, and her eye twinkled as she watched her old brave and her six sons dancing about. " The Indians whirled for a time. Then the old man came up to me and took the peace pipe out of my pouch, and beckoned me to follow him to the tent, and we all sat down — the seven beasts were gone. " The pond was full of game. "White geese were there. I remained overnight with the family, and when the shades of night fell down from the mountain, and the stars came out and the lake was still, the old woman said, ' There are no beasts here; all gone into the night.' A KIT STORY 85 " Now, Patrick, my boy, this is my story, and you and Tommy Jefferson may play a minuet." A feast of Christmas cakes, apples, and nuts fol- lowed the music, and merriment lasted until early cock- crowing. CHAPTER XIV SELIM MAKES A DISCLOSURE It became known through the Shenandoah Valley that Selim the Wild Man claimed to be a Mohammedan. The people of the valley were very religious, and there was a universal desire among those who believed so much of his story to teach him Christianity. Every one who met him tried to teach him something, and he began to acquire English rapidly. It was found that he could talk Greek, and that he knew a little of Spanish. That he was not a Greek, but that he was a Greek scholar, was certain, and the latter fact caused the story of his life as he was able to disclose it to be generally credited. Many thought him to be mildly insane, but few thought him to be an im- postor. Dabney Carr's tender heart, which sympathized with misfortune wherever it was made known, carried with it a wound — the deep scar on Selim's beautiful face haunted him. He interested one of his most devout friends to crass the Blue Ridge and study the mysterious stranger. This man, who we will call Locke — Father Locke — was intensely interested in the case, and desired to make a proselyte of Selim, to bring him to his view of faith. " I am going to visit Selim, and when I return I will SELIM MAKES A DISCLOSURE g7 tell you who he is," he said to Jefferson. " I feel within that I am sent to him." Father Locke belonged to an order of traveling preachers whose influence was long felt in the valley. Elder Leland, who was believed to have caused Madison to be elected President, many years after these events, and who brought a mammoth cheese to Jefferson from Cheshire, Massachusetts, after the inauguration of the latter as President, belonged to this order of truly godly men. Of Elder Leland we shall have some stories to tell; he became a prophet of the Virginia wilderness in his day. Father Locke mounted his horse and set out with the purpose to do what no one else in the valley had ever had the opportunity of doing — convert a Mohammedan. In those days ministers thought they heard voices from the skies and received inward messages. Father Locke had read much about Mohammedanism in books of English travelers to Constantinople and Palestine. Mohammed to him was a false prophet, and one whose career had been foretold in the Scriptures. Father Locke was an old man. He went singing on his way: " There's a sound gome; forth in the mulberry tops." In his view the appearance of a Mohammedan in the Shen- andoah Valley was a providential event. All extraordi- nary things that happened were special providences, in the view of these forest evangelists. As he approached the inn, Selim came out to meet him and to hold his horse. The old man's first view of Selim caused him to drop his rein and lift his hands. Selim had bound a cloth about his head, and on it had placed a 88 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON small silver crescent. The good old man knew what the crescent implied. " I am sent to this benighted soul in the wilderness," said the old man. " He wears the sign of the pagan faith on his forehead. Selirn, who art thou? Heaven has sent me to thee. "Who art thou?" Selim's patient face lighted, and he answered in good English : " Selim is a pilgrim for the truth. He follows the winds and the waves and the ways of the wilderness. He is a traveler over the world. He prays and is tossed about — he is being led." " I knew it, I knew it! " said the old man. " "What is it that you wear on your turban, Selim?" " The sign of the faith." " Xo, no," said the old man. " I am sent to teach you the true faith." He put out his hand and touched the scar on Selim's face. " How came it, Selim? " " The slave driver made it, he that drove me into the wilderness. All things are good, traveler. God save you ! " " You were a Turkish slave, then? " " Xever, never. Selim is a student. Selim is of Algiers. He goes to Constantinople, as the English say, to study the faith. Selim pray to know the true faith. He become a pilgrim of the faith. "Within is prayer, without the world. The answer will come. Selim follow the sun." "Was Selim crazy? The old man sat on his horse, and tried to reason out the strange case. His instincts told him that the wander- SELIM MAKES A DISCLOSURE g9 ing Mohammedan was telling the exact truth. He bent forward on his horse and stretched out his hand. "Selim?" " Selim hear — he speak English, now." " He is learning the language rapidly/' said the tavern keeper. " Every one is teaching him." " Selim," said the preacher, " how did you come to America? " " The pirates capture Selim." Here was light indeed. The case was becoming clearer. He saw the surprise that this answer had given and added : " They bring Selim to New Orleans on the long river, and sell him to the French for a slave." The story of this extraordinary life was indeed unfold- ing along clear lines. Then the old preacher asked: " How came the scar? " " Selim's father is rich — a lord. Selim, he know not how to be a slave. The slave master set him to work. Selim know not how. The slave master strike him down. Selim flee into the wilderness. He follow the red man. He follow the canoe. The Indians pity Selim." "Was there ever such a providence?" asked the old preacher. " I see it all as in a vision. Selim is the son of a noble in Algiers. He went to Turkey to study re- ligion. He wished to know the truth. He was a pilgrim for the truth. In his journey across the sea, on returning to Algiers, he was captured by pirates; he was brought to NeAv Orleans and sold as a slave. His master struck him, and when he recovered from the wound he fled into 90 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON the wilderness. He found friends among the Indians, and followed the rivers. They directed him here. He has been guided." '" Selim is being led/' said " the wanderer over the world.'' The old man dismounted and went into the inn. He remained there several days, endeavoring to instruct Selim in the Bible. But he failed to make much progress. The Mohammedan would answer his questions with the strange words : " Selim has no vision. God save ye! " He said the latter words to all who tried to befriend him. He had brought these words, it would seem, out of the wilderness. Father Locke came away somewhat disheartened, but he had secured the outlines of the wanderer's history, and he be- lieved that some remarkable events would follow his mission. Remarkable events did follow — remarkable in the view of the people of the valley. The story which I am relating is but fact in picture, and I must follow the outline of them closely. A strange dream came to Selim one night, and the result of it filled all Virginia with wonder. Of this we will speak in another chapter. Ontasette and Selim offered remarkable suggestions to the plastic lives of the two fast friends, Thomas Jefferson and Dabney Carr. Suggestions not only direct ways I they mold. Another suggestion offered suddenly startled the two friends by its peculiar circumstances — one out of which great events were to arise, though they could hardly have foreseen them. SELIM MAKES A DISCLOSURE 91 The two friends were sitting under the great oak of Monticello one day, and their horses were grazing in a forest meadow, when they heard a sound of cantering hoofs, and started up. A rider and horse appeared. The rider was an old man. He was one of the " Sir Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," the errant knight of whom we have told you, he who rode with a mission. " So you find a place of study here," said the knight, sitting on his horse, " and you have here pure air, a clear sun, and a fine prospect. There is the Eivanna," said he, pointing down, " and there, Charlottesville." He wheeled his horse, looked toward the smoky summits of the Blue Kidge, and said : " And there are the mountains and beyond. " My young friends," he continued, " have you ever thought what an empire lies in the words that we so often hear, ' beyond the mountains ' ? " He took from his wallet a golden horseshoe and held it up to the sun. He sat in silence for a time, and then said : * The Golden Horseshoe should be a guide and prophecy to the statesmen of America. Have you ever thought of that?" Jefferson had. " Young men, you are studying law. No one can now tell to what duties you may be called. You have high pur- poses — I can see that. Follow the Golden Horseshoe. It is the sign of God to America. " The whole of America must be free, And her bounds extend from sea to sea ; And safe from Europe must ever be. Tis so we cross the mountains." ES" THE DAYS 0¥ JKWKKSOU *' I have much thought of the truth you have just spoken," said Dabney Carr, " that all things follow sug- g n. Columbus followed the suggestion of a star: Luther, the suggestion of a voice which he thought he heard on the Pilate Stairs; Robinson, of Leyden, fol. suggestion: William Penn. Other countries have fol. the lead of heroes of conquests; ours has followed ideals — divine ideals. We must follow the ideals of equality, jus- and pea Dabney" s mind was in its element now. " Young man/' said the knight. " you see clear, as Moses did on the Mount of Vision. ' ^e-e that thou makest all things after the pattern shown to thee on the mount.' You see clear; you would give to every man his birth- right. That I would do. But mark you. mark you, young law student Dabney Carr — mark you. mark you. young law student Thomas Jefferson — the empire heyond the mountains will one day exceed that in the East: Lor. - is there; the valleys of the rivers; the mountain roa - the sky: the Pacific; and beyond all, China. Japan, and India- Governor Spotswood said to me: ' I give you the sign of the Golden Horseshoe. It means. Explore the W He was right. The Y est c lestinv. Louisiana is destiny. Study Louisiana. The hors- is a sign. " Thomas Jefferson, let it be a sign unto you. If you rise among mankind — and you will rise — you are studying now to make your life a star. If you ris 7 say, in the estimation of mankind, follow the sign of the Golden •^-shoe — explore the West The sun rises on the land of opportunity: it sets on the of destiny. Dabney rseshoe gleamed in the setting never indolent — it was always going like a mill wheel waiting to grind. Rossini was regarded as the most indolent composer in Europe, yet he produced forty oratorios, operas, and great musical works before he was forty. Thomas Jefferson's new friend was Patrick Henry. His teachers despaired of him. and thought he was to me a burden on the world. Walt*-. S '- schoolmaster said to the future | et, " Dunce you are, and dunce you will ever remain."' There is a certain class of minds that are more active than others and yet seem to be doing nothing. Patrick Henry belonged to the order of intellects that make bus- tling people impatient at their patience. He failed in nearly everything that he attempted to do, and yet the main current of his life was flowing on. He married when 100 AN UNACCOUNTABLE LAD— PATRICK HENRY 101 very young, but was unable at the time to support his family. He tried farming, and failed; store keeping and tavern keeping, and failed. Though he could provide but scanty food for his family, yet his family loved him; they would defend a heart like his even though they went hungry. Above all recreations he loved to go into the woods and fields to lie down and dream. As a boy he was as un- accountable as Dabney Carr. There were strange boys in the Virginia wilderness then. Patrick Henry in the woods! There the brooks ran for him, the birds sang to him, the winds fanned him. He did not know how to run a farm, a shop, or an inn, or even how to provide for his family, but he was a political genius and all the best hopes of mankind were clear to him. He, like amiable Dabney Carr, believed in the equal rights .if all men; he saw equality like one in a dream. He did not argue with himself. He studied all alone under the trees how he might argue with others who could not see. He who sees has no need to argue. Prophets do not argue; they command. Everybody laughed at him. It is sometimes boys who are laughed at, who fulfil their mis- sion, and live. When the Stamp Act was enacted others thought of securing a redress of their grievances. They felt that taxation without representation was tyranny, but the word " independence " had no meaning. Not so with this strange young man of the woods, whose electric brain made his hands hang idle, who seemed as stupid as his gun was silent and fishing rod forgotten in his hands. 102 EN THE DAYS ° F JEFFERSON The faculty of certain minds that see beyond the capacity of other- is sometimes called j Let me quote for you a story of this faculty as it existed in the daydreamer Patrick Henry, as related by William Wirt, his biographer, whose Life of Patrick Henry is a work of real geniu-. not a script: •• A striking proof of this prescience is given in an anecdote communicated to me by Mr. Pope. "These are his words: 'I am informed by Colonel John Overton that before one drop of blood was shed in our contest with Great Britain he was at Colonel Samuel Overton's, in company with Mr. Henry. Colonel Morris, John Hawkins, and Colonel Samuel Overton, when the lar-t-mentioned gentleman asked Mr. Henry whether he suppose'! Great Britain would drive her colonies to ex- tremities. And if she should, what he thought would be the issue of the war. " ' Mr. Henry, after looking round to see who were present, expre— ed himself confidentially to the company in the following manner: "She rrill drive us to extremi- tiea — no accommodation will take place— hostilities will soon commence, and a desperate and bloody touch it will be." But." -aid Colonel Samuel Overton, " do you think. Mr. Henry, that an infant nation as we are. without dis- cipline, arms, ammunition, ships r.f war. or money to pro- cure them — do you think it possible, thus eireumstanr-ed. to oppose successfully the fleets and armies of Great Brit- am: eccuj ^n ^ e canf ]i ' yvith yon," replied Mr. Henry. " I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to cope with so AN UNACCOUNTABLE LAD— PATRICK HENRY 103 powerful a nation. But," lie continued (rising from his chair with great animation), "where is France? where is Spain! 1 where is Holland? — the natural enemies of Great Britain. Where will they be all this while? Do you suppose they will stand by, idle and indifferent spec- tators to the contest \ AY ill Louis XVI be asleep all this time? Believe me, no! When Louis XVI shall be satis- fied, by our serious opposition and our declaration of In- dependence, that all prospect of reconciliation is gone, then, and not till then, will he furnish us with arms, am- munition, and clothing, and not with these only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight our battles for us; he will form, with us, a treaty, offensive and defensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the confederation. Our independence will be estab- lished, and we shall take our stand among the nations of the earth! " " ' Here he ceased ; and Colonel John Overton says he shall never forget the voice and prophetic manner with which these predictions were uttered, and which have been since so literally verified. Colonel Overton says, at the word independence the company appeared to be startled, for they had never heard anything of the kind before even suggested.' " This story will clearly show the reader what was the order of young Patrick Henry's mind. He did not study books as he should have done in his youth. He regretted this afterward, for, had he done so, it would probably have made him a more powerful man later in life, and brought him to the front of the nation. His yielding to a certain indolence when young kept him provincial, and made him 104 IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON a Virginian rather than a national character. People reap not only the kind of seed that tL - . but the amount that they sow. He used to say, " Xateral parts was worth all the larning on the yearth " : thai other men studied books, but that he studied folks and Xature. 1 it is men who have been gifted with " nateral parts " who, like Lincoln, also study books, as Lincoln did law books in the woods who become the leaders of the beneficent move- ments of mankind. Patrick Henry saw all of this in his circumscribed old age. " Knowledg - - Franklindike motto that he came to feel when he had to return to the practice of the law at the time his hair was turning gray. There was one boot that he read. He found himself. as he thought, in it: it held him. enchanted him. I: was Livy. Here he saw the beginning of the Roman re- public and its growth, and the - - of the lives : those who practiced R<:onan virtues, when judges con- demned their own sons for crimes as they would have done the sons <:»f others. In this and in like I - saw the glory of Servius Tullius. of the Gracchi and he returned with Cincinnatus to the plow: and his imagina- tion rose to see what America m:_ I me as a republic- like Rome in her moral glory. He did not read the Bible much in his young days, but he did s - _ . when life had taught him a larger wisdom, and he t: saw what he had missed in his too mo - f-guided youth. "The Bible." he came to say. " is the gres test >k in all the world." "Williamsburg, as we have shown, was the - Fa pro- vincial aristocracy — the s