s path; if
he had more leisure, he threw them a good-morning, or perhaps drew rein to
ask this or that of Hugon. The trader was well known, and was an authority
upon all matters pertaining to hunting or trapping. The foot passengers
were few, for in Virginia no man walked that could ride, and on a morn of
early May they that walked were like to be busy in the fields. An ancient
seaman, lame and vagabond, lurched beside them for a while, then lagged
behind; a witch, old and bowed and bleared of eye, crossed their path; and
a Sapony hunter, with three wolves' heads slung across his shoulder,
slipped by them on his way to claim the reward decreed by the Assembly. At
a turn of the road they came upon a small ordinary, with horses fastened
before it, and with laughter, oaths, and the rattling of dice issuing from
the open windows. The trader had money; the storekeeper had none. The
latter, though he was thirsty, would have passed on; but Hugon twitched
him by the sleeve, and producing from the depths of his great flapped
pocket a handful of crusadoes, ecues, and pieces of eight, indicated with
a flourish that he was prepared to share with his less fortunate
companion.

They drank standing, kissed the girl who served them, and took to the road
again. There were no more thick woods, the road running in a blaze of
sunshine past clumps of cedars and wayside tangles of blackberry, sumac,
and elder. Presently, beyond a group of elms, came into sight the goodly
college of William and Mary, and, dazzling white against the blue, the
spire of Bruton church.

Within a wide pasture pertaining to the college, close to the roadside and
under the boughs of a vast poplar, half a score of students were at play.
Their lithe young bodies were dark of hue and were not overburdened with
clothing; their countenances remained unmoved, without laughter or
grimacing; and no excitement breathed in the voices with which they
called one to another. In deep gravity they tossed a ball, or pitched a
quoit, or engaged in wrestling. A white man, with a singularly pure and
gentle face, sat upon the grass at the foot of the tree, and watched the
studious efforts of his pupils with an approving smile.

"Wildcats to purr upon the hearth, and Indians to go to school!" quoth
MacLean. "Were you taught here, Hugon, and did you play so sadly?"

The trader, his head held very high, drew out a large and bedizened
snuffbox, and took snuff with ostentation. "My fathe