vil's-Backbone," replied the youth.

"Were you ever here before?"

"Never in my life."

"How do you know then where you are?" asked the mountaineer.

"Because the right way to avoid questions is to ask none. So I took
care to know all about the road, and the country, and the place,
before I left home."

"And who told you all about it?"

"Suppose I should tell you," answered the young man, "that Van
Courtlandt had a map of the country made, and gave it to me."

"I should say you were a traitor to him, or a spy upon us," was the
stern reply.

At the same moment, a startled hum was heard from the crowd, and the
press moved and swayed for an instant, as if a sort of spasm had
pervaded the whole mass.

"You are a good hand at questioning," said the youth, with a smile,
"but without asking a single question, I have found out all I wanted
to know."

"And what was that?" asked the other.

"Whether you were friends to the Yorkers and Yankees, or to poor old
Virginia."

"And which _are_ we for?" added the laconic mountaineer.

"For _old Virginia forever_," replied the youth. . . . . It was echoed
in a shout, . . . . their proud war-cry of "_old Virginia forever_."

DAVID CROCKETT.

~1786=1836.~

This renowned hunter and pioneer, commonly called Davy Crockett, was
born in Limestone, Green County, Tennessee. His free and wild youth
was spent in hunting. He became a soldier in the war of 1812: he was
elected to the Tennessee Legislature in 1821 and 1823, and to Congress
in 1829 and 1833. His eccentricity of manners, his lack of education,
and his strong common sense and shrewdness made him a marked figure,
especially in Washington. In 1835 he went to Texas to aid in the
struggle for independence; and in 1836, was massacred by General Santa
Anna, with five other prisoners, after the surrender of the Alamo,
these six being the only survivors of a band of one hundred and forty
Texans. See Life by Edward S. Ellis.

WORKS.

Autobiography.
A Tour to the North and Down East.
Life of Van Buren, Heir-Apparent to the Government.

Crockett's autobiography was written to correct various mistakes in an
unauthorized account of his life and adventures, that was largely
circulated. His books are unique in literature as he is in human
nature, and they give us an original account of things. As to literary
criticism of his works and style, see his own opinion in the extract
below.

SPELLING AND GRA