shrewdly at his friend, wondering why he was so restless,
for he had prospered. "It's nigh two years since we licked Burgoyne
an' they don't make much headway. Reckon we'll hev to go back an' show
'em how we used to do it. But, if we ain't needed, it will be too bad
to leave things here just as we've got 'em into shape."

"You ought never to go to the front again, Zeb. You've done your share
and, with your wound and your rheumatism, you couldn't last long in
camp. You stay at home and take charge of matters and let me go. I
heard yesterday that the British are having things their own way down
in South Carolina, murdering and pillaging. Cornwallis evidently
intends to frighten the people into submission and then invade
Virginia."

"He hasn't licked 'em to a standstill yet awhile. Thar's Sumter an'
Marion left, an' the boys o' the mountains,--oh! but he'll have
trouble."

"I hear the Tories down there are helping the British much more than
the Tories in any other part of the country have been able to do."

"Unless they do they won't help much. They were goin' ter help
Burgoyne an' didn't amount to a pinch o' snuff. All they can do in the
way o' fightin' is killing women an' children an' then scalpin' 'em.
Anyhow, if ye can't keep contented at home any longer I'll try to look
after matters here while you are away. But why not get advice from
your friend at Monticello? 'Pears to me you have done your share of
the fightin'."

"I don't like to bother him with my petty affairs, with his many
important duties. Being governor of Virginia is enough for one man,
let alone all he's doing for national affairs and for education. I
wouldn't be surprised if he did something to abolish slavery; father
believed he would. You know Mr. Jefferson says he trembles for the
future when he thinks that God is just."

"We'll never live to see it, Rodney."

Rodney inherited his father's hatred of slavery, and his kindly
feelings toward all men, but the following morning, when he went to
the stable and found that Nat, together with saddle and bridle, had
been stolen in the night, and thought of what Mogridge had asked
Angus--well, it was fortunate for both that young Allison and Mogridge
did not meet that morning.

CHAPTER XXX

RODNEY RIDES WITH THE DRAGOONS

After the battle of Camden, in which Gates was sorely defeated by
Cornwallis, affairs in the South looked very dubious for the American
forces. A large part of the peopl