lp of the Lord, may bring down
as proud a hawk as ever flew across the water. If it should be
otherwise, trust to the power above the might of armies, and wiser than
the cunning of men, that, by a righteous and peaceful life, we shall
make our lot an easier one than it may ever be in mingling in the strife
of the evil-minded."

"It is hard, for all that--wise as it is--to be still," said
Christopher, "with one's arms dangling by one's side, when one's
neighbors and kinsmen are up and girding themselves for battle. It will
come to that at last; fight we must. And, I don't care who knows it, I
am for independence, uncle Allen."

"Your passion, boy, and warmth of temper, I doubt, outrun your
discretion," said the old man. "But you speak bravely and I cannot chide
you for it. For the present, at least, be temperate, and, if you can,
silent. It is but unprofitable talk for persons in our condition."

The uncle and nephew now entered the house, and Allen Musgrove--for this
was the person to whom I have introduced my reader--was soon seated at
his family board, invoking a blessing upon his evening meal, and
dispensing the cares of a quiet and peaceful household.

"I wonder Mary stays so long with her aunt," he said, as the early hour
of repose drew nigh. "It is an ill place for her, wife, and not apt to
please the girl with anything she may find there. Wat Adair is an
irregular man, and savage as the beasts he hunts. His associates are not
of the best, and but little suited to Mary's quiet temper."

The wife, a staid, motherly-looking woman of plain and placid exterior,
who was busily engaged amongst a thousand scraps of coarse,
homespun-cloth, which she was fashioning into a garment for some of the
younger members of her family, paused from her work, upon this appeal to
her, and, directing her glances above her spectacles to her husband,
replied:

"Mary has been taught to perform her duties to her kinsfolk, and it
isn't often that she counts whether it is pleasant to her or not.
Besides, Watty, rough as he is, loves our girl; and love goes a great
way to make us bear and forbear both, husband. I'll warrant our daughter
comes home when she thinks it right. But it is a weary way to ride over
a wild country, and more so now when Whig and Tory have distracted the
land. I wish Christopher could be spared to go for her."

"He shall go to-morrow, wife," returned Allen Musgrove. "Wat Adair, love
her or not, is not the man to