Читать книгу Wild Nat, the Trooper; or, The Cedar Swamp Brigade онлайн

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“If we wait till the country gets settled, I am afraid we will all be old and gray-headed. I am not one of those who believe in deferring to some future time what can be done now; and as soon as Mary will consent, you shall call her daughter. I know you will have no objections.”

Running on in this manner, the three kept up the conversation until the meal was over; then John, after finishing up his evening’s work, wended his way in the direction of Mr. Stoddart’s.

Hardly half an hour had elapsed, when the sound of a horse, coming at a full gallop along the road, was heard. The traveler, whoever he was, reined in at the widow’s door. Dismounting, he tied his horse to a tree. To the surprise of Mrs. Vale, who had answered the knock, the person was none other than Nat Ernshaw. She greeted him kindly:

“Come in, Nathaniel; come in. We have seen no one who could give us any news for over a week; and, as you seem to have come from Charleston, you can tell us what is going on.”

“I am ready enough to come in; but as for giving you any news of what is going on in Charleston, it is something I am unable to do. I haven’t seen the inside of the place for three or four weeks, and I don’t expect to see it until these Britishers are driven out.”