only other garments that hung in the room were a long hunting coat and leggings of soft buckskin, decorated with colorful designs in quill and trimmed with fringe, and a wide-brimmed sweat-stained hat. These garments were redolent of wood smoke and old perspiration, and appeared to have been worn so long as to be permanently impressed with the shape of their owner. They imparted, somehow, an air of wildness and savagery to the clean, precisely civilized decor of this room in a Williamsburg inn.
Herring wanted to restore the amiable mood they had begun with. “Tell me,” he ventured, “what is it like out there in the Kentucky country?”
The major, buckling on his sword, paused and gazed westward out the window. After a while, he answered:
“If you can, imagine trees six feet thick, and leafage so dense overhead that the sunshine never reaches the ground. These from one horizon to the other. Can you envision oceans of cane and grass high enough to obscure a mounted man? Streams like crystal, and game so profuse that you could nearly shoot blindfolded and hit something? Earth so rich you have to jump out of the way after you plant a seed in it?”
Herring, man of the city though he was, thrilled at the thought of such abundance and at the hushed timbre of MajorClark’s voice as he described it. The descriptions sounded like hyperbole, but the enthusiasm was genuine.
“That’s what it is like out there,” he continued. “But just now there is a bloodiness about it as would make your nape crawl. It’s a part of the day’s work to keep your scalp on your skull, and I am not exaggerating.”
He drained his tankard, took a tricorn hat from a box and put it on, then tucked a roll of papers under his arm and rushed Herring out of the room with him. “Now, then,” he said as they tromped down the stairs and out to the waiting carriage. “If the governor is going to help me tame that savagery out there, we mustn’t keep him waiting, eh?”
G OVERNOR H ENRY, WIRE-FRAME SPECTACLES PUSHED UP TO REST on the top of his head, raised his glass of port to touch the one he had poured for Major Clark. They drank, and sat down on chairs facing each other across the hearth.
“Your health is better,” said Clark.
“Much better,” said the governor, dipping his long nose into the glass, inhaling, then sipping.
“My father sends his compliments, and thanks you for your many past kindnesses.”
“Return my best wishes when you see him next,” replied Henry, who had served John Clark as a lawyer on several past occasions. “Now, I understand you have had a harrowing year since last we met, young man.”
“Any venture west of the mountains is harrowing in these times. We’ve done what we could in spite of that.”
“I’ve not heard the particulars of your journey back with the gunpowder. Only that your assemblyman Mister Jones was killed. Most regrettable!”
“Aye. Well, sir, we got the powder through, all five hundred pounds of it, and again I thank you for it. I doubt there’d be a white man alive west of the mountains by now had you not secured it for us. Anyway, with a certain amount of hardship we boated it from Pittsburgh plumb down the Ohio to Limestone. We were ambushed by Indians several times along the way, but no harm done that far. On Christmas Day, though, nigh Harrodsburg, going overland, we were set upon by another band. That was a grievous Christmas Day, indeed. John Gabriel Jones was killed, and within a few miles of home. Three others of the company, among them my cousin Joseph Rogers, were taken captive and we’ve heard no more of them.”
“Ah, that’s a sad thing.”
“That hurt me deep, sir; I had persuaded him to join our party.”
Governor Henry studied Major Clark, who was frowning into the dregs of his port, the left side of his face ruddy in the glow of the fire. The governor felt a rush of sympathy and admiration for him. Then the youth swigged the rest of the port, worked it
Herring wanted to restore the amiable mood they had begun with. “Tell me,” he ventured, “what is it like out there in the Kentucky country?”
The major, buckling on his sword, paused and gazed westward out the window. After a while, he answered:
“If you can, imagine trees six feet thick, and leafage so dense overhead that the sunshine never reaches the ground. These from one horizon to the other. Can you envision oceans of cane and grass high enough to obscure a mounted man? Streams like crystal, and game so profuse that you could nearly shoot blindfolded and hit something? Earth so rich you have to jump out of the way after you plant a seed in it?”
Herring, man of the city though he was, thrilled at the thought of such abundance and at the hushed timbre of MajorClark’s voice as he described it. The descriptions sounded like hyperbole, but the enthusiasm was genuine.
“That’s what it is like out there,” he continued. “But just now there is a bloodiness about it as would make your nape crawl. It’s a part of the day’s work to keep your scalp on your skull, and I am not exaggerating.”
He drained his tankard, took a tricorn hat from a box and put it on, then tucked a roll of papers under his arm and rushed Herring out of the room with him. “Now, then,” he said as they tromped down the stairs and out to the waiting carriage. “If the governor is going to help me tame that savagery out there, we mustn’t keep him waiting, eh?”
G OVERNOR H ENRY, WIRE-FRAME SPECTACLES PUSHED UP TO REST on the top of his head, raised his glass of port to touch the one he had poured for Major Clark. They drank, and sat down on chairs facing each other across the hearth.
“Your health is better,” said Clark.
“Much better,” said the governor, dipping his long nose into the glass, inhaling, then sipping.
“My father sends his compliments, and thanks you for your many past kindnesses.”
“Return my best wishes when you see him next,” replied Henry, who had served John Clark as a lawyer on several past occasions. “Now, I understand you have had a harrowing year since last we met, young man.”
“Any venture west of the mountains is harrowing in these times. We’ve done what we could in spite of that.”
“I’ve not heard the particulars of your journey back with the gunpowder. Only that your assemblyman Mister Jones was killed. Most regrettable!”
“Aye. Well, sir, we got the powder through, all five hundred pounds of it, and again I thank you for it. I doubt there’d be a white man alive west of the mountains by now had you not secured it for us. Anyway, with a certain amount of hardship we boated it from Pittsburgh plumb down the Ohio to Limestone. We were ambushed by Indians several times along the way, but no harm done that far. On Christmas Day, though, nigh Harrodsburg, going overland, we were set upon by another band. That was a grievous Christmas Day, indeed. John Gabriel Jones was killed, and within a few miles of home. Three others of the company, among them my cousin Joseph Rogers, were taken captive and we’ve heard no more of them.”
“Ah, that’s a sad thing.”
“That hurt me deep, sir; I had persuaded him to join our party.”
Governor Henry studied Major Clark, who was frowning into the dregs of his port, the left side of his face ruddy in the glow of the fire. The governor felt a rush of sympathy and admiration for him. Then the youth swigged the rest of the port, worked it
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