the old chiefs
died they just fell into line and succeeded to the old chiefs' places,
and the tribes liked 'em mighty well, for they were good men and made
good chiefs. Well, you see Ross dident like the treaty. He said it
wasent fair and that the price of the territory was too low, and the
fact is he dident want to go at all. There are the ruins of his old
home now over there in De Soto, close to Rome, and I tell you he was a
king. His word was the law of the Injun nations, and he had their love
and their respect. His half-breed children were the purtiest things I
ever saw in my life. Well, Ridge lived up the Oostanaula River about a
mile, and he was a good man, too. Ross and Ridge always consulted
about everything for the good of the tribes, but Ridge was a more
milder man than Ross, and was more easily persuaded to sign the treaty
that gave the lands to the State and to take other lands away out to
the Mississippi.

"Well, it took us a month to get 'em all together and begin the March
to the Mississippi, and they wouldn't march then. The women would go
out of line and set down in the woods and go to grieving; and you may
believe it or not, but I'll tell you what is a fact, we started with
14,000, and 4,000 of 'em died before we got to Tuscumbia. They died on
the side of the road; they died of broken hearts; they died of
starvation, for they wouldent eat a thing; they just died all along
the way. We didn't make more than five miles a day on the march, and
my company didn't do much but dig graves and bury Injuns all the way
to Tuscumbia. They died of grief and broken hearts, and no mistake. An
Injun's heart is tender, and his love is strong; it's his nature. I'd
rather risk an Injun for a true friend than a white man. He is the
best friend in the world and the worst enemy."

FOOTNOTE:

[25] By permission of the author.

ST. GEORGE H. TUCKER.

~1828=1863.~

ST. GEORGE H. TUCKER, grandson of Judge St. George Tucker, was born
at Winchester, Virginia. He was clerk of the Virginia Legislature:
and in 1861 he entered the Confederate service and rose to be
Lieutenant-Colonel. He died from exposure in the Seven Days' Battles
around Richmond, 1862.

His "Hansford" is considered one of the best of historical romances
and gives a vivid picture of Virginia in the seventeenth century under
Governor Berkeley.

WORKS.

Hansford, A Tale of Bacon's Rebellion.
The Southern Crop.

BURNING OF JAMESTOW