r_ day is fast gwoin over; an entire new set of folks
will soon people this country, and the old settler will be all gone, and
no more thought of."

"I imagine," said I, interrupting his soliloquy, "that you are an old
settler, and have noted vast, wonderful changes here in the Ohio
Valley?"

"Wonderful; yes, yes, stranger, thar you're right; I have seen wonderful
changes since I first squatted 'yer, thirty-five years ago. Every thing
changes about one so, that I skearse know the old river any more. 'Yer
they've brought their steamboats puffin', and blowin', and skeerin' off
the game, fish, and alligators. 'Yer they've built thar towns and thar
store houses, and thar nice farm houses, and keep up sich a clatter and
noise among 'em all, that one fond of our old quiet times in the woods,
goes nigh bein' distracted with these new matters and folks."

"Well," said I, "neighbor, you old woodsmen will have to do as the
Indians have done, and as Daniel Boone did, when the advancing axe of
civilization, and the mighty steam and steel arms of enterprise and
improvement make the varmints leave their lairs, and the air heavy and
clamorous with the gigantic efforts of industry, genius, and wealth, you
must _fall back_. Our territories are boundless, and there are yet
dense forests, woods, and wilds, where the Indian, lone hunter, and
solitary beast, shall rove amid the wild grandeur of God's infinite
space for a century yet to come."

"Ah, yes, yes, young man; I should have long since up stakes and rolled
before this sweeping tide of new settlers, only I can't bar to leave
this tract 'yer; no, stranger, I can't bar to do it."

"Doubtless," I replied; "one feels a strong love for old homes, a
lingering desire to lay one's bones to their final resting place, near a
spot and objects that life and familiarity made dear."

"Yes, yes, stranger, that's it, that's it. But look down thar--thar's
what makes this spot dear to me--thar, do you see yon little
hillock--yon little mound? Thar's what keeps old Tom Ward 'yer for
life."

The old man seemed deeply affected, and sighed heavily, as he wiped the
moisture from his eyes with the back of his hand. I gazed down towards
the spot he had called my attention to, and there I beheld, indeed,
something resembling a solitary and lonely grave; wild flowers bloomed
around it, and a flat stone stood at the head, and a small stake at the
foot.

"'Tisn't often one comes this way to ask the que