at."

"He was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and held the iron while the master
struck. One day a man came in the shop, whose horse had thrown a shoe,
to have a shoeing, and, when he paid for it, he took a handful of money
from his pocket, and one piece--a dollar--fell in the soft soot of the
shop, unperceived but by the boy: _chis!_ he covered it with his foot."

Van Dorn's whip-lash firmly covered a huge fly on the horse's ear, and
laid it dead.

"When the man departed, the boy raised his foot and uncovered the
dollar; his master said, 'Smart boy!' They divided the stolen dollar."

"Jimmy Phoebus says the fust step is half of a journey," Levin noted.

"The blacksmith's boy looked avariciously on travellers ever after, who
might possess a dollar. He took the empty shop of Patty Cannon's first
husband, years after that saint died, and worked on hobbles, clevises,
and chains to hold the kidnapped articles of commerce. Naturally he
kidnapped, too, and, while she was yet a child, Patty's daughter became
Brereton's wife, bestowed by the fond, appreciative mother. Master
Levin, if you fall into his path, Brereton's daughter may be bestowed on
you. _Hola!_ behold her in Hulda."

"I can't see any of that sin in Hulda, Captain; she ain't even ashamed."

"No," affirmed Hulda, looking sincerely at Van Dorn; "it is too true to
make me ashamed. I feel as if God's hand covered me like the silver
dollar under my father's foot, because he let me survive such parents."

As she spoke she took one of the silver shillings of 1815 and covered it
with her hand in Van Dorn's sight. Van Dorn spoke on rapidly:

"There were two brothers named Griffin from about Cambridge, in
Maryland; spoiled boys who had taken to the flesh trade, and they stole
men and gambled the proceeds away, and Brereton was their leader. One
day a traveller came by from Carolina, hunting contraband slaves, and he
was of your boastful sort, and dropped the hint that he had fifteen
thousand dollars on his body to be invested. No later had he spoken than
he felt his folly, from the burning eyes around him and watering mouths
telling him to sleep there and slaves would be fetched; so he started in
a fright for Laurel, by way of Cannon's Ferry, intending to deposit his
money or make them deal with him there. The word was passed to Brereton
by his wife or mother-in-law, and by Brereton to the Griffins, to mount
and intercept the gold. Some say," lisped Van Dorn, "that Mis