of time for
meditation. The varied prospects continually appealing to his eye
mixed their images with pictures in his memory, especially with
recollections of his journey down the Ohio. The interesting route over
which he was now passing had been marked out by Boone and the early
pioneers. Of the eighty thousand or more inhabitants living in
Kentucky at this time, nearly all had come West on horseback or on
foot. The famed region--the hunting ground of the Indians before the
"Long Knives" invaded it--retained the chief features of a primeval
forest. The settlers' houses were cabins in the clearing.

The Virginian's meditations were broken in upon by various diverting
sights and sounds. His attention was attracted by some picturesque
hunter, dressed in buckskin pantaloons, fringed jacket, broad yellow
belt, and wolfskin cap, and carrying a long rifle; or, perchance, he
exchanged good-humored remarks with a wayfaring rustic who proposed to
swap horses. He wended his way through the Blue Grass region, through
Lexington and Frankfort, and southward into Tennessee. Arlington found
keen enjoyment in what he saw and heard, though never quite losing
from consciousness a haunting memory of the Lady of the Violets. He
read with curiosity the tavern signs, wondering what relation such
names as "The General Washington," "The Sign of the Wagon," "The Seven
Stars," "The Golden Bull," "The Red Lion" bore to the character of the
entertainment advertised by the several symbols, for Chester never
failed to revive at meal-times a hearty regard for victuals and drink.
The table fare in Kentucky and Tennessee was much the same wherever
the traveller stopped--consisting of bacon, eggs, and of corn bread
in the form of dodgers, or of big loaves weighing eight or ten pounds,
cooked in a portable iron Dutch oven. Coffee the landlord always
served, tea never, and no meal was complete without toddy. Peaches
abounded; and a drink called metheglin, made of their juice mixed with
whiskey and sweetened water, the thirsty traveller thought a rival to
mint julep.

One night Arlington put up at a locally celebrated tavern on the
border of Tennessee. He found the genial host--an honest gossip
called Chin--enjoying a hospitable carouse with half a dozen boon
companions soaked full of flip and peach brandy. The jolly topers
welcomed the newcomer to share their cups. They imparted much old
news, and volunteered many encomiums on the landlord and his inn.