you a
'belted knight, a marquis, duke, and a' that,' but the Creator
anticipated me by making you a true gentleman, which is the highest
title of nobility."

Burr started on the path which led to the covert where his three
faithful friends awaited his coming, to row him down the river.
Halting for a minute, he looked back at Arlington wistfully, and said:

"I am an outcast and an outlaw. Farewell."

Burr followed the path which he hoped would extricate him from the
labyrinth of his troubles, and Arlington left the village of
Washington, and was soon on the way to New Orleans, where Evaleen Hale
expected him at the house of her uncle.

XXVII. FLIGHT AND SURRENDER.

Disguised in the borrowed clothes of a boatman--pantaloons of coarse
stuff, dyed in copperas, a drab-colored roundabout, a broad-brimmed
slouch hat much the worse for hard usage in rain and sun--Aaron Burr
fled. He deemed it impossible that any detective could recognize him.
One precaution, however, he neglected to take; his genteel feet
disdained the boatman's cowhide shoes, nor would he put on the pair of
big Suarrow boots proffered by one of his followers. He insisted on
wearing, as usual, his tight-fitting, neat, elegant city-boots of
polished calfskin.

Clad and accoutred for flight through a wild country, mounted upon a
spirited horse provided by devoted accessories for the severe journey,
and accompanied by a guide who knew the forest ways, he set out, a
fugitive from justice. Both he and his pilot carried pistols in
holster and provisions in saddle-bags. Their route lay through a
desolate region sparsely settled by pioneers, and not yet relinquished
by wandering aborigines, nor by the bear and the catamount. The month
of February was spent before they reached the valley of the Tombigbee,
a distance of two hundred miles from the Mississippi River.

Late one evening the weary travellers drew rein at the door of a log
tavern in Alabama. A bright fire was crackling within, and several
guests sat conversing before the broad hearth.

"Hello the house!" shouted Burr's attendant. Not hearing a prompt
response to the call, the guide dismounted, rapped on the deal door,
at the same time jerking a stout leathern bobbin which drew up the
wooden latch inside. The door flew open, disclosing a puncheon floor,
a bar with bulging decanters of whiskey, and the group of talkers
sitting in the ruddy glow of the wide fireplace. The landlord came to
the t