t to ascend.

"I was just saying, gentlemen," remarked Judge Clayton quietly,
"that I was sure it would give us all much pleasure to take a
stroll around these beautiful grounds with Colonel Dunwody."

He looked Dunwody calmly in the eye, and the latter knew he had a
friend. He knew perfectly well that Judge Clayton did not for an
instant suppose that these articles ever had belonged to any
servant. On the contrary; it was possible he remembered where and
in whose possession he had seen them before. But nothing more was
said about the beautiful young lady of the _Mount Vernon_.

"You have a beautiful place here, Colonel Dunwody, beautiful!" said
Clayton carelessly, casting an arm over the other's shoulders and
leading the way to the front door. "It reminds me of our old
family home back in Virginia. Come, gentlemen; let us have a more
careful look at so well-chosen a locality. It is improved--improved,
gentlemen, as well as it originally was chosen. But look at those
hills!"

CHAPTER XIV

THE ARGUMENT

To the heated imagination of the Honorable William Jones something
still remained to be explained, and he remained anxious to continue
the conversation on the topic foremost in his mind.

"Look around here, gentlemen," said he, extending an eloquent arm.
"Behold them mountings. Look at them trees surrounding this valley
of secrets. The spoils of war belongs to him that has fit--the
captives of the bow and spear are his'n. How said Brennus the
Gaul, when he done vanquished Rome? 'Woe to the conquered!' said
he. 'Woe to them that has fell to our arms!' Now it's the same
right here. Look at--"

"I was just going to remark," suavely broke in Judge Clayton, "that
of the many mountain views of our southern country, this seems to
me one of the most satisfactory. I have never seen a more restful
scene than this, nor a morning more beautiful. But, Missouri!" he
added almost with mournfulness. "What a record of strife and
turmoil!"

Dunwody nodded. "As when Missouri was admitted, for instance," he
said smilingly.

"Precisely!" rejoined Clayton, biting meditatively at a plucked
grass stem. "The South gets a state, the North demands one! When
Missouri came in, Illinois also was admitted--one free against one
slave state. Politics,--nothing more. Missouri would break the
balance of power if she came alone and unpaired as a slave state,
so the North paired her with Maine, and let her in, with a