d sound and odor. "O! and to think that all this
divine loveliness is marred by the passions of men! Up here, what glory,
what peace! Down yonder, what hatred, violence, and sin! No wonder,
Pomp, you love the mountains so!"

"It is doubtful if they leave the mountains in peace much longer," said
Pomp. He had heard the night before that fighting had begun at
Charleston, and the news had stirred his soul. "The country is all alive
with excitement, and the waves of its fury will reach us here before
long. Take this glass, sir: you can see soldiers marching through the
streets."

"They are marching past my school-house!" said Penn. He became very
thoughtful. He knew that they were soldiers recruited in the cause of
rebellion, although Tennessee had not yet seceded,--although the people
had voted in February against secession: a dishonest governor, and a
dishonest legislature, aided by reckless demagogues everywhere, being
resolved upon precipitating the state into revolution, by fraud and
force,--if not with the consent of the people, then without it. "I had
hoped the storm would soon blow over, and that it would be safe for me
to go peaceably about my business."

"The storm," said Pomp, his soul dilating, his features kindling with a
wild joy, "is hardly begun yet! The great problem of this age, in this
country, is going to be solved in blood! This continent is going to
shake with such a convulsion as was never before. It is going to shake
till the last chain of the slave is shaken off, and the sin is punished,
and God says, 'It is enough!'"

He spoke with such thrilling earnestness that Penn regarded him in
astonishment.

"What makes you think so, Pomp?"

"That I can't tell. The feeling rises up here,"--the negro laid his hand
upon his massive chest,--"and that is all I know. It is strong as my
life--it fills and burns me like fire! The day of deliverance for my
race is at hand. That is the meaning of those soldiers down there,
arming for they know not what."

XVII.

_PENN'S FOOT KNOCKS DOWN A MUSKET._

Weeks passed. But now every day brought to Penn increasing anxiety of
mind with regard to his situation. His abhorrence of war was as strong
as ever; and his great principle of non-resistance had scarcely been
shaken. But how was he to avoid participating in scenes of violence if
he remained in Tennessee? And how was his escape from the state to be
effected?

"You are welcome to a home with us as long