"I meet him at the table no more--not at his table, at least," was the
muttered speech of Ralph, as he heard the receding footsteps of his
uncle.
He had determined, though without any distinct object in view, upon
leaving the house and returning to Tennessee, where he had hitherto
resided. His excited spirits would suffer no delay, and that very night
was the period chosen for his departure. Few preparations were
necessary. With a fine horse of his own, the gift of his father, he knew
that the course lay open. The long route he had more than once travelled
before; and he had no fears, though he well knew the desolate character
of the journey, in pursuing it alone. Apart from this, he loved
adventure for its own sake. The first lesson which his father had taught
him, even in boyhood, was that braving of trial which alone can bring
about the most perfect manliness. With a stout heart, and with limbs not
less so, the difficulties before him had no thought in his mind; there
was buoyancy enough in the excitement of his spirit, at that moment, to
give even a pleasurable aspect to the obstacles that rose before him.
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