He had set forth, as we have seen, under the excitation of feelings
strictly natural; but which, subtracting from the strong common sense
belonging to his character, had led him prematurely into an adventure,
having no distinct purposes, and promising largely of difficulty. What
were his thoughts of the future, what his designs, we are not prepared
to say. His character was of a firm and independent kind; and the
probability is, that, looking to the profession of the law, in the study
of which noble science his mind had been for some time occupied, he had
contemplated its future practice in those portions of Tennessee in which
his father had been known, and where he himself had passed some very
pleasant years of his own life. With economy, a moderate talent, and
habits of industry, he was well aware that, in those regions, the means
of life are with little difficulty attainable by those who are worthy
and will adventure. Let us now return to the wayfarer, whom we have left
in that wildest region of the then little-settled state of
Georgia--doubly wild as forming the debatable land between the savage
and the civilized--partaking of the ferocity of the one and the skill,
cunning, and cupidity of the other.
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