Among the squatters there was but little time for deliberation, yet
never were their leaders more seriously in doubt as to the course most
proper for their adoption in the common danger. They well knew the
assigned duties of the guard, and felt their peril. It was necessary for
the common safety--or, rather, the common spoil--that something should
be determined upon immediately. They were now actually in arms, and
could no longer, appearing individually and at privileged occupations,
claim to be unobnoxious to the laws; and it need occasion no surprise in
the reader, if, among a people of the class we have described, the
measures chosen in the present exigency were of a character the most
desperate and reckless. Dexter, whose recent triumph gave him something
in the way of a title to speak first, thus delivered himself:--
"Well, Munro--you may thank the devil and the Georgia guard for getting
you out of that scrape. You owe both of them more now than you ever
calculated to owe them.
Pages:
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322