dark anticipations of the future or mournful recollections of the past,
which clouded the bosom of her relative. And well for her that such was
the cheerful temper of her mind; for it was manifest, from her whole
appearance, that her lot, as originally cast, must have been among the
gentle, the refined, and the luxurious, and that she was now, for the
first time, exposed to discomfort, hardship, and suffering, among
companions, who, however kind and courteous of conduct, were unpolished
in their habits, conversation, and feelings, and, in every other respect,
unfitted to be her associates.

She looked upon the face of her kinsman, and seeing that it grew the
darker and gloomier the nearer they approached the scene of rejoicing,
she laid her hand upon his arm, and murmured softly and affectionately--

"Roland,--cousin,--brother!--what is it that disturbs you? Will you not
ride forward, and salute the good people that are making us welcome?"

"Us!" muttered the young man, with a bitter voice; "who is there on
earth, Edith, to welcome us? Where shall _we_ look for the friends and
kinsfolk, that the meanest of the company are finding among yonder noisy
barbarians?"

"You do them injustice, Roland," said the maiden. "Yesternight we had
experience at the Station we left, that these wild people of the woods do
not confine their welcomes to kinsmen. Kinder and more hospitable people
do not exist in the world."

"It is not that, Edith," said the young man; "I were but a brute to doubt
their hospitality. But look, Edith; we are in Kentucky, almost at our
place of refuge. Yonder hovels, lowly, mean, and wretched--are they the