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.

At an early hour he commenced the work of preparation: he had little
trouble in this respect. He studiously selected from his wardrobe such
portions of it as had been the gift of his uncle, all of which he
carefully excluded from among the contents of the little portmanteau
which readily comprised the residue. His travelling-dress was quickly
adjusted; and not omitting a fine pair of pistols and a dirk, which, at
that period, were held in the south and southwest legitimate companions,
he found few other cares for arrangement. One token alone of Edith--a
small miniature linked with his own, taken a few seasons before, when
both were children, by a strolling artist--suspended by a chain of the
richest gold, was carefully hung about his neck. It grew in value, to
his mind, at a moment when he was about to separate, perhaps for ever,
from its sweet original.