The sort of your brown horse
is kind'er uncommon up along there, and they'd spot _him_ if they didn't
spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen--not if you was to
shave and wear a wig. There's no two words about it: it ain't to be
done."
I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a rough compliment; in
any case, I was bound to swallow it. There was no sort of contract
between us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by sufferance
in that company. I felt, too, that he was right: it would be very
difficult for any Englishman--drilled or undrilled--to disguise himself
as a Virginia cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed the point, even had
I been in a position to do so; as it was, I yielded with good grace,
only begging my late companions to let me have the earliest information
as to the route, if they succeeded in getting through. This they readily
promised; so, with the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
fall back, for the present, on my original "base," with the consoling
reflection that I was only imitating the most renowned Federal
commanders.
All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried in--rather a blank
look on his bold face--to say that one of his contrabands had just come
in, after an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his master's
horses without leave, and absolutely declined to state where, or why, he
had gone.
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