I--"
"You would not bid me stay, mother, but rather urge me forward. I have no
time to lose."
"You will at least wait until I can put up some food."
"Yes; it will be necessary to eat, I suppose. Bread and cheese will be
enough, and even that must be got together quickly."
Mrs. Neal made no attempt to dissuade her son from his purpose. That which
he had said concerning his father had been sufficient to silence her on
the score of danger; and, when the small store of provisions were wrapped
in a stout piece of cloth and placed in the pocket of his coat, she kissed
him, but did not dare trust her voice to speak.
With a stout hickory stick as a walking-cane, Walter set out, and there
was sufficient in his mind to provide ample food for thought during the
first two hours of the journey. He was not at all certain that, now that
the cost of making an attachment of his property was to be added to the
amount of his tax, Ephraim Foulsham would be willing to advance the money;
and, even if the sum could be raised in such a manner, it was so much
increased that he could not hope to see the wished-for mill under erection
until another season at the earliest.
At the end of the second hour he had accomplished at least nine miles of
the distance, and could well afford to indulge in a brief halt while
partaking of his food.
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