Yes, this was the chance which he had
been wishing for. He would go to the salt-works at once--that very
night--without waiting for daylight and without calling the black men.
The judge would not care; he never cared for anything that did not give
trouble, and he need not know until afterward. David stood up suddenly
in the shadows under the stairs. He had decided; he would go as soon as
he could get away from the great room and put his saddle on the pony.
Even Ruth must acknowledge that a night's ride over the Wilderness Road
was the work of a man--the work of a strong, brave man.
IV
THE NIGHT RIDE
He left the great room for his own cabin at the usual hour. No one but
Ruth observed his going. She smiled at him as he passed, and caught his
hand and gave it a little teasing, affectionate squeeze. He must leave
"The Famous History of Montilion" unread for one night,--so she
said,--and he must go to bed at once, since he was to be up before the
sun. These little ways of Ruth's were usually very sweet to him, but he
did not find them so that night.
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