On returning to the house of my friend, I informed him of my purchase;
and was pleased to find that he approved of it. "You can't be taken
in," said he, "by land upon the Obion. From what I have heard of it, it
is one of the most fertile spots in Tennessee. Moreover, as you are
fond of hunting, you'll find game in abundance. The black bear, and
even the panther--or `painter,' as our backwoodsmen have it--are still
common in the Obion bottom; and indeed, all throughout the forests of
the Reserve."
"I'm rejoiced to hear it."
"No doubt," continued my friend, with a smile, "you may shoot deer from
your own door; or trap wolves and wild-cats at the entrance to your
hen-roost."
"Good!"
"O yes--though I can't promise that you will see anything of _Venus_ in
the woods, you may enjoy to your heart's content the noble art of
_venerie_. The Obion bottom is a very paradise for hunters. It was it
that gave birth to the celebrated Crockett."
"On that account it will be all the more interesting to me; and, from
what you say, it is just the sort of place I should have chosen to
_squat_ upon."
"_By_ the by," interrupted my friend, looking a little grave as he
spoke, "your making use of that familiar phrase, recalls the
circumstance you mentioned just now. Did I understand you to say, there
was a _squatter_ on the land?"
"There _was_ one--so the agent has told me; but whether he be still
_squatted_ there, the official could not say."
"Rather awkward, if he be," rejoined my friend, in a sort of musing
soliloquy; while, with his eyes fixed upon the ground, he kept pulling
his "goatee" to its full length.
"In what way awkward?" I asked in some surprise. "How can _that_
signify?"
"A great deal. These squatters are queer fellows--_ugly_ customers to
deal with--especially when you come to turn them out of their house and
home, as they consider it. It is true, they have the _pre-emption
right_--that is, they may purchase, if they please, and send you to seek
a location elsewhere; but this is a privilege those gentry rarely please
to indulge in--being universally too poor to purchase."
"What then?"
"Their motto is, for `him to keep who can.' The old adage, `possession
being nine points of the law,' is, in the squatter's code, no
dead-letter, I can assure you."
"Do you mean, that the fellow might refuse to turn out?"
"It depends a good deal on what sort of a fellow he is. They are not
all alike. If he should chance to be one of the obstinate and
pugnacious kind, you are likely enough to have trouble with him."
"But surely the law--"
"Will aid you in ousting him--that's what you were going to say?"
"I should expect so--in Tennessee, at all events."
"And you would be disappointed. In almost any other part of the state,
you _might_ rely upon legal assistance; but, I fear, that about
Swampville you will find society not very different from that you have
encountered on the borders of Texas; and you know how little help the
law could afford you _there_, in the enforcement of such a claim?"
"Then I must take the law into my own hands," rejoined I, falling into
very old-fashioned phraseology--for I was beginning to feel indignant at
the very idea of this prospective difficulty. "No, Warfield," replied
my sober friend, "do not take that course; I know you are not the man to
be _scared_ out of your rights; but, in the present case, prudence is
the proper course to follow.--Your squatter, if there be one--it is to
be hoped that, like many of our grand cities, he has only an existence
on the map--but if there should be a real live animal of this
description on the ground, he will be almost certain to have
neighbours--some half-dozen of his own kidney--living at greater or less
distances around him. They are not usually of a clannish disposition;
but, in a matter of this kind, they will be as unanimous in their
sympathies, and antipathies too, as they would about the butchering of a
bear. Turn one of them out by force--either legal or otherwise--and it
would be like bringing a hornets' nest about your ears. Even were you
to succeed in so clearing your land, you would find ever afterwards a
set of very unpleasant neighbours to live among. I know some cases in
point, that occurred nearer home here. In fact, on some wild lands of
my own I had an instance of the kind."
"What, then, am I to do? Can you advise me?"
"Do as others have often done before you; and who have actually been
forced to the course of action I shall advise. _Should there be a
squatter_, and one likely to prove obstinate, approach him as gently as
you can, and state your case frankly. You will find this the best mode
of treating with these fellows--many of whom have a dash of honour, as
well as honesty in their composition. Speak of the _improvements_ he
has made, and offer him a recompense."
"Ah! friend Blount," replied I, addressing my kind host by his baptismal
name, "it is much easier to listen to your advice than follow it."
"Come, old comrade!" rejoined he, after a momentary pause, "I think I
understand you. There need be no concealment between friends, such as
we are. Let not that difficulty hinder you from following the course I
have recommended. The old general's property is not all gone yet; and,
should you stand in need of a hundred or two, to make a _second_
purchase of your plantation, send me word, and--"
"Thanks, Blount--thanks! it is just as I should have expected; but I
shall not become your debtor for such a purpose. I have been a
frontiersman too long to be bullied by a backwoodsman--"
"There now, Warfield, just your own passionate self! Nay, you must take
my advice. Pray, do not go rashly about it, but act as I have
counselled you."
"That will depend upon contingencies. Should Master Holt--for I believe
that is my predecessor's name--should he prove _amiable_, I may consent
to go a little in your debt, and pay him for whatever log-chopping he
has done. If otherwise, by the Lady of Guadalupe!--you remember our old
Mexican shibboleth--he shall be cleared out of his clearing _sans
facon_. Perhaps we have been wasting words upon an ideal existence!
Perhaps there is no squatter after all; or that old Holt has long since
`gone under' and only his ghost will be found flitting around the
precincts of this disputed territory. Would not that be an interesting
companion for my hours of midnight loneliness? A match for the wolves
and wild-cats! Ha! ha! ha!"
"Well, old comrade; I trust it may turn out no worse. The ghost of a
squatter might prove a less unpleasant neighbour than the squatter
himself, dispossessed of his _squatment_. Notwithstanding this
badinage, I know you will act with judgment; and you can count upon my
help in the matter, if you should require it." I grasped the speaker's
hand, to express my gratitude; and the tight pressure returned, told me
I was parting with one of the few friends I had in the world.
My _impedimenta_ had been already packed. They did not need much
stowage. A pair of saddle-bags was sufficient to contain all my
personal property--including the title-deeds of my freehold! My arms I
carried upon my person: my sword only being strapped along the saddle.
Bidding adieu to my friend, I mounted my noble Arab; and, heading him to
the road, commenced journeying towards the _Western Reserve_.