IN QUEST OF RAVENS 65 



Zeb l saw them, and said they were. Well, 

 it was plainer and plainer that I had mis- 

 taken my game. I must leave it for younger 

 eyes to see ravens, in the flesh, at least. 

 " Your old men shall dream dreams," said 

 the prophet. 



It was May 27 when, after an early break- 

 fast, I left Highlands in a big mountain 

 wagon, bound for Boston by the way of 

 Dillsboro and Asheville. I had come into 

 the mountains from the south, and was go- 

 ing out in a northerly direction. The road 

 was not highly recommended ; it would be 

 a rough, all-day drive, but it would take me 

 through a new piece of country ; and as for 

 the jolting, I fancied that by this time I had 

 become hardened to all that the steepest and 

 stoniest of roads could inflict upon a passen- 

 ger. On that point, I may as well confess, 

 though it does not concern the present story, 

 I was insufficiently informed. 



It had been agreed that I should take my 



1 The great " war governor " and senator of North 

 Carolina was born among the mountains of the State ; 

 and from what I heard, he seems to have left his name 



" to be found, like a wild flower, 

 All over his dear country," 

 as truly as Wallace ever did in Scotland. 



