A Thousand-Mile Walk 



they could steal, and that murders were some 

 times committed for four or five dollars, and 

 even less. While stopping with him I noticed 

 that a man came regularly after dark to the 

 house for his supper. He was armed with a gun, 

 a pistol, and a long knife. My host told me that 

 this man was at feud with one of his neighbors, 

 and that they were prepared to shoot one an 

 other at sight. That neither of them could do 

 any regular work or sleep in the same place two 

 nights in succession. That they visited houses 

 only for food, and as soon as the one that I saw 

 had got his supper he went out and slept in the 

 woods, without of course making a fire. His 

 enemy did the same. 



My entertainer told me that he was trying 

 to make peace between these two men, because 

 they both were good men, and if they would 

 agree to stop their quarrel, they could then 

 both go to work. Most of the food in this house 

 was coffee without sugar, corn bread, and some 

 times bacon. But the coffee was the greatest 

 luxury which these people knew. The only way 

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