CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. 121 



man so completely subdue the spirits of a set of 

 boys. And yet, out of school, he was sociable, and 

 appeared disposed to promote their little pleasures ; 

 but still he was uncertain, and had we been more 

 conversant with the world, we should have called 

 him capricious. At a certain hour every day he 

 was in the habit of retiring from the school-house to 

 his dwelling, where he would spend a short time ; 

 on his return he was observed never to follow the 

 beaten path, but to approach the school-house by 

 zig-zag lines ; and, to our simple apprehensions, 

 this strange conduct was supposed to be directed 

 with a view of keeping the window of the school- 

 house always in sight, so that he could watch the 

 boys even when he was not present. How long this 

 fascination might have lasted I cannot say ; for in less 

 than three months after his installation, the spring 

 holidays, for a fortnight, commenced, and, before 

 they were over, Mr. Gordon was dead. He died of 

 delirium tremens, and his assistant declared that he 

 had not been sober a single day since his arrival. 



The people of Pineville, would never become a 

 corporate body. All administrative powers were, 

 therefore, assumed by the Board of Trustees. 

 Those being overseers of a school, they gradually 

 became the council of a town, thus happily illustrat- 

 ing the insidious progress of usurpation. They ac- 

 quired, either by gift or purchase, all the unoccupied 

 lands, and as owners of the soil, made such whole- 



