The Crossing

The Crossing

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Title: The Crossing
Author: Winston Churchill
Release Date: January, 1996 [EBook #388] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted in 1993] [This file
was most recently updated on June 24, 2002
Edition: 11

Language: English
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CROSSING BY WINSTON CHURCHILL ***

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THE CROSSING
By Winston Churchill

CONTENTS
BOOK I. THE BORDERLAND
I. THE BLUE WALL II. WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS III.
CHARLESTOWN IV. TEMPLE BOW V. CRAM'S HELL VI. MAN
PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES VII. IN SIGHT OF THE BLUE
WALL ONCE MORE VIII. THE NOLLICHUCKY TRACE IX. ON
THE WILDERNESS TRAIL X. HARRODSTOWN XI.
FRAGMENTARY XII. THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS XIII.
KASKASKIA XIV. HOW THE KASKASKIANS WERE MADE
CITIZENS XV. DAYS OF TRIAL XVI. DAVY GOES TO
CAHOKIA XVII. THE SACRIFICE XVIII. "AN' YE HAD BEEN
WHERE I HAD BEEN" XIX. THE HAIR BUYER TRAPPED XX.
THE CAMPAIGN ENDS
BOOK II. FLOTSAM AND JETSAM
I. IN THE CABIN II. "THE BEGGARS ARE COME TO TOWN" III.
WE GO TO DANVILLE IV. I CROSS THE MOUNTAINS ONCE
MORE V. I MEET AN OLD BEDFELLOW VI. THE WIDOW
BROWN'S VII. I MEET A HERO VIII. TO ST. LOUIS IX.
"CHERCHEZ LA FEMME" X. THE KEEL BOAT XI. THE
STRANGE CITY XII. LES ISLES XIII. MONSIEUR AUGUSTE

ENTRAPPED XIV. RETRIBUTION
BOOK III. LOUISIANA
I. THE RIGHTS OF MAN II. THE HOUSE ABOVE THE FALLS III.
LOUISVILLE CELEBRATES IV. OF A SUDDEN RESOLUTION V.
THE HOUSE OF THE HONEYCOMBED TILES VI. MADAME LA
VICOMTESSE VII. THE DISPOSAL OF THE SIEUR DE ST. GRE
VIII. AT LAMARQUE'S IX. MONSIEUR LE BARON X. THE
SCOURGE XI. "IN THE MIDST OF LIFE" XII. VISIONS, AND AN
AWAKENINGS XIII. A MYSTERY XIV. "TO UNPATHED
WATERS, UNDREAMED SHORES" XV. AN EPISODE IN THE
LIFE OF A MAN
AFTERWORD

THE CROSSING
BOOK I
THE BORDERLAND

CHAPTER I
THE BLUE WALL
I was born under the Blue Ridge, and under that side which is blue in
the evening light, in a wild land of game and forest and rushing waters.
There, on the borders of a creek that runs into the Yadkin River, in a
cabin that was chinked with red mud, I came into the world a subject of
King George the Third, in that part of his realm known as the province
of North Carolina.
The cabin reeked of corn-pone and bacon, and the odor of pelts. It had
two shakedowns, on one of which I slept under a bearskin. A rough
stone chimney was reared outside, and the fireplace was as long as my
father was tall. There was a crane in it, and a bake kettle; and over it
great buckhorns held my father's rifle when it was not in use. On other
horns hung jerked bear's meat and venison hams, and gourds for
drinking cups, and bags of seed, and my father's best hunting shirt; also,
in a neglected corner, several articles of woman's attire from pegs.
These once belonged to my mother. Among them was a gown of silk,

of a fine, faded pattern, over which I was wont to speculate. The
women at the Cross-Roads, twelve miles away, were dressed in coarse
butternut wool and huge sunbonnets. But when I questioned my father
on these matters he would give me no answers.
My father was--how shall I say what he was? To this day I can only
surmise many things of him. He was a Scotchman born, and I know
now that he had a slight Scotch accent. At the time