"I hear there's a mighty howdy-do here about the state goin' out o' the Union or stayin' in it.

The mountains are jest hummin' with talk about the question, but don't make me take any part in it.

Me an' this lunkhead, Ike, my nephew, are here jest to sell logs, not to decide the fate o' states." "I'll remember that, too," said Harry, as he shook hands warmly with both of them, left the raft, climbed the bank and entered Frankfort.
The little town had few lights in those days and the boy moved along in the dusk, until he came near the Capitol.

There he saw the flame of lamps shining from several windows, and he knew that men were still at work, striving to draw a state into the arms of the North or the South.
He paused a few minutes at the corner of the lawn and drew many long, deep breaths.

The soreness was almost gone from his chest.