The Land Claim — page 40: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

36 THE LAND-CLAIM. their messmate, who gradually grew calm, and almost indif. ferent, the young men again returned to seek some repose; but it was almost daylight in the cabin before sleep closed the eyes of any of that party to a brief oblivion of their mutual grief and uneasiness. CHAPTER VI. JUDGE LYNCH, Tue funeral services of Dr. Edwards being over, and his body committed to the virgin earth of prairie-land, people dispersed to their homes with minds somewhat softened and solemnized by the scene, always impressive, of a stranger's burial in a strange land, but with their hatred of his murderer by no means lessened. At the big log-tavern in Fairview, the appearance of the three young men who had acted as chief mourners was being descanted upon by a crowd of citizens, intermixed with a few persons from other towns, and an occasional new-comer to the territory. In a country where the population is made up of new-comers, no notice is taken of such except to endeavor to be the first to sell them some claim of fabulous merits, on discovering a disposition in the stranger to “look around.” But to-day even the spirit of speculation was dumb and lame in the presence of the more absorbing theme; and a middle- aged gentleman, of fine looks and somewhat lofty bearing, listened with uninterrupted interest to the free discussion going on around him, which gradually became a running commentary on every circumstance connected with the late tragedy. “T never seen anybody more tuk down than two of them mourners was,” remarked one man. “They couldn’t a felt worse if they had lost a brother.” “ Yes,” responded a second, “them are fine fellers. One is a lawyer, son of old Judge Allen, in Ohio, where I com from; and .t’other is a surveyor from Michigan—I don’t remember his name, cause Allen allers calls him Flag, and so CoOnnicooks.cGonn | ;