No name
was mentioned in the proclamation, but Burr knew his plot was
discovered. Once more he had failed; and he fled. He changed clothes
with a boatman on the Mississippi, and vanished into the forest.
For a month no one knew where he was, for beneath the battered white
felt and homespun clothes of a river boatman no one recognised the
dapper politician.
Meanwhile Burr was slowly making his way east hoping to reach the
coast, and get away in some ship. He had still many friends, and
one night he stopped at a cottage to ask his way to the house of
one of these friends. In the cottage were two young men. One of
them, named Perkins, looked keenly at the stranger. It seemed to
him that his face and clothes were not in keeping, and his boots
looked to smart for the rest of his get up.
After the stranger had gone he still thought about it. Then suddenly
he said, "That was Aron Burr. Let us go after him and arrest him."
The other man, however, laughed at him, and refused to stir. So
Perkins went off alone to find the sheriff, and soon the two were
riding posthaste after the stranger.
When they reached the house to which Burr had asked the way,
Perkins stayed outside with the horses, and the sheriff went into
the house. He was going to arrest a bold bad man, and it would be
a great feather in his cap. So in he marched feeling very firm and
grand, expecting to find a terrible ruffian of a fellow.
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