Page:Historic towns of the southern states (1900).djvu/533

 must be abandoned. A number of the settlers yielded to their fears, and returned with their families to Kentucky or to their old homes in the East. In those dark days the exalted character of James Robertson stood out in noble relief. He resolutely stemmed the tide of apprehension. He would not discuss a retreat. He was the very life and mainstay of the settlement. "These rich and beautiful lands," Robertson said, "were not designed to be given up to savages and wild beasts. The God of Creation and Providence has nobler purposes in view." "Each one should do what seems to him his duty. As for myself, my station is here, and here I shall stay if every man of you deserts."

Solitary and alone, and apparently unmindful of danger, Robertson made long journeys through the forest to confer with the Cherokee chiefs in the interest of peace. When the ammunition at the forts was exhausted, and an attack was threatened, he set out in midwinter upon a lonely trail through the wilderness for the Kentucky settlements, and never rested until he had returned to Freeland Station with an ample supply.

His return was none too soon. That very