On we went accordingly at a rapid pace, minding neither dust nor mud, both of which were to be had on the road, as it undulated up and down; and in about three-quarters of an hour, we had reached the town or village of Jerusalem, as the capital seat of the county of Southampton is called. I fancy it is always an active, bustling little place; but there was evidently an unusual excitement in it at the time; and as we rode up towards the inn, I saw my good friend, Mr. Hubbard, standing by his pony, and another gentleman on horseback, close to him, who, Mr. Thornton informed me, was the sheriff. I have since seen several specimens of the same kind in Virginia; and shall only therefore say, he was a very tall, lanky man, with a good carriage and a line countenance, with tremendously long limbs, and not a superfluous ounce of flesh or fat upon any of them. Could I suppose him to have been once a beast transformed by some beneficent fairy into a man, I should say he must formerly have been a full-blooded Irish stag-hound; and his horse was of the same character, all bone and sinew, but a remarkably fine animal. He was equipped as if for the chase, with a pair of long boots which came up almost to his hips; and he had a little hat stuck upon the top of his grey hair, which a very slight change would have turned into a jockey cap. As soon as he saw us, he dashed very unceremoniously through the little crowd towards us; and we learned from him (after a brief introduction between him and me, from Mr. Thornton) that the warrant against Mr. Lewis was already in the hands of a constable, who was saddling his horse; and that information had been obtained of the course of the trader and his party, they having passed through Jerusalem about an hour and a half before. "Young Thornton is with him," added the sheriff, addressing my companion, "and you know what sort of a fellow he is; so we are likely to have a fight for it, and had better go prepared." "Let us start off at once," said Mr. Thornton. "As he has got so far ahead, he may get across the state-line, where your writ won't run." By this time Mr. Hubbard had joined us, and being informed that Billy Byles was raising recruits, advised us to remain till he came up, if he did not tarry too long, and then entered upon some legal question with the sheriff as to the nature, power, and extent of the warrant issued--matters which I did not very clearly comprehend.