He did not want
to conceal his feelings and opinions, because he did not know how to do
it; and he was sure if he attempted it he should make a fool of
himself; for lies required so much dressing up in pretty words to make
them look like truth, that he should fail for want of words; and truth
was always prettiest when naked. In the main, the General was correct;
but there are some who lie with a _naivete_ so perfect that even he
would have deemed it truth naked and unadorned.
Larry Moore was a different man, but quite as illiterate and bold as
Thomas, without his abilities; yet he was by no means devoid of mind.
He resided upon the lake border, in the flat pine country, where the
land is poor, and the people are ignorant and bigoted. Larry was far
from being bigoted, save in his politics. He had been a Jeffersonian
Democrat, he knew; but he did not know why. He lived off the road, and
did not take the papers. He knew Jefferson had bought Louisiana and her
people, and, as he understood, at seventy-five cents a head. He did not
complain of the bargain, though he thought, if old Tom had seen them
before the bargain was clinched, he would have hesitated to pay so
much.
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