Aaron knew Newota well and was familiar with Kindred’s involvement with Indian tribes. Aaron declined Ethan’s invitation to stay and eat, but took a drink of water and rode off down the trail.

For a few minutes Aaron thought about how different Ethan and Elijah were and was somewhat pleased with himself for being able to forge a friendship with the two strong men. It was typical of him that he thought well of both men, and he also thought it would be good for them to get better acquainted with each other.

Aaron had visited the Pratts several times on his travels and knew that Ethan was committed to a peaceful existence for himself and his family, preferring to be alone except for an occasional visit with the neighboring Morrises. He respected the Indians who lived across the river, was seldom profane, and considered his earlier official oaths as a British citizen to be binding on him as one loyal to the crown. Quite tall and powerful, Ethan was at ease among other men and never felt any need to prove himself superior in any way or to exercise control over anyone. In a conversation, he preferred to listen rather than express his own views. Aaron was not surprised that Ethan preferred not to give an immediate response to his invitation, and was sure he would consider all sides carefully and make a sound and cautious judgment.

Except for his imposing size and intimate knowledge of the surrounding wilderness, Elijah Clarke was almost the opposite in every way. He seemed driven always to exert his superiority over others, and his natural leadership abilities permitted these efforts to be successful. Elijah liked to expound his views and to harness other men into some kind of alliance with him. He was harsh and immediate in his judgments of others and in decisions about his own life. Since his encounter with the royal governor in North Carolina, Elijah had never professed any sense of British citizenship and was always in the forefront of rebel discussions. In many ways, it was uncomfortable to be around this overbearing and opinionated man, who was often wrong and never in doubt, but there was an attractive vitality about him that brought a number of men to his side. He never liked to be contradicted, and Aaron was always careful to express contrary views cautiously or in private. Elijah despised all Indians as savages, was never willing to attribute to them any human characteristics, and this was one subject on which Aaron never expressed his real opinion. Elijah would have been disgusted to know that Aaron had consorted with an Indian “wife,” considering that any sexual relation other than rape was ungodly with a squaw.

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