My dear friend, Kurt Freitag brought me a lovely present while working the Magic Castle this week, a book on Southern Folklore. In it I discovered an interesting selection from a book about the early frontier, telling a tale of Daniel Boone using sleight of hand to get out of trouble:

“Boone, according to James Jall, was once resting in the woods with a small number of his followers, when a large party of Indians came suddenly upon them and halted–neither party having discovered the other until they came in contact. The whites were eating, and the savages, with the ready tact for which they are famous, sat down with perfect composure, and also commenced eating. It was obvious they wished to lull the suspicions of the white men, and seize a favorable opportunity for rushing upon them. Boone affected a careless inattention, but, in an undertone, quietly admonished his…