Boone said no more, and Peleg withdrew beyond the border of the settlement to make additional tests of his newly made rifle. Apparently these were satisfactory, for at three o'clock the following morning when he and Daniel Boone departed from the little settlement it was "Singing Susan," which Peleg was carrying over his shoulder.

As yet the boy did not know whither he and his comrade were going. Only in a general way had Boone explained how long they might be absent.

However, it was clear to the mind of Peleg that the scout was moved by a feeling that he was engaging in an enterprise from which there was to be no turning back, and that he felt that he needed some one to accompany him.

To be near Boone was sufficient reward in itself, and buoyantly the young man carried himself as they moved in single file through the pa.s.ses of the mountains. It was seldom that either spoke, and it was agreed that their guns were not to be fired except when it was necessary to secure game.

Many miles had been covered when the two hunters decided to rest, for night was at hand. Selecting a sheltered spot near a swiftly running brook, they were protected from peril from the rear of their camp by the huge walls of the hill which rose abruptly behind it. A fire was kindled with Peleg's flint and tinder and allowed to burn only long enough to roast the loin of deer which had been secured by a shot from the scout's rifle early that morning.

As soon as their supper had been eaten the fire was extinguished. The June air was warm and it was with a sense of comfort that Peleg seated himself upon the ground with his back against the protecting cliff. His companion had seldom spoken to him throughout their journey, and the pace at which they had been travelling had told more severely upon the younger hunter than upon Boone. Yet there was a feeling of deep comfort in Peleg's heart. The stars were twinkling in the sky, the gentle breeze that swept the treetops was softly musical in its sound, and beyond all these was the pleasure of being in the company of the man to whom he looked up as to no one else. All combined to make the young hunter happy.

To his surprise he found that Daniel Boone was willing to talk more freely than he ever had known him to do before.

"Yes," Daniel Boone was saying, "my grandfather came from England and settled in Pennsylvania. He had nine sons and ten daughters. My father he called Squire. I do not know just why, unless it was because he was more active than his brothers. I was born on the right bank of the Delaware in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1734. Not long after my father married he moved to another part of the colony, and when I was a little lad he took us overland through Maryland and Virginia and settled at the headwaters of the Yadkin."

"A fine place, too, that is," said Peleg.

"Indeed it is," a.s.sented the scout, "but it was not for me. Somehow I seem destined to find the way for others rather than to be able to enjoy much of quiet and rest myself. It was on the first day of May, 1769, that I left my family in quest of the country of Kantuckee. Five men travelled with me, all of us relying upon the reports of John Finley, one of our number, who had been trading with the Indians there. He averred that he had found the most beautiful of all lands. I shall not soon forget the seventh day of June that year, when John Finley and I, from the top of an eminence, looked out upon the beautiful land of Kantuckee. Buffalo were more numerous than are cattle in the settlements. They fed upon the gra.s.s that grows marvellously on those plains. We saw hundreds in a drove, and the numbers about the salt springs were amazing. On the 22d of December, John Stuart and I were having a pleasing ramble. We had pa.s.sed through a great forest and were amazed at the variety of the blossoms we saw. As for game, why it almost seemed to seek us out instead of making us the hunters. It was near sunset and we were near the Kantuckee River, when a number of Indians rushed out of a canebrake and made us their prisoners."

"How long did they keep you?"

"Seven days. We did our utmost not to show any uneasiness, and gradually they became less suspicious of us. But in the dead of the night of that seventh day, when we were lying by a large fire and all the others were asleep, I gently shook my companion, whispered my plan, and we left the camp without disturbing any one. My brother and another man, who had started after us to explore the country, found the camp of our party, but it had been plundered and the other men in our band had fled.

Strangely enough, we soon came upon one another in the forest. You may be sure that this meeting with my brother was most welcome. The man who was with him, however, soon went on a private excursion and was attacked and killed by wolves. John Stuart was killed by the Indians. There we were in a howling wilderness, hundreds of miles from our families and surrounded by Indians who were determined to kill us. All through that winter we had no trouble, however, and on the first of the following May my brother went home for a new recruit of horses and ammunition, leaving me alone. I had been without bread for a year; I had no salt nor sugar, and not even a horse or a dog for company.

"I knew I must not lament, however, and accordingly I undertook a tour which I thought might be of benefit to others who, I had no doubt, soon would follow me. Often I heard the hideous yells of the savages searching for me. On the 27th of July my brother returned, and together we went as far as the c.u.mberland River, scouting through that part of the country and giving names to the different rivers. In the following March I went back to my family, determined to bring them as soon as possible, even at the risk of life and fortune, to make a home in Kantuckee, which I esteemed a second Paradise.

"You know, my lad, how I sold my land on the Yadkin and disposed of such goods as we could not carry with us, and how with five other families we started on the 25th of September to journey to Kantuckee.

You were one of us at that time.

"You well remember also what occurred on the 10th of October, when our company was attacked by the Indians, how I lost my boy, and how we all journeyed back to the settlement on the Clinch River."

"And now?" queried Peleg.

"And now," answered Daniel Boone, "you and I are to journey to the Falls of the Ohio. Our surveyors there are in great peril from the Indians. We shall, without doubt, find ourselves often in danger, and I am selecting you to accompany me because already I have found that I could rely upon you. You have been quick to learn what I have taught you, and I do not believe you will easily be taken unawares, because you have already learned how to prepare yourself for any event. Any one who has not learned that lesson can never become a successful man, to say nothing of succeeding as a scout."

CHAPTER VIII

PELEG'S ENCOUNTER

The following morning dawned clear and warm, and as no signs of Indians had been seen the two scouts renewed their journey with lighter hearts.

At least a part of Peleg's fear was gone, though it was impossible for him to determine by anything his companion said whether or not he shared his feeling.

Without an open declaration of war, the Shawnees, Wyandottes, Cherokees, and Delawares were working more or less together at this time and were untiring in their determination to prevent the whites from entering and establishing homes in the region which the Indians believed was entirely their own.

The second day pa.s.sed, and the progress of the two scouts was unbroken.

Still Daniel Boone was using great caution, forbidding the discharge of guns except when food was required, and insisting upon the fire being extinguished as soon as the meals had been prepared.

On the fourth day of their journey the anxiety of the great scout became more manifest. "I have seen some things," he explained to his companion, "which are troubling me."

"Are the Indians near us?"

"I have been convinced that they have been near us all our journey, but I fear now they are approaching still nearer. My suggestion is that we separate, and I will go to the south and you to the north of the path we would have taken and meet again in our camp here a few hours from this time. We may throw them off our trail."

"Shall we start now?" inquired Peleg, rising at once as he spoke.

"'Twill be well to do so. The sun is now two hours high, and we must both be back here in camp by noon."

As he finished speaking, Daniel Boone departed silently into the forest and his example was promptly followed by the younger scout.

The young hunter had been gone almost an hour and as yet had discovered only a few signs of the presence of their enemies. He was near the bank of a stream some twenty feet or more in width when, glancing behind him, he saw two Indians swiftly approaching.

His first impulse was to fire upon them, but holding his rifle in readiness he waited for them to come nearer. Suddenly one of the red men raised his gun and fired at Peleg. The young scout heard the bullet whistling close to his head, and, instantly taking aim, returned the fire, causing one of the Indians to fall forward upon his face. The other warrior, however, was armed, and was swiftly approaching.

Peleg's first impulse to use his gun as a club and strive to defend himself was quickly abandoned when in some consternation he became aware of the size of the advancing red man. Never before had he seen an Indian so large as the one who was now approaching. Not merely was the man tall, but his breadth of shoulder and every movement alike showed the great strength which he possessed.

Thinking this was a case where discretion was the better part of valor, Peleg darted swiftly into the woods. As he did so his enemy fired at him, but fortunately the boy escaped unhurt. He ran at his utmost speed, but as he glanced over his shoulder he saw that his pursuer was speedily gaining upon him. Peleg Barnes was considered the best wrestler and the strongest of the younger men in the little settlement on the Clinch River. He now was more than six feet tall and the muscles in his arms and legs were marvellously developed. If the man behind him had not been of such gigantic and ferocious aspect, the young hunter would have ventured a single combat; but Peleg had decided that flight was the safer course.

For several hundred yards he ran at his utmost speed, but every glance backward showed him that, swiftly as he was running, his pursuer was steadily gaining upon him.

The woods through which they were speeding consisted almost entirely of small trees, few of which were large enough to provide protection or even shelter.

Peleg had pa.s.sed a large walnut tree, which he had noticed standing like a patriarch among the surrounding saplings, and suddenly he paused in his flight and ran back ten steps to gain it. This action of the young scout plainly startled the Indian, who halted a moment, thereby giving his adversary the advantage of reaching the shelter he was seeking.

If Peleg's gun had been loaded the solution of his troubles would not have been difficult. As it was, the huge warrior resumed his rapid advance. Again Peleg fled, but he was well aware that sooner or later he must stop and strive to defend himself by using his rifle as a club.

The moment for such action soon came, and, abruptly halting, Peleg seized his rifle by the barrel and raised it above his head. The Indian dropped his empty gun and advanced upon his victim with his tomahawk.

Instead of waiting to receive the attack, Peleg suddenly leaped forward and struck with the stock of his gun. The warrior at the same moment whirled his tomahawk and threw it.

In a manner both blows took effect. The stock of the rifle was dislocated by the blow which Peleg struck the Indian's skull, and at the same time the vicious blow of the tomahawk was deflected by the barrel of the rifle, though it cut deeply into Peleg's hand between his thumb and forefinger as it glanced.

As the Indian attempted to draw his knife, Peleg seized him and together both fell to the ground.

For a time the efforts of the Indian were by no means violent, and Peleg was hopeful that the blow which the warrior had received had partly disabled him; but it was soon manifest that the Indian had recovered, for, wrapping his long arms around Peleg's body, he pressed him to his breast with well-nigh crushing force.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The Indian had been able to draw his knife and struck at her again and again, while the bear held him in one of her most fervent hugs"]

Peleg, powerful young scout that he was, had never felt an embrace like that of the huge warrior. Relaxing his efforts for a moment, he endeavoured to convince his enemy that his strength was well-nigh gone.

The Indian apparently was deceived by his trick and made an attempt to reach for Peleg's gun, which had fallen on the ground nearby. The young hunter at the same moment made a sudden and desperate attempt to free himself from the arms of the giant.

Success crowned his efforts, but before he was able to escape from the place the Indian leaped to his feet, and, seizing Peleg with one hand and grasping the collar of his hunting shirt with the other, he drew his enemy steadily to his hip, and then by a sudden effort threw him at least ten feet into the air, much as he might have tossed a little child. Peleg fell upon his back at the edge of the stream, but before the savage could spring upon him, he was again upon his feet, and, stung with rage as well as desperation, instantly, and with a violence which for a time made up for his lack of strength, he renewed his attack upon his gigantic enemy.

The Indian, however, closed again with Peleg and hurled him to the ground, though the young hunter still doggedly clung to his foe.

Together they rolled into the water, where the struggle continued unabated for a time, as each did his utmost to thrust and hold the head of his opponent beneath the surface.