The Young Trailers

lying close to the earth, and heard again the peaceful wind blowing among the peaceful trees. The savage army h

ur side has more'n a scratch," ex

e, "it's because we had a good position an' made ready. The

cared I can tell you," replied Paul fran

er his breath, and then he said aloud to R

hook h

all the other redskins, haven't much stomach for a straightaway attack on people behind breastworks; I don't think

otect themselves so well, and the invaders, under cover of darkness, might slip forward at many points. Henry himself was man enough and experienced enough to understand the danger, and for the moment, he wondered with a kind of impersonal curiosity how Ross was going to meet it. Ross himself was staring at the heavens, and Henry, foll

e had a chill edge. Then the wind died and not a leaf or blade of grass in the forest stirred. Somber clouds came over the brink of the horizon in the southwest, and crept threateningly up

t's to be a whopper,

ng the horses, "an' it may save us. All yo

was carried in polished horns, stopped securely, nor would there be any danger either of

own the back end of the hill, an' I think if we're keerful we can

hing in their experience. It came on, too, with terrible swiftness. The thunder, at first a mere rumble, rose rapidly to crash after crash that stunned their ears. The livid flash of lightning that split the southwest

t!" shou

their ears were filled with the roar and scream of the wind, and the crackle of boughs and whole tree trunks snapped through, like the rattle of rifl

but left in its path a trail of torn and fallen trees. Then in its path came the sweep of the great rain; the air grew darke

Shawnees had to hunt cover, an' they can't

eep and dangerous gully in the side of the hill. Henry, Paul and the master locked hands in the dark and the drivin

d not have dreamed ten years ago that I sho

aster's tone, as if he were satisfied with the manner in which he had borne himself. He

h or fallen timber, keeping close together so that no one might be lost in the darkness and the rain, Ross, as usual, leading the line, and Shif'less Sol bringing

death; indeed it seemed to them that the hand of God had turned the enemy aside, and in their thankfulness they forgo

had escaped from the conflict wonderfully well; two slight wounds, not more than the breaking of skin, and that was all. Fresh strength came to them, and as they continued their journey the bars of pale light broadened and deepened, and then fused into a s

in' a heap too tough for them to chaw, an' I don't think they'll risk breaking a few more

nd brought our salt with us

they allowed a fire to be lighted, although they were careful to choose the center of a l

and dry splinters cut from the under side of fallen logs. Then when the blaze had taken good hold

t watched the great beds of coals form. They took off part of their clothing, hanging it before the fire, and when it was

llers heard tell as how the Romans after they had fought a good fight with them Carthaginians or Macedonians o

enry and Paul in chorus, their mouths stretching simultan

feel like little children, and they seized each other in a friendly scuffle, which terminated only when they were about to roll into the fire. The

well, for

. "I confess to you that there were times to-da

, and then his face

out here," he said. "Every settle

ee attack. Ross had reckoned truly when he thought the Shawnees would not care to ri

ng horses. Once Paul was swept down by a swift and powerful current, but Henry managed to seize and hold him until others came to the rescue. Men and boys alike laughed over their trials, because they felt now all the j

was covered with magnificent forest and now they threaded their way through the dense canebrake. Squirrels c

ndian should be loath to give up such choice hunting grounds, bu

wilderness should be cut down and the game should go. He was concerned only with the pr

areville. The hearts of Henry and Paul thrilled at the signs of white habitation. They saw where the ax had bitten through

strain in him had been awakened. He was not frightened now. The danger of the battle had aroused in him a certain wild emotion which repeated itself and refused to die, though days had passed. It seemed to him at t

to him in a way, but he considered himself essentially a m

speak boastfully of it, even as the great Greeks in Homer spoke boastfully of their achievements, but once is

ood 'un when you had to do

hook his head and

had to do it,' but I mean that I

t the schoolmaster was o

saw a thin, blue column of smoke rising and then

s, "an' I guess she's all right. That smoke looks kin

phal procession into Wareville, with the crowd about them thickening as they neared the gates. Henry's mother threw her arms about his neck, and his father grasped him by the hand. Paul was in the center of his own fami

salt-making and the great adventure with the Shawnees. He grew excited as he told of the battle and the storm, his face flushed, his eyes