their lives. Amid such scenes was the Great West won.




CHAPTER II

IN THE RIVER


Paul, while not the equal of Henry in the woods, was a strong and enduring
youth. His muscles were like wire, and there were few better runners west
of the mountains. Although the weight of the second rifle might tell after
a while, he did not yet feel it, and with springy step he sped after
Henry, leaving the choice of course and all that pertained to it to his
comrade. After a while they heard a second cry--a wailing note--and Henry
raised his head a little.

"They've come to the two who fell," he said.

But after the single lament, the warriors were silent, and Paul heard
nothing more in the woods but their own light footsteps and his own long
breathing. Little birds flitted through the boughs of the trees, and now
and then a hare hopped up and ran from their path. The silence became
terrible, full of omens and presages, like the stillness before coming
thunder.

"It means something," said Henry; "I think we've stumbled into a regular
nest of those Shawnees, and they're likely to be all about us."