"we won't be far apart, as we may be to-morrow."

And, without waiting to discuss the question, he struck to the left with
his strong step, the others following the courses already mentioned.

No afternoon could have been more charming, with the summer lingering
and mellowing the approaching winter.

The faint, smoky haze of the atmosphere, the clear sky, the warm sun,
the brilliant-hued vegetation in the woods, the faint cawing of crows in
the distance, and the flight of birds overhead, looking like
mathematical figures in India-ink gliding across the blue heavens, the
delicious languor everywhere: all these were at their best, and he who
was wandering through the rainbow-tinted forest, where the sleepy waters
flowed, could well understand why it was the pioneers, like Daniel
Boone, Simon Kenton, and others, turned their backs on civilization,
and, plunging into the wilderness, buried themselves for months from the
sight of their fellow-men.

Sam Harper was moving quietly toward the north, when it seemed to him
that a large leaf suddenly blew forward from beneath his feet and was
carried swiftly over the ground, straight ahead and away from him.

Looking closely, he discovered that it was a plump quail which he had
startled, and which was speeding from him. Although the bird has short
legs it runs very swiftly, and it was gone almost before Sam identified
it.

"Ah, if I could only get a shot at you," said the lad, his mouth fairly
watering, "what a splendid supper you would make!"