Scouting with Daniel BooneTomlinson, Everett T. (Everett Titsworth)
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Scouting with Daniel Boone
Tomlinson, Everett T. (Everett Titsworth)
Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 -- Juvenile fiction
The scout slowly read the inscription and, shaking his head, said: "I
think I should leave that horn behind. There are plenty more which are
not so sharp in their warnings."
"But it is true, isn't it? If a man steals, isn't that the place where
he belongs?"
Apparently the thoughts of the great leader were withdrawn to other
matters, for, ignoring the question, he said: "Peleg, we shall start
before sunrise to-morrow morning. These June days are long and we do not
want to lose any of the hours."
"Shall we stop at night?"
"That will depend much upon events. There may be times when we shall be
glad to have the night protect us in our advance, and when it will be
necessary for us to hide in the daytime. There are some things to see to
before we go. One of these is that you must learn how to follow my
trail."
Peleg's eager manner expressed a question. His interest was keen.
"If you are lost or are not able to find me I shall mark my trail with
five stones placed like this." As he spoke the pioneer arranged five
small stones in a semicircle on the ground near him. "You may expect to
find these near the springs or at the places where I may cross the
rivers. We must plan to keep closely together, but I am referring to
this in case anything should happen to separate us. There are some other
things about which I shall tell you after we have started. I wish I felt
a little more confidence in that rifle," he added. "What did you say you
have named it?"
"Singing Susan."
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
passes 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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