Stories of Great Americans for Little AmericansEggleston, Edward
History
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans
Eggleston, Edward
United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature
One evening he sat by his cabin. He heard some one coming. He thought
that it might be Indians. He heard the steps of horses. He looked
through the trees. He saw his brother riding on one horse, and leading
another. The other horse was loaded with powder and bullets and
clothes, and other things that Boone needed.
DANIEL BOONE’S DAUGHTER AND HER FRIENDS.
Daniel Boone and his brother picked out a good place in Ken-tuck-y to
settle. Then they went home to North Car-o-li-na. They took with them
such things as were cu-ri-ous and val-u-a-ble. These were the skins of
animals they had killed, and no doubt some of the heads and tails.
Boone was restless. He had seen Kentucky and he did not wish to settle
down to the life of North Carolina.
In two years Boone sold his farm in North Carolina and set out for
Kentucky. He took with him his wife and children and two brothers. Some
of their neighbors went with them. They trav-eled by pack train. All
their goods were packed on horses.
When they reached the place on the Kentucky River that Boone had chosen
for a home they built a fort of log houses. These cabins all stood
round a square. The backs of the houses were outward. There was no door
or window in the back of a house. The outer walls were thus shut up.
They made the place a fort. The houses at the four corners were a
little taller and stronger than the others. There were gates leading
into the fort. These gates were kept shut at night.
In the evening the people danced and amused themselves in the square.
Indians could not creep up and attack them.
When the men went out to feed the horses and cows they carried their
guns. They walked softly and turned their eyes quickly from point to
point to see if Indians were hiding near. They held their guns so they
could shoot quickly.
The women and children had to stay very near the fort so they could run
in if an Indian came in sight.
Daniel Boone had a daughter named Je-mi-ma. She was about fourteen
years old. She had two friends named Frances and Betsey Cal-lo-way.
Frances Galloway was about the same age as Jemima.
One summer afternoon these three girls went out of the fort. They went
to the river and got into a canoe. It was not far from the fort. They
felt safe. They laughed and talked and splashed the water with their
paddles.
The cur-rent carried them slowly near the other shore. They could still
see the fort. They did not think of danger.
Trees and bushes grew thick down to the edge of the river. Five strong
Indians were hiding in the bushes.
One Indian crept care-ful-ly through the bushes. He made no more noise
than a snake. When he got to the edge of the water he put out his long
arm and caught hold of the rope that hung down from the canoe. In a
moment he had turned the boat around and drawn it out of sight from the
fort. The girls screamed when they saw the Indian. Their friends heard
them but could not cross the river to help them. The girls had taken
the only canoe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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