The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky riflemanHawks, Francis L. (Francis Lister)
History
The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky rifleman
Hawks, Francis L. (Francis Lister)
Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820; Frontier and pioneer life -- Kentucky; Kentucky -- History -- To 1792
The old man with his other sons went busily to the work of making a
farm. As for Daniel, they knew it was idle to expect his help in such
employment, and therefore left him to roam about with his rifle. This
was a glorious country for the youth; wild woods were all around him,
and the game, having not yet learned to fear the crack of the rifle
wandered fearlessly through them. This he thought was, of all places,
the home for him. I hope you will not think that he was the idle and
useless boy of the family, for it was not so. While the farm was
improving, Daniel was supplying the family with provisions. The table at
home was always filled with game, and they had enough and to spare.
Their house became known as a warm-hearted and hospitable abode; for the
wayfaring wanderer, when lost in the woods, was sure to find here a
welcome, a shelter, and an abundance. Then, too, if money was wanted in
the family, the peltries of the animals shot by Daniel supplied it: so
that he was, in a large degree, the supporter of the household. In this
way years rolled onward--the farm still enlarging and improving, Daniel
still hunting, and the home one of constant peace, happiness, and
plenty.
At length the story of the success and comfort of the family brought
neighbors around them. Different parts of the forests began to be
cleared; smoke was soon seen rising from new cabins; and the sharp crack
of other rifles than Daniel's was sometimes heard in the morning. This
grieved him sadly. Most people would have been pleased to find neighbors
in the loneliness of the woods; but what pleased others did not please
him. They were crowding upon him; they were driving away his game: this
was his trouble. But, after all, there was one good farmer who came into
the region and made his settlement; which settlement, as it turned out,
proved a happy thing for Daniel. This was a very worthy man named Bryan.
He cleared his land, built his cabin upon a sloping hill, not very far
from Mr. Boone's, and before a great while, by dint of industry, had a
good farm of more than a hundred acres. This farm was beautifully
situated. A pretty stream of water almost encircled it. On the banks of
the Schuylkill, Daniel Boone found all his education, such as it was; on
the banks of the Yadkin he found something far better. I must tell you
now of a very strange adventure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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