t of David was deeply moved by this tenderness, to which he was
quite unaccustomed.

And then, though exhausted by the toil of a three hours' wading through
the drifts, he commenced, in the midst of a mountain storm, a long
day's journey upon foot. It was as much as the horses could do to drag
the heavily laden wagons over the encumbered road. However weary, he
could not ride. However exhausted, the wagons could not wait for him;
neither was there any place in the smothering snow for rest.

Day after day they toiled along, in the endurance of hardships now with
difficulty comprehended. Sometimes they were gladdened with sunny skies
and smooth paths. Again the clouds would gather, and the rain, the
sleet, and the snow would envelop them in glooms truly dismal. Under
these circumstances the progress of the wagons was very slow. David was
impatient. As he watched the sluggish turns of the wheels, he thought
that he could travel very much faster if he should push forward alone,
leaving the wagons behind him.

At length he became so impatient, thoughts of home having obtained
entire possession of his mind, that he informed Mr. Dunn of his
intention to press forward as fast as he could. His elder companions
deemed it very imprudent for such a mere child, thus alone, to attempt
to traverse the wilderness, and they said all they could to dissuade
him, but in vain. He therefore, early the next morning, bade them
farewell, and with light footsteps and a light heart tripped forward,
leaving them behind, and accomplishing nearly as much in one day as the
wagons could in two. We are not furnished with any of the details of
this wonderful journey of a solitary child through a wilderness of one
or two hundred miles. We know not how he slept at night, or how he
obtained food by day. He informs us that he was at length overtaken by
a drover, who had been to Virginia with a herd of cattle, and was
returning to Knoxville riding one horse and leading another.

The man was amazed in meeting a mere child in such lonely wilds, and
upon hearing his story, his kind heart was touched. David was a frail
little fellow, whose weight would be no burden for a horse, and the
good man directed him to mount the animal which he led. The boy had
begun to be very tired. He was just approaching a turbid stream, whose
icy waters, reaching almost to his neck, he would have had to wade but
for this Providential assistance.

Travellers in the wilderness se