s, he said, had lately been troublesome, and some of them who had
been found prowling about, evidently bent on mischief, had been shot.
`We have won the ground, and we must keep it against all odds,' he
observed.

"Everything in the country was then new to us. I remember feeling
almost awe-struck with the stillness which reigned in the forest. Not a
leaf or bough was in motion; nor was a sound heard, except when now and
then our ears caught the soughing of the wind among the lofty heads of
the pine-trees, the tapping of the woodpeckers on the decaying trunks,
or the whistling cry of the little chitmonk as it ran from bough to
bough.

"I had expected to meet with bears, wolves, raccoons, lynxes, and other
animals, and was surprised at encountering so few living creatures.
`They are here, notwithstanding,' observed our friend; `you will get
your eyes sharpened to find them in time. In the course of a year or
two you _may_ become expert backwoodsmen. You can't expect to drop into
the life all at once.' By attending to the advice our friend gave us,
and keeping our senses wide awake, we gained some knowledge even during
that journey.

"We were now approaching the settlement--Weatherford, it was called. It
was a long way to the eastward of where we are now, with numerous towns
and villages in the neighbourhood. The waggon had gained the last
height, from the top of which, our guide told us, we should be able to
catch sight of the settlement. We had been working away with our
crowbars, helping on the wheels,--our friend being ahead of the team,--
and had just reached level ground, when we heard him utter a cry of
dismay. Rushing forward, we found him pointing, with distended eyes,
into the plain beyond us, from which could be seen, near the bank of a
river, thick volumes of smoke ascending, while bright names kept
flickering up from below.

"`The settlement has been surprised by Indians!' he exclaimed, as soon
as he could find words to speak. `I know the bloodthirsty nature of the
savages. They don't do things by halves, or allow a single human being
to escape, if they can help it. Lads, you will stick by me; though we
can do nothing, I fear, but be revenged on the Redskins. I left my wife
and children down there, and I know that I shall never see them alive
again.'

"He spoke quite calmly, like a man who had made up his mind for the
worst.

"`We cannot leave the waggon here, or the Indians will see it,--