den o' Eden," whispered Shif'less Sol regretfully. "We're
already back where men are fightin' an' tryin' to kill."

"I thought perhaps most of the army had already gone south, but there's
the column of smoke as big as ever, and also the second column nearer to
our home."

"An' here's a creek that we'll hev to cross. Looks deep too. Strike a
feller 'bout the middle."

"Maybe we can find a shallower place or a tree that has fallen all the
way across it."

They ran along its bank for some distance, but finding no place where
the water looked shallow plunged in, holding their weapons and
ammunition clear of the surface. As they emerged on the other shore, a
warrior standing in the bushes about forty yards away uttered a shout
and fired at them. But the Indian is never a good marksman and in the
dusk his bullet cut the leaves at least three feet over their heads.

His warning shout and shot was followed by a yell from at least twenty
others who lay about a small fire in a glade a hundred yards beyond.
Thick bushes had hid the coals from the sight of Henry and the shiftless
one and now, taking no time to reply to the bullet of the warrior, who
stood, empty gun in hand, they turned and ran swiftly toward the north,
while after them came the whole yelling pack.

"We've shorely left the Garden o' Eden, Henry," said the shiftless one.
"They didn't do sech things ez these thar in Adam or Eve's times, nor in
ourn. We come purty nigh walkin' plum' into a trap."

"And we've got to shake 'em off. We mustn't run toward the stone hollow,
because that would merely draw 'em down on all of us. We must lead away
to the west again, Sol."

"You're right, Henry, but that confounded creek's in the way. I kin see
it off on the left an' I notice that it's growin' wider an' deeper, ez
it flows on to the Ohio. They've got us hemmed in ag'inst it."

"But Sol, they'll have to do a lot before they catch such as you and
me."

"That's so, Henry. I guess we're right hard to ketch. I'm proud to be a
fugitive 'long o' you."

Henry glanced back and saw the long line of dusky figures following them
through woods over hills and across valleys with all the tenacity of a
pack of wolves pursuing a deer. He knew that they would hang on to the
last, and while he was sure that he and Shif'less Sol could distance
them, if they used their utmost speed, he was in continuous apprehension
lest they stir up some other band or at least stray warriors, as the