purpose of kindling a fire, that they might dry their garments, and
roast some portions of the slaughtered bull.

Scarcely had they succeeded, after several attempts, in effecting a
bright, ruddy blaze--which threw from their forms, dark, fantastic
shadows, against the earth, trees and neighboring bushes--when Caesar
uttered a low, deep growl; and Boone, grasping his rifle tightly,
motioned his companions to follow him in silence into an adjoining
thicket. Here, after cautioning them to remain perfectly quiet, unless
they heard some alarm, he carefully parted the bushes, and glided
noiselessly away, saying, in a low tone, as he departed:

"I rather 'spect it's Isaac; but I'd like to be sartin on't, afore I
commit myself."

For some five or ten minutes after the old hunter disappeared, all was
silent, save the crackling of the fire, the rustling of the leaves, the
sighing of the wind among the trees, and the rippling of the now swollen
and muddy waters of the Ohio. At length the sound of a voice was heard
some fifty paces distant, followed immediately by another in a louder
tone.

On hearing this, our friends in the thicket rushed forward, and were
soon engaged in shaking the hands of Isaac and his comrades, with a
heartiness on both sides that showed the pleasure of meeting was
earnest, and unalloyed.

As more important matters are now pressing hard upon us, and as our
space is limited, we shall omit the detail of Isaac's adventures, as
also the further proceedings of both parties for the present, and
substitute a brief summary.

The trail on which Isaac and his party started the day before, being
broad and open, they had experienced but little difficulty in following
it, until about noon, when they reached a stream where it was broken,
which caused them some two hours delay. This, doubtless, prevented them
from overtaking the enemy that day; and the night succeeding, not having
found quarters as comfortable as Boone's, they had been thoroughly
soaked with rain. The trail in the morning was entirely obliterated; but
pursuing their course in a manner simitar to that adopted by Boone, the
result had happily been the same, and the meeting of the two parties the
consequence, at a moment most fortunate to both.

All now gathered around the fire, to dry their garments, refresh
themselves with food, tell over to each other their adventures, and
consult as to their future course. It was finally agreed to cross the
st