leet was drawn up in a long line along the
southern bank, and it, too, was at rest. No sweep or paddle stirred, and
the men slept or lounged on the decks. Nowhere was an enemy visible. All
the storm and strife of the night before had vanished. It seemed, in the
face of this peaceful wind and golden sun, that such things could not
be. Adam Colfax and Major Braithwaite might well cling to their belief
that the warriors, beaten and disheartened, had gone. The women and
children shared in this conviction, and the afternoon was a joyous one
in Fort Prescott, but when the night had fully come, Boone and Kenton,
with Henry, Tom Ross and the shiftless one, went forth to prove a thing
that they did not wish to prove, that is, that the Indians were still at
hand.

They went first in a southwesterly direction, and they saw many signs of
the savages, that is, that they had been there, but these signs also
indicated that now they were gone. They curved about toward the
northwest, and the result was the same, and then, for the sake of
certainty, they came back again toward the southwest. Assured now that
the southern woods contained no Indians anywhere near the fort, they
stopped in the bushes near the bank of the river and held a little
council.

"It 'pears to me that it's turned out just about as all of us thought it
would," said Daniel Boone.

"It's so," said Simon Kenton, "but we had to look first an' be sure."

"That is, we all believe that the Indians have gathered on the northern
bank," said Henry, "and under the lead of Timmendiquas are planning a
grand attack upon us."

"It's so," said Shif'less Sol.

Tom Ross nodded.

"That bein' so," said Daniel Boone, "we must cross an' take a look at
them."

All the others nodded. Everyone was anxious for the perilous task.

"We can swim the river," said Henry, "and, also, we can borrow a small
boat from the fleet."

"I wouldn't borrow a boat," said Daniel Boone. "The fewer that know
about us the better, even the fewer of our friends. It 'pears to me that
if we were to stroll down stream a little we might find a canoe that
somebody had left there for a time of need."

Henry smiled. He felt sure that the canoe would be found. But he and the
others, without another word, followed Boone for a distance until they
came to a point where the banks were low. Then Boone forced his way
noiselessly into a patch of bushes that grew at the very water's edge,
and Simon Kenton followed h