ce a boy soon learned to throw his tomahawk and strike a
tree as he walked through the forest.

When a boy was twelve, he had his own small rifle and pouch and was made
a member of the fort. He was given a certain port hole through which he
took careful aim. He was often allowed to go with older men on hunting
trips if he had proved himself worthy to be "among men."

Dancing as we know it was unknown, but few ever enjoyed anything more
than those boys and girls did dancing their jigs and reels. Their music
was simple and singing was something both old and young enjoyed to the
fullest. Story-telling was an art then, and year by year, old, old tales
grew longer and longer and Jack the hero, always conquered all the
giants.

There was witchcraft in the Valley too, and when a crow or calf died or
was sick, the owner often thought a witch had shot it with a hair ball
or with some kind of curse. When a man lost his cunning in his once good
aim, he was sure some one had put a "spell" on him. Some actually
believed men were changed into horses and after being bridled, they were
ridden all over the countryside. Many men thought this was why their
bones ached and they felt too tired to work their farms.

The men who did strange things were spoken of as wizards. Some called
them witch-masters, and these claimed they could stop the mischievous
work of the witches and cure baffling diseases.

When a child was born with a frail body, or developed rickets, it was
often thought to be caused by the spells of someone unfriendly to the
family.

If one would get rid of the witch in his neighborhood a picture of the
supposed witch was drawn on a board or on a stump and shot at with a
bullet which contained a bit of silver. This bullet, if it struck the
picture, was thought to put a spell on the witch.

We may smile at the thought of those superstitions, but few of us, if we
are honest, will not admit that we have one pet superstition just as
foolish as those referred to above.

Kercheval tells us how difficult it often was for the farmer to retain
all of his crops. There were so many animals, like the squirrels and
raccoons, which liked their grains. Storms would come and huge trees
would fall on their fences, letting their horses and cattle get into the
fields.

He makes us realize how difficult it was to procure the necessities of
life. Where, for instance did they get the mills with which to grind
their grains, where the instr