d so easily found which way the savages had
gone. They came up with the Indians just as they were sitting down
round a fire to eat their supper. Creeping toward them behind the
trees as softly as a cat creeps up behind a mouse, Boone and his men
aimed their rifles and fired. Two of the Indians fell dead, the rest
ran for their lives, and the girls were carried back in safety to
the fort.

152. Boone is captured by Indians; they adopt him as a son.--Later,
Boone himself was caught and carried off by the Indians. They
respected his courage so much that they would not kill him, but
decided to adopt him; that is, take him into the tribe as one of their
own people, or make an Indian of him.

They pulled out all his hair except one long lock, called the
"scalp-lock," which they left to grow in Indian fashion. The
squaws[5] and girls braided bright feathers in this lock, so that
Boone looked quite gay. Then the Indians took him down to a river.
There they stripped him, and scrubbed him with all their might, to
get his white blood out, as they said. Next, they painted his face
in stripes with red and yellow clay, so that he looked, as they
thought, handsomer than he ever had before in his life. When all had
been done, and they were satisfied with the appearance of their new
Indian, they sat down to a great feast, and made merry.

[Footnote 5: Squaws: Indian women.]

153. Boone escapes, but the Indians find him again; what a handful
of tobacco dust did.--After a time Boone managed to escape, but the
Indians were so fond of him that they could not rest till they found
him again. One day he was at work in a kind of shed drying some tobacco
leaves. He heard a slight noise, and turning round saw four Indians
with their guns pointed at him. "Now, Boone," said they, "we got you.
You no get away this time." "How are you?" said Boone, pleasantly;
"glad to see you; just wait a minute till I get you some of my
tobacco." He gathered two large handfuls of the leaves: they were
as dry as powder and crumbled to dust in his hands. Coming forward,
as if to give the welcome present to the Indians, he suddenly sprang
on them and filled their eyes, mouths, and noses with the stinging
tobacco dust. The savages were half choked and nearly blinded. While
they were dancing about, coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their eyes,
Boone slipped out of the shed and got to a place of safety. The Indians
were mad as they could be, yet they could hardly