game found in the valley of the Cuyahoga and about the small
lakes in its vicinity, and Ree and John were in that very locality years
before the white man's axe had opened up the country to general
settlement, driving the deer, the bear and wolves and all kindred animals
away.

Little wonder is it that these hardy pioneer boys were constantly
reminding themselves that they must pass by many fine opportunities for a
good shot, because of the necessity of saving their powder and bullets
for actual use; there must be no shooting except when there was a good
chance of securing game of some value.

Little wonder is it, that, even under these circumstances, Ree, by the
middle of the afternoon, had secured a deer and three turkeys besides a
big rabbit which he caught in his hands as it sprang from its burrow
beneath a fallen tree-top. And John had also shot a deer and had killed
their first bear--a half-grown cub which, late in finding quarters for
its long winter's sleep, rose on its hind legs, growling savagely, as the
boys came suddenly upon it, in passing around a great boulder in the
river valley.

In good time on a certain Tuesday in December, Capt. Pipe and his party
arrived. Some of the braves were inclined to be very frolicsome and it
was necessary to watch that they did not get their hands on property
which was not their own.

But their chief was all dignity. He seemed to take a fancy to Ree, who
was scarcely less dignified than himself,--being so grave and quiet in
his deportment, indeed, that a doughty warrior who had made up his mind
to challenge him to wrestle, had not the courage to suggest the contest.

The business of the day sat lightly on John's mind, however, and he was
full of antics as any of the redskins. It resulted in his being
challenged to wrestle, and he was laid on his back in short order. Then
he remembered Ree's advice at the time he wrestled at the Delaware town,
and making use of it, threw his man after a most clever and spirited
contest.

But the great feature of the day, in John's estimation, was the foot race
in which he defeated a young Indian known to be one of the best runners
of the tribe, winning a beautiful pair of leggings which Big Buffalo put
up in a wager. It was a short-distance race and he realized that in a
longer run the Indian would have defeated him; it made him decide to
practice running long distances. He might wish to outrun the redskins to
save his scalp, some day.