in the wilderness.

At that day, so comparatively recent, such a sight was rarely witnessed
in this section, as a deep-rooted hostility existed between the
settlers and Indians, and an undertaking like the present was attended
with too great danger for it to be often repeated. The rut of a single
wagon, half obliterated by accumulated leaves and rankly-growing grass,
showed that this route had been traveled over but once before, and that
on the preceding season. At regular intervals, trees were passed with
chips hacked from their sides, the track having first been "blazed"
before being passed over.

Like the emigrant-party which had preceded it, the present one
possessed but a single wagon, drawn by two pair of slow but powerful
oxen. It had a substantial cover, beneath which were stowed an immense
quantity of baggage and some six or eight children, including also four
women, two of whom were married and two unmarried. At the side of the
front oxen walked the driver, whose whole attention was devoted to
their direction. Several yards in advance rode two horsemen, and beside
them three men plodded forward on foot. In the rear, scarcely a yard
behind the lumbering wagon, walked "old Caleb Smith," and his two
overgrown sons, as proud of them as was any monarch of his favorite
generals. In addition to the men enumerated, there were three more--who
may properly be called the scouts of the party. One of these was a
couple of hundred yards in advance, stealing his way along, as
carefully as if pursued by an unrelenting foe, his whole soul occupied
in watching for signs of the dusky red-men of the woods. At a somewhat
less distance on either side of the road, and in such a position as to
be opposite the wagon, was one of the remaining scouts, as watchful,
vigilant and skillful as the one referred to. Thus the party
progressed, neglecting no precaution that could make their safety more
secure, and although numerically small, still far more powerful than
were many emigrant-parties who had preceded them in penetrating other
portions of the Great West.

One of the young women, that we have mentioned as being in the wagon,
was Edith Sudbury, the heroine of the preceding chapter. She had not a
single relation among all those around her, and it was certainly
singular that she should have united her destinies with those who,
several months before, were entirely unknown to her. But, though not
related, every one was her friend. Her a