for he had found them
previously by following the path of buffalo, deer, and bear that had
gone there to lick salt. Boone and his men threw up rough shelters for
themselves. Soon the kettles were boiling, the salt was made. They were
in the midst of preparations to pack up their belongings and load the
salt into bags when Daniel's keen ears caught the sound of moccasined
feet in the underbrush nearby. Suddenly as if they had popped up out of
the ground a band of Indians pounced upon the white men. All but three
of Boone's party were captured. They escaped and after hiding the
kettles took the salt back to the stockade. Daniel and two of his
companions were borne off to Detroit.

Boone was a wary fellow, so he pretended to be quite contented with his
lot and the Indians were so pleased with him they adopted him as a son
into their tribe. He would have looked a fright to Rebecca for the
Indians cropped his hair close to the scalp save a tuft on the top of
his head which was bedecked with trinkets--shells, teeth of wild
animals, feathers. The women dressed him up in this fashion, first
taking him to the river and giving him a thorough scrubbing "to take out
his white blood." Then they painted his face with colors as bright as
those of any chieftain in the tribe. Daniel was a good actor. He
pretended to be highly pleased, but he was only awaiting the chance to
escape. One day there was quite a stir in the camp. Daniel observed many
new faces among the warriors. They talked and gesticulated excitedly,
and Boone soon gathered the purpose of the powwow. "They're going on the
warpath," Daniel said to himself, "and to my notion they're headed
toward our stockade." While they continued to harangue among themselves
Daniel stealthily made his escape. He covered the intervening one
hundred and sixty miles in five days.

The Indians didn't carry out their plan to attack the fort until some
weeks later and when they did march into view they were led by Captain
Duquesne of the English Army.

The siege lasted for nine days but the veteran riflemen of the fort,
under Boone's skillful direction, gained the day with only a loss of
three or four men, while many of the four hundred Indians fell.

There were many other battles with the Indians who crossed the Ohio into
Kentucky, and though Boone was always in the thick of the fray he came
out uninjured.

And then misfortune came in another way.

Things had looked fair enough in the be