lderness, where man, woman and child may be safe
from wild beast and savage," said the schoolmaster oracularly. "Ah,
boys--boys! how much do I owe you! Truly I thought I should never see
this comfortable little village again, and here I am, sound and whole,
returning in triumph upon a captured vessel."

They saw at the right a cleared field, in which the young corn was
growing amid the stumps, and on the left was the sheen of wheat also
amid the stumps. Mr. Pennypacker rubbed his hands delightedly, but Henry
was silent. Yet the feeling was brief with the youth. Thoughts of his
people quickly crowded it out, and he swung the paddle more swiftly. The
other two, who were now helping him, did likewise, and the boat doubled
its pace. Through the thinned forest appeared the brown walls of a
palisade, and Henry, putting a hand in the shape of a trumpet to his
lips, uttered a long, mellow cry that the forest gave back in many
echoes. Faces appeared on the palisade and three or four men, rifle on
shoulder, approached the bank of the river. They did not know either
Henry or Paul, but one of them exclaimed:

"Ef that ain't Mr. Pennypacker riz right up from the dead then I'm a
ghost myself!"

"It is Mr. Pennypacker," said the schoolmaster joyfully, "and I'm no
more of a ghost than you are. I've come back from captivity, bringing
with me two of those who saved me, young citizens of this village, Henry
Ware and Paul Cotter."

They turned the head of the boat to the bank and the whole population
poured forth to meet them. Henry and Paul were greeted half with
laughter and half with tears by their parents--border stoicism was
compelled to melt away at this moment--and then they blushed at the
words that were said about them. Their stature and strength attracted
the attention of everybody. The borderers could not fail to note the
ease and grace of their movements, the lightness with which they walked,
and the dexterity with which they pulled the big boat upon the bank. It
was evident that these two youths were far above the average of their
kind, that naturally of a high quality they had been trained in a school
that brought forth every merit. Henry towered above his own father, who
no longer looked upon him as one to whom he should give tasks and
reproofs. And the admiration with which they were regarded increased
when the schoolmaster told how he had been rescued by them and their
comrades.

Henry sat that night in his father's