he region that they knew they would be welcome.

They traveled several days, and were preparing to encamp for the last
night within about fifteen miles of the lake when Henry, scouting as
usual to see if an enemy were near, heard a footstep in the forest. He
wheeled instantly to cover behind the body of a great beech tree, and
the stranger sought to do likewise, only he had no convenient tree
that was so large. It was about the twelfth hour, but Henry could see a
portion of a body protruding beyond a slim oak, and he believed that he
recognized it. As he held the advantage he would, at any rate, hail the
stranger.

"Ho, Cornelius Heemskerk, Dutchman, fat man, great scout and woodsman,
what are you doing in my wilderness? Stand forth at once and give an
account of yourself, or I will shoot off the part of your body that
sticks beyond that oak tree!"

The answer was instantaneous. A round, plump body revolved from the
partial shelter of the tree and stood upright in the open, rifle in hand
and cap thrown back from a broad ruddy brow.

"Ho, Mynheer Henry Ware," replied Cornelius Heemskerk in a loud, clear
tone, "I am in your woods on perhaps the same errand that you are. Come
from behind that beech and let us see which has the stronger grip."

Henry stood forth, and the two clasped hands in a grip so powerful that
both winced. Then they released hands simultaneously, and Heemskerk
asked:

"And the other four mynheers? Am I wrong to say that they are near,
somewhere?"

"You are not wrong," replied Henry. "They are alive, well and hungry,
not a mile from here. There is one man whom they would be very glad to
see, and his name is Cornelius Heemskerk, who is roaming in our woods
without a permit."

The round, ruddy face of the Dutchman glowed. It was obvious that he
felt as much delight in seeing Henry as Henry felt in seeing him.

"My heart swells," he said. "I feared that you might have been killed or
scalped, or, at the best, have gone back to that far land of Kentucky."

"We have wintered well," said Henry, "in a place of which I shall not
tell you now, and we are here to see the campaign through."

"I come, too, for the same purpose," said Heemskerk. "We shall be
together. It is goot." "Meanwhile," said Henry, "our camp fire is
lighted. Jim Hart, whom you have known of old, is cooking strips of meat
over the coals, and, although it is a mile away, the odor of them is
very pleasant in my nostrils. I wish to go