me
discover it nearby.

"How far have we come?" Israel inquired of his father when a halt was
made in the morning.

"Thirty miles," replied Daniel Boone.

"Do you find anything new?"

"Yes," replied the scout, nodding his head. "The Indians are less
careful than they were. The trail is becoming plainer. I hope we shall
overtake them before noon."

It was not long before the pursuit was resumed, and the pace of the
entire party was increased when it was discovered that the Indians had
entered a buffalo road and were following that clearly defined path.

The expression upon the face of Boone, who, with Peleg and Israel, was
in advance of the little band, made every one aware that he expected
soon to overtake the savages. The time of anxiety as well as peril was
surely approaching.

"Peleg," whispered Israel, "what do you think will be done to the girls
if the Indians see us before we get within rifle shot?"

Peleg shook his head and did not reply, although both he and his friend
were aware that the Indians would doubtless tomahawk their captives and
then flee if they should discover their pursuers close upon them.

Nearly ten more miles were covered before the escaping band was
overtaken. Each party discovered the other almost at the same moment.
The Indians were in the act of kindling a fire and preparing camp for
the night. Almost as if it was one sound, the rifles of Daniel Boone,
Peleg, and Israel rang out together.

Two of the Indians fell to the ground. All the other braves, as if
driven by one impulse, instantly turned and fled from the spot, leaving
the terrified girls behind them. So sudden had been the flight of the
savages that when they darted into the adjacent forest they had been
unable to don their moccasins. Not a man in the pursuing party had been
injured.

The cry of Jemima Boone when in the dim light she beheld her father
approaching at the head of the rescuing party was one that those who
heard her never were able to forget. She sprang from the ground where
she had been seated and threw herself into her father's arms. For a time
not a word was spoken by any one, while the well-nigh exhausted girl
clung to Daniel Boone sobbing as if her heart would break.

The pursuit which had been led by the great scout had been so swift and
unrelenting that scarcely any time for rest had been given the band
since its departure from the fort the preceding evening; and only a
short time for recuperation