Separately every one of them
was strong, brave, and resourceful, but when the five were
together they felt that they had the skill and strength of
twenty. The long rest at Pittsburgh had restored them after the
dangers and hardship of their great voyage from New Orleans.
They carried in horn and pouch ample supplies of powder and
bullet, and they did not fear any task.
Their journey continued through hilly country, clothed in heavy
forest, but often without undergrowth. They avoided the open
spaces, preferring to be seen of men, who were sure to be red
men, as little as possible. Their caution was well taken. They
saw Indian signs, once a feather that had fallen from a scalp
lock, once footprints, and once the bone of a deer recently
thrown away by him who had eaten the meat from it. The country
seemed to be as wild as that of Kentucky. Small settlements, so
they had heard, were scattered at great distances through the
forest, but they saw none. There was no cabin smoke, no trail of
the plow, just the woods and the hills and the clear streams.
Buffalo had never reached this region, but deer were abundant,
and they risked a shot to replenish their supplies.
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