poured down a torrent of golden beams upon the vast,
green wilderness of Kentucky. Henry, as he looked around upon the little
band, realized what a tiny speck of human life they were in all those
hundreds of miles of forest, and what risks they ran.

Ross gave the word to halt, and again they ate of cold food. While the
others sat on fallen timber or leaned against tree trunks, Ross and Sol
talked in low tones, but Henry could see that all their words were
marked by the deepest earnestness. Ross presently turned to the men and
said in tones of greatest gravity:

"All of you heard the howlin' just afore dawn, an' I guess all of you
know it was not made by real wolves, but by Shawnees, callin' to each
other an' directin' the chase of us. We've come fast, but they've come
faster, an' I know that by noon we'll have to fight."

The schoolmaster's eyes opened in wonder.

"Do you really mean to say that they are overhauling us?" he asked.

"I shore do," replied Ross. "You see, they're better trained travelers
for woods than we are, an' they are not hampered by anythin'."

Mr. Pennypacker said nothing more, but his lips suddenly closed tightly
and his eyes flashed. In the great battle ground of the white man and
the red man, called Kentucky, the early schoolmaster was as ready as any
one else to fight.

Ross and Sol again consulted and then Ross said:

"We think that since we have to fight it would be better to fight when
we are fresh and steady and in the best place we can find."

All the men nodded. They were tired of running and when Ross gave the
word to stop again they did so promptly. The questioning eyes of both
Ross and Sol roamed round the forest and finally and simultaneously the
two uttered a low cry of pleasure. They had come into rocky ground and
they had been ascending. Before them was a hill with a rather steep
ascent, and dropping off almost precipitously on three sides.

"We couldn't find a better place," said Ross loud enough for all to
hear. "It looks like a fort just made for us."

"But there is no line of retreat," objected the schoolmaster.

"We had a line of a retreat last night and all this mornin' an' we've
been followin' it all the time," rejoined the leader. "Now we don't need
it no more, but what we do need to do is to make a stan'-up fight, an'
lick them fellers."

"And save our salt," added the master.

"Of course," said Ross emphatically. "We didn't come all these miles an'
work a