several inches above that of his comrade, who would have been called by
most people a tall boy.

The two youths were dressed almost alike. Each wore a cap of raccoon
fur, with the short tail hanging from the back of it as a decoration.
Their bodies were clad in hunting shirts, made of the skin of the deer,
softly and beautifully tanned and dyed green. The fine fringe of the
shirt hung almost to the knees, and below it were leggings also of
deerskin, beaded at the seams. The feet were inclosed in deerskin
moccasins, fitting tightly, but very soft and light. A rifle, a
tomahawk, and a useful knife at the belt completed the equipment.

They were walking, but each boy led a stout horse, and on the back of
this horse was a great brown sack that hung down, puffy, on either side.
The sacks were filled with gunpowder made from cave-dust and the two
boys, Henry Ware and Paul Cotter, were carrying it to a distant village
that had exhausted its supply, but which, hearing of the strange new way
in which Wareville obtained it, had sent begging for a loan of this
commodity, more precious to the pioneer than gold and jewels. The
response was quick and spontaneous and Henry and Paul had been chosen to
take the powder, an errand in which both rejoiced. Already they had been
two days in the great wilderness, now painted in gorgeous colors by the
hand of autumn, and they had not seen a sign of a human being, white or
red.

They walked steadily on, and the trained horses followed, each just
behind his master, although there was no hand upon the bridle. They
stopped presently at the low rounded crest of a hill, where the forest
opened out a little, and, as if with the same impulse, each looked off
toward the vast horizon with a glowing eye. The mighty forest, vivid
with its gleaming reds and yellows and browns, rolled away for miles,
and then died to the eye where the silky blue arch of the sky came down
to meet it. Now and then there was a flash of silver, where a brook ran
between the hills, and the wind brought an air, crisp, fresh and full of
life.

It was beautiful, this great wilderness of Kaintuckee, and each boy saw
it according to his nature. Henry, the soul of action, the boy of the
keen senses and the mighty physical nature, loved it for its own sake
and for what it was in the present. He fitted into it and was a part of
it. The towns and the old civilization in the east never called to him.
He had found the place that natu