mmunition without
trouble, and had nothing before him but to go back up-stream again. But
that was not so easy to do. The river ran so swiftly that he soon found
it would be no light matter to row his canoe up against the strong
current. There was also the English fort at Natchez to pass, which might
be very dangerous when going slowly up-stream. So he concluded to let
the boat go and travel by land through the forest. This also was a hard
task in a land of dense cane-brakes and matted woodland, and the small
party had a toilsome time of it in pushing through the woods. At length,
however, the Spanish fort on the Ozark was reached, and the men of the
expedition were reunited. Bidding farewell to Captain Devilie, they took
to their boats again and rowed up-stream past the mouth of the Ohio
until Fort St. Louis was reached. The colonel was received here with the
same courtesy as below, and on presenting his order was given the
ammunition without question. It was carefully stowed in the boats,
good-by was said to the officer who had hospitably entertained them, the
oars were brought into play again, and the expedition started homeward.

So far all had gone well. The journey had been slow and weeks had
lengthened into months, but no misadventure had happened, and their
hearts were full of hope as the deeply laden craft were rowed into the
Ohio and began the toilsome ascent of that stream. It was now the month
of October. There was an autumn snap in the air, but this only fitted
them the better for their work, and all around them was beautiful as
they moved onward with song and jest, joyful in the hope of soon
reaching their homes again. They did not know the fate that awaited them
in those dark Ohio woodlands.

The boats made their way upward to a point in the river near where the
city of Cincinnati was to be founded a few years later. As they passed
this locality they saw a small party of Indians in a canoe crossing the
river not far ahead of them. These were the first of the Ohio Indians
they had seen, and the sight of them roused the frontier blood of the
hardy boatmen. Too many cabins on the border had been burned and their
inmates mercilessly slain for a frontiersman to see an Indian without a
burning inclination to kill him. The colonel was in the same spirit with
his men, and the boats were at once turned towards shore in pursuit of
the savages. At the point they had reached the Licking River empties
into the Ohio.