ve, and see if you have upon your heads the hair which is now so
rich, thick, and flowing."

"Never fear, my friend," said Henry, "we have fought with the warriors
all the way from the Susquehanna to New Orleans and not one of us has
lost a single lock of hair."

"It is one Dutchman's hope that it will always be so," said Heemskerk,
and then he revolved rapidly away lest they see his face express
emotion.

The five received great supplies of powder and bullets from Colonel
Butler, and then they parted in the forest. Many of the soldiers looked
back and saw the five tall figures in a line, leaning upon the muzzles
of their long-barreled Kentucky rifles, and regarding them in silence.
It seemed to the soldiers that they had left behind them the true sons
of the wilderness, who, in spite of all dangers, would be there to
welcome them when they returned.

CHAPTER XVII. THE DESERTED CABIN

When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to
the others. "Well, boys," he asked, "what are you thinking about?"

"I?" asked Paul. "I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of
alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake."

"An' me?" said Shif'less Sol. "I'm thinkin' how fur that alcove runs
back, an' how it could be fitted up with furs an' made warm fur the
winter."

"Me?" said Tom Ross. "I'm thinkin' what a snug place that alcove would
be when the snow an' hail were drivin' down the creek in front of you."

"An' ez fur me," said Long Jim Hart, "I wuz thinkin' I could run a sort
uv flue from the back part uv that alcove out through the front an' let
the smoke pass out. I could cook all right. It wouldn't be ez good a
place fur cookin' ez the one we hed that time we spent the winter on the
island in the lake, but 'twould serve."

"It's strange," said Henry, "but I've been thinking of all the things
that all four of you have been thinking about, and, since we are agreed,
we are bound to go straight to 'The Alcove' and pass the winter there."

Without another word he led the way, and the others followed. It was
apparent to everyone that they must soon find a winter base, because
the cold had increased greatly in the last few days. The last leaves
had fallen from the trees, and a searching wind howled among the bare
branches. Better shelter than blankets would soon be needed.

On their way they passed Oghwaga, a mass of blackened ruins, among which
wolves howled, the same spectacle that Wyoming