ately for me, in my absence.

"In this situation I was constantly exposed to danger and death. How
unhappy such a condition for a man tormented with fear, which is vain if
no danger comes; and if it does, only augments the pain! It was my
happiness to be destitute of this afflicting passion, with which I had
the greatest reason to be affected. The prowling wolves diverted my
nocturnal hours with perpetual howlings, and the various species of
animals in this vast forest, in the day-time were continually in my
view. Thus I was surrounded with plenty in the midst of want. I was
happy in the midst of dangers and inconveniences. In such a diversity it
was impossible I should be disposed to melancholy. No populous city,
with all the varieties of commerce and stately structures, could afford
so much pleasure to my mind, as the beauties of nature I found here.

"Thus through an uninterrupted scene of sylvan pleasures, I spent the
time until the twenty-seventh day of July following, when my brother, to
my great felicity, met me, according to appointment, at our old camp."

Boone was at this time thirty-six years of age. He was about five feet
ten inches in height, and of remarkably vigorous and athletic frame. His
life in the open air, his perfect temperance, and his freedom from all
exciting passions, gave him constant health. Squire brought back to his
brother the gratifying news that his wife Rebecca was in good health and
spirits, and cheerfully acquiesced in whatever decision her husband
might make, in reference to his absence. She had full confidence in the
soundness of his judgment, and in his conjugal and parental love. The
children were all well, and from the farm and the forest the wants of
the family were fully supplied.

It appears that Squire Boone had succeeded in bringing one or two
horses across the mountains. The abundance of grass kept them in fine
condition. Upon the backs of these horses, the pioneers could traverse
the treeless prairies without obstruction, and large portions of the
forest were as free from underbrush as the park of an English nobleman.
Invaluable as these animals were to the adventurers, they greatly
increased their perils. They could not easily be concealed. Their
footprints could not be effaced, and there was nothing the Indians
coveted so greatly as a horse.

The two adventurers now set out on horseback for an exploring tour to
the south-west. Following a line nearly parallel with th