orse.--Navigating the Ohio.--Heroism of Mrs.
Rowan.--Lawless Gangs.--Exchange of Prisoners.--Boone Revisits the
Home of his Childhood.--The Realms beyond the Mississippi.--Habits
of the Hunters.--Corn.--Boone's Journey to the West.

The Indians still continued hostile. The following incident gives one an
idea of the nature of the conflict which continued, and of the perils
which were encountered.

There was a striving station where a few settlers were collected, at a
spot now called State Creek Iron Works. One or two farm-houses were
scattered around, but at such a short distance from the fort that their
inmates could at once take refuge behind its log walls, in case of
alarm. In the month of August, 1786, a young man residing in the fort,
by the name of Yates, called at one of these farm-houses and requested a
lad, Francis Downing, to accompany him in search of a horse, which had
strayed away. The two friends set out together, and after searching the
forest in vain, found themselves, the latter part of the afternoon, in a
lonely uninhabited valley, nearly seven miles from the fort. Here young
Downing became quite alarmed by some indications that Indians were
dogging their steps. He communicated his fears to his companion. But
Yates, who was several years older than Downing, was an experienced
hunter and inured to life in the woods, had become to a certain degree
indifferent to danger. He made himself quite merry over his young
companion's fears, asking him at what price he was willing to sell his
scalp, and offering to insure it for sixpence.

Still Downing was not satisfied, and his alarm increased as he insisted
that he occasionally heard the crack of dry twigs behind them, as if
broken by some one pursueing. But Yates deriding his fears, pressed on,
making the woods resound with a song, to which he gave utterance from
unusually full and strong lungs. Downing gradually slackened his pace,
and when Yates was some thirty yards in advance of him, sprang into a
dense cluster of tall whortleberry bushes, where he was effectually
concealed. Scarcely had he done this, when to his great terror he saw
two Indians peeping cautiously out of a thick canebrake. Deceived by the
song of Yates, who with stentorian lungs was still giving forth his
woodland ditty, they supposed both had passed. Young Downing thought it
impossible but that the savages must have seen him as he concealed
himself. Greatly alarmed he raised his gun, in