ill led through an open, parklike country, and the road was
easy. Soon those in front saw a faint streak cutting across the forest.
The streak was silvery at first, and then blue, and it curved away to
north and south among low hills.

"The river!" said Daniel Poe, and he shut his teeth hard.

All the men and the Amazons drew a long, deep breath, like a sigh; but
they said nothing, and continued to march steadily forward. The river
broadened, the blue of its waters deepened, and from the high ground on
which they marched they could see the low banks on the farther shore,
crowned by clustering thickets.

Three men emerged from the undergrowth. They were Tom Ross, Shif'less Sol,
and Long Jim Hart. The shiftless one looked lazy and careless, and Jim
Hart, stretching himself, looked longer and thinner than ever.

"We found it, Henry," said Ross. "Little more'n a mile to the south, men
wadin' to the waist kin cross."

"Good!" said Henry. "We're lucky!"

He began to give rapid, incisive commands, and everyone obeyed as a matter
of course, and without jealousy. Daniel Poe was the leader of the wagon
train, but Henry Ware, whom they had known but a few days, was its leader
in battle.

"Take fifty men," he said to Ross, "the best marksmen and the stanchest
fighters, and cross there. Then come silently among the thickets up the
bank, to strike them when they strike us."

Paul listened with admiration. He knew Henry's genius for battle, and,
like the others, he was inspired by his comrade's confidence. The fifty
men were quickly told off behind the wagons, and, headed by Tom Ross and
Jim Hart, they disappeared at once in the woods. Shif'less Sol remained
with Henry and Paul.

"Now, forward!" said Henry Ware, and the terrible, grim march was begun
again. There was the river, growing broader and broader and bluer and
bluer as they came closer. The children and women--except the Amazons--saw
nothing because they were crouched upon the floors of the wagon beds, but
the drivers, every one of whom had a rifle lying upon the seat beside him,
were at that moment the bravest of them all, because they faced the
greatest danger.

"Slowly!" said Henry, to the leading wagons. "We must give Sol and his men
time for their circuit."

He noted with deep joy that the ford was wide. At least five wagons could
enter it abreast, and he made them advance in five close lines.

"When you reach the water," he said to the drivers, "lie down b