could be allowed even now. This was some
hardship for the men, but for the girls, who, in addition to the terror
and despair which had possessed them, had been compelled to travel
through the forests at a speed which exhausted their strength, it was
doubly hard.

Jemima explained to her father that they had arrived at the place where
they had been discovered only a few moments before the coming of the
hunter and his friends. The girl shuddered as she said: "If the Shawnees
had had two minutes more they would have killed both of us before they
ran; and I do not understand why they ran, anyway."

"How many warriors were in the band?" inquired her father.

"Thirty-six."

"We cannot stay here long. The varmints will be coming back, and they
outnumber us so greatly that we may have serious trouble."

It was accordingly decided that the party should begin their return at
once. For a time Daniel Boone carried his daughter in his arms, while
her companion, almost exhausted, was also carried by one of the men.

When several miles had been covered word for rest was given, and then,
after a hasty meal was made from the loin of a deer which Peleg shot,
the flight toward the fort was resumed.

It was soon discovered, however, that the Indians were not pursuing, and
when Boone became convinced that this was so, his anxiety was relieved,
and he decided not to maintain the swift pace at which they had been
moving.

Two days later the party arrived at the fort on the bank of the
Kentucky, and the relief of the distracted mothers as well as the
general rejoicing over the safe return of the rescuers was great. After
a rest of a day, the scout and all the party resumed their accustomed
summer tasks.

It was a few days afterward, while Peleg and Israel were engaged in
hoeing a field of corn that belonged to Peleg, that the scout approached
his friend.

"Peleg," he said, as he halted in front of the boy, "we are to have a
meeting in the fort to-morrow at noon and I hope you surely will be
present."

"What is the meeting for?"

"We are to pass some laws. We now have more than one hundred and fifty
souls in this little settlement, and up to the present time every one
has been a law unto himself. We now must pass some laws which shall
govern us as a community."

"Is Sam Oliver here again?" inquired Peleg with a laugh.

"Not as yet," answered Boone quizzically, smiling as he appreciated the
discovery his young friend had made