," which Peleg was carrying over his shoulder.

As yet the boy did not know whither he and his comrade were going. Only
in a general way had Boone explained how long they might be absent.
However, it was clear to the mind of Peleg that the scout was moved by a
feeling that he was engaging in an enterprise from which there was to be
no turning back, and that he felt that he needed some one to accompany
him.

To be near Boone was sufficient reward in itself, and buoyantly the
young man carried himself as they moved in single file through the
passes of the mountains. It was seldom that either spoke, and it was
agreed that their guns were not to be fired except when it was necessary
to secure game.

Many miles had been covered when the two hunters decided to rest, for
night was at hand. Selecting a sheltered spot near a swiftly running
brook, they were protected from peril from the rear of their camp by the
huge walls of the hill which rose abruptly behind it. A fire was kindled
with Peleg's flint and tinder and allowed to burn only long enough to
roast the loin of deer which had been secured by a shot from the scout's
rifle early that morning.

As soon as their supper had been eaten the fire was extinguished. The
June air was warm and it was with a sense of comfort that Peleg seated
himself upon the ground with his back against the protecting cliff. His
companion had seldom spoken to him throughout their journey, and the
pace at which they had been travelling had told more severely upon the
younger hunter than upon Boone. Yet there was a feeling of deep comfort
in Peleg's heart. The stars were twinkling in the sky, the gentle breeze
that swept the treetops was softly musical in its sound, and beyond all
these was the pleasure of being in the company of the man to whom he
looked up as to no one else. All combined to make the young hunter
happy.

To his surprise he found that Daniel Boone was willing to talk more
freely than he ever had known him to do before.

"Yes," Daniel Boone was saying, "my grandfather came from England and
settled in Pennsylvania. He had nine sons and ten daughters. My father
he called Squire. I do not know just why, unless it was because he was
more active than his brothers. I was born on the right bank of the
Delaware in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1734. Not long after my
father married he moved to another part of the colony, and when I was a
little lad he took us overland through Maryland