xt77pv6b2z5s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt77pv6b2z5s/data/mets.xml Jones, J. B. (John Beauchamp), 1810-1866 1907  books b92ps2151j42w519072009 English Lippincott : Philadelphia, Pa. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 Wild western scenes: A narrative of adventures in the western wilderness, wherein the exploits of Daniel Boone, the great American pioneer are particularly described, also, accounts of bear, deer, and buffalo hunts--desperate conflicts with the savages--wolf hunts--fishing and fowling adventures--encounters with serpents, etc. text Wild western scenes: A narrative of adventures in the western wilderness, wherein the exploits of Daniel Boone, the great American pioneer are particularly described, also, accounts of bear, deer, and buffalo hunts--desperate conflicts with the savages--wolf hunts--fishing and fowling adventures--encounters with serpents, etc. 1907 2009 true xt77pv6b2z5s section xt77pv6b2z5s 
    
    
   LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY 
    
   WILD WESTERN SCENES:

A NARRATIVE

OF

atibentutes in tfje Western Wtltrerness,

WHS REIN

THE EIPL0IT3 OF DANIEL BOONE, THE GEEAT AMERICAN PIONEER AiiE PAETICULAELT DESCRIBED

Also,

ACCOUNTS OP BEAR, DEER, AND BUFFALO HUNTS   DESPERATE CONFLICTS WTTH THE SAVAGES   WOLF HUNTS   FISHING AND FOWLING ADVENTURES   ENCOUNTERS WITH SERPENTS, ETC

mew stereotype edition, altered, revised, and corrected-

By J.   B.e JONES.

AUTHOR OF "THS WAR PATH," "ADVXNTURE8 OF A COUNTRY MERCHANT," WtC

fllaBfratea foiflj JSfeimt   ngrabitrgs front   rigirral gltsigna.

PHILADELPHIA:

j. b. lippincott company.

1907

128415 
   J

I _ ______      

Entered according *o Act of Congress, In the year I860, hi

A B. JONES,

to the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District o* PwmijlTaniik.

8MBSOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON * 00. PHILAJMLPH1A. 
   PREFACE.

When a work of fiction has reached its fortieth edition, on   Would suppose the author might congratulate himself upon having contributed something of an imperishable character to tne literature of the country. But no such pretensions are asserted for this production, now in its fortieth thousand. Being the first essay of an impetuous youth in a field where giants even have not always successfully contended, it would be a lash assumption to suppose it could receive from those who confer such honors any high award of merit. It has been befo-   the public some fifteen years, and has never been reviewed. Perl taps the forbearance of those who wield the cerebral scalpela may not be further prolonged, and the book remains amenable to the judgment they may be pleased to pronounce.

To that portion of the public who have read with approbation so many thousands of his book, the author may speak with greater confidence. To this class of his friends he may make disclosures and confessions pertaining to the secret history of the "Wild Western Scenes," without the hazard of incurring their displeasure.

Like the hero of his book, the author had his vicissitudes in

boyhood, and committed such indiscretions as were incident to

one of his years and circumstances, but nevertheless only such

as might be readily pardoned by the charitable.   Like Glenn, he

submitted to a voluntary exile in the wilds of Missouri. Hence

the description of scenery is a true picture, and several characters

in the scenes were real persons.   Many of the occurrences actually

transpired in his presence, or had been enacted in the vicinity a*

* 
   4 PREFACE.

no remote period; and the dream of the 1 ero   his visit to the haunted island   was truly a dream of the author's

But the worst miseries of the author were felt when his work was completed; he could get no publisher to examine it. lie then purchased an interest in a weekly newspaper, in the columns of which it appeared in consecutive chapters. The subscribers were pleased with it, and desired to possess it in a volume; but still no publisher would undertake it,   the author had no reputation in the literary world. He offered it for fifty dollars, but could find no purchaser at any price. Believing the British booksellers more accommodating, a friend was employed to make a fair copy in manuscript, at a certain number of cents per hundred words. The work was sent to a British publisher, with whom it remained many months, but was returned, accompanied by a note declining to treat for it.

Undeterred by the rebuffs of two worlds, the author had his cherished production published on his own account, and was remunerated by the sale of the whole edition. After the tardy sale of several subsequent editions by houses of limited influence, the book had the good fortune, finally, to fall into the hands of the gigantic establishment whose imprint is now upon its title-page. And now, the author is informed, it is regularly and liberally ordered by the London booksellers, and is sold with an increasing rapidity in almost every section of the Union.

Such are the hazards, the miseries, and sometimes the reward*, of authorship.

j. b. j

BraLiHGTON, N. J., March, 1866. 
   CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1.

run

Siren and Joe   Their horses   A storm   A Mack stump   A rough tmnore   Moaning   Stars   Light   A log fire   Tents, and some-tiling to eat   Another stranger, who turns out to be well known    Joe nas a snack   He studies revenge against the black stump    Boone proposes a bear hunt.................................................. 9

CHAPTER II.

Boone hunts the bear   Hounds and terriers   Sneak Punk, the hatchet-face   Another stump   The high passes   The bear roused    The chase   A Bight   A Bhot   A wound   Not yet killed   His meditations   His friend, the bear   The bear retreats   Joe takes courage   Joe fires   Immense execution   Sneak   The last struggle   Desperation of the bear   His death   Sneak's puppies   Joe 19

CHAPTER III

Glenn's castle   Mary   Books   A hunt   Joe and Pete   A tumble    An opossum   A Bhot   Another tumble   A doe   The return    They set out again   A mound   A buffalo   An encounter   Night    Terrific spectacle   Escape   Boone   Sneak   Indians............. 83

CHAPTER IV.

The retreat   Joe makes a mysterious discovery   Mary   A disclosure   Supper   Sleep   A cat   Joe's flint   The watch   Mary    The bush   The attack   Joe's musket again   The repulse   The starting rally   The desperate alternative   Relief.................... 4B 
   6

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

a itrange excursion   A fairy scene   Joe is puzzled atd frightened   A wonderful disoovery   Navigation of the upper regions    A crash   No bones broken.................................................. 64

CHAPTER VI.

A hunt   A deer taken   The hounds   Joe makes a horrid disoovery    Sneak   The exhumation................................................... *7

CHAPTER VH.

Boone   The interment   Startling intelligence   Indians about   A skunk   Thrilling fears   Boone's device.................................. 87

CHAPTER VHI.

Night   Sagacity of the hounds   Reflection   The sneaking savages    Joe's disaster- The approach of the foe under the snow   The silent watch....................................................................... 99

CHAPTER IX.

Bneak kills a sow that " was not all a swine"   The breathless suspense   The match in readiness   Joe's cool demeanour   The match ignited   Explosion of the mine   Defeat of the savages   The captive   His liberation   The repose   The kitten   Morning.......... Ill

CHAPTER X.

the dead removed   The wolves on the river   The wolf hunt   Gum fetid   Joe's incredulity   His conviction   His surprise   His predicament   His narrow escape........................................,...... 128

CHAPTER XI.

fcary   Hei meditations   Her capture   Her sad condition   Her mental sufferings   Her escape   Her recapture........................ 189 
   CONTENT"*.

7

CHAPTER XII.

MM

Joe's indisposition   His cure   Sneak's reformation   The pursuit    The captive Indian   Approach to the encampment of the savages    Joe's illness again   The surprise   The terrific encounter   Rescue of Mary   Capture of the young chief   The return............... 154

CHAPTER Xm.

The return   The young chief in confinement   Joe's fun   His reward   The ring   A discovery   William's recognition   Memories of childhood   A scene   Roughgrove's history   The children's parentage............................................................................. 109

CHAPTER XTV.

William's illness   Sneak's strange house   Joe's courage   The bee hunt   Joe and sneak captured by the Indians   Their sad condition   Preparations to burn them alive   Their miraculous escape 186

CHAPTER XV. Glenn's History..................................................................... 208

CHAPTER XVI.

Balmy Spring   Joe's curious dream   He prepares to catch a fish    Glenn   William and Mary   Joe's sudden and strange appear-anoe   La-u-na, the trembling fawn   The fishing sport   The ducking frolic   Sneak and the panther.................................. 221

CHAPTER XVn.

The bright morning   Sneak's visit   Glenn's heart   The snake hunt    Love and raspberries   Joe is bitten   His terror and sufferings   Arrival of Boone   Joe's abrupt recovery   Preparations to leave the West   Conclusion............................................. U'l 
    
   WILD WESTERN SCENES:

A NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURES.

CHAPTER I.

Glenn and Joe   Their horses   A storm   A black stump   A rough tumble   Moaning   Stars   Light   A log fire   Tents, and something to eat   Another stranger, who turns out to be well known   Joe has a snack   He studies revenge against the black stump   Boone proposes a bear hunt.

"Do you see any light yet, Joe?"

" Not the least speck that ever was created, except the lightning, and it's gone before I can turn my head to look at it."

The interrogator, Charles Glenn, reclined musingly in a two-horse wagon, the canvas covering of which served in some measure to protect him from the wind and rain. His servant, Joe Beck, was perched upon one of the horses, his shoulders screwed under the scanty folds of an oil-cloth cape, and his knees drawn nearly up to the pommel of tho saddle, to avoid the thumping bushes and briers that occasionally assailed him, as the team plunged along in a stumbling pace. Their pathway, or rather their direction, fo' there was no beaten road, lay along the northern bank of the "Mad Missouri," some two hundred miles above the St. Louis settlement. It was at a time when there were no white men in those regions save a few trappers, traders, and emigrants, and each new sojourner found it convenient to carry with him a means of shelte^ as houses of any description were but few and far between.        :,; !,'    :,    
   LO

WILD  WESTERN SCENES:

Our travellers had been told in the morning, when setting out from a temporary village which consisted of a few families of emigrants, with whom they had sojourned the preceding night, that they could attain the desired point by making the river their guide, should they be at a loss to distinguish the faintly-marked pathway that led in a more direct course to the place of destination. The storm coming up suddenly from the north, and showers of hail accompanying the gusts, caused the poor driver to incline his face to the left, to avoid the peltings that assailed him bo frequently; and the drenched horses, similarly influenced, had unconsciously departed far from the right line of march; and now, rather than turn his front again to the pitiless blast, which could be the only means of regaining the road, Joe preferred diverging still farther, until he should find himself on the margin of the river, by which time he hoped the storm would abate. At all events, he thought there would be more safety on the beach, which extended out a hundred paces from the water, among the small switches of cotton-wood that grew thereon, than in the midst of the tall trees of the forest, where a heavy branch was every now and then torn off by the wind, and thrown to the earth with a terrible crash. Occasionally a deafening explosion of thunder would burst overhead; and Joe, prostrating himself on the neck of his horse, would, with his eyes closed and his teeth set, bear it out in silence. He spoke not, save to give an occasional word of command to his team, or a brief reply to a question from his master.

It was an odd spectacle to see such a vehicle trudging along at such an hour, where no carriage had ever passed before. The two young men were odd characters; the horses were oddly matched, one being a little dumpy black pony, and the other a noble white steed; and it was an odd whim which induced Glenn to abandon his comfortable home in Philadelphia, and traverse such inclement wilds. But love can play the " wild" with any young man. Yet we will not spoil our narrative by introducing any of it here. Nor could it have been love that induced Joe to share his master's freaks; but rather a rare penchant for the miraculous adventures to be enjoyed in the western wilderness, and the gold which his master often showered upon '.        tfitV* *6tkles3 hand.   Joe's forefathers were from the 
   A NARRATIVE.

11

Isle of Erin, and although he had lost the brogue, ne still retained some of their superstitions.

The wind continued to blow, the wolves howled, the lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled. Ere long the little black pony snorted aloud and paused abruptly.

"What ails you, Pete?" said Joe from his lofty position on the steed, addressing his favourite little pet. "Get along," he continued, striking the animal gently with hia whip. But Pete was as immovable and unconscious of the lash as would have been a stone. And the steed seemed likewise to be infected with the pony's stubbornness, after the wagon was brought to a pause.

"Why have you stopped, Joe?" inquired Glen.

" I don't hardly know, sir; but the stupid horses won't budge an inch farther !"

"Very well; we can remain here till morning. Take the harness off, and give them the corn in the box; we can sleep in the wagon till daylight."

"But we have no food for ourselves, sir; and I'm vastly hungry. It can't be much farther to the ferry," continued Joe, vexed at the conduct of the horses.

" Very well; do as you like; drive on, if you desire to do so," said Glenn.

" Get along, you stupid creatures !" cried Joe, applying the lash with some violence. But the horses regarded him no more than blocks would have done. Immediately in front he perceived a dark object that resembled a stump and turning the horses slightly to one side, endeavoured to urge them past it. Still they would not go, but continued to regard the object mentioned with dread, which was manifested by sundry restless pawings and unaccustomed snorts. Joe resolved to ascertain the cause of their alarm, and springing to the ground, moved cautiously in the direction of the dark obstruction, which still seemed to be a blackened stump, about his own height, and a very trifling obstacle, in hia opinion, to arrest the progress of his redoubtable team. The darkness was intense, yet he managed to keep his eyes on the dim outlines of the object as he stealthily approach ed And he stepped as noiselessly as possible, notwithstanding he meiitated an encounter with nothing more than an inanimate object. But his imagination was always on ihe alert, and as he often feared dangers that arose nnde 
   12

WILD WESTERN SCENES:

finable and indescribable in his mind, it was not without some trepidation that he had separated himself from the horses and groped his way toward the object that had so much terrified his pony. He paused within a few feet of the object, and waited for the next flash of lightning to scrutinize the thing more closely before putting his hand upon it, But no flash came, and he grew tired of standing. He 6tooped down, so as to bring the upper portion of it in a line with the sky beyond, but still he could not make it out. He ventured stiH nearer, and stared at it long and steadily, but to no avail: the black mass only was before him, seemingly inanimate, and of a deeper hue than the darkness around.

" I've a notion to try my whip on you," said he, thinking if it should be a human being it would doubtless make a movement. He started back with a momentary conviction that he heard a rush creak under its feet. But as it still maintained its position, he soon concluded the noise to have been only imaginary, and venturing quite close gave it a smart blow with his whip. Instantaneously poor Joe was rolling on the earth, almost insensible, and the dark object disappeared rushing through the bushes into the woods. The noise attracted Glenn, who now approached th   scene, and with no little surprise found his servant lying on his face.

"What's the matter, Joe?" demanded he.

" Oh, St. Peter!   0 preserve me !" exclaimed Joe.

"What has happened ?   Why do you lie there ?"

" Oh, I'm almost killed!   Didn't you see him I"

" See what ? I can see nothing this dark night but the flying clouds and yonder yellow sheet of water."

" Oh, I've been struck !" said Joe, groaning piteously.

" Struck by what ?   Has the lightning struck you ?"

"No   no ! my head is all smashed up   it was a bear."

" Pshaw! get up, and either drive on, or feed the horses," said Glenn with some impatience.

" 1 call all the saints to witness that it was a wild bear    a great wild bear ! I thought it was a stump, but just as I struck ic a flash of lightning revealed to my eyes a big black bear standing on his hind feet, grinning at me, and he gave me a blow on the side of the face, which hap entirely blinded my left eye, and set my ears to ringing like s> thousand bells.   Just feel the blood on roy face " 
   A NARRATIVE.

13

Glenn actually felt something which migh be blood, and really had thought he could distinguish the stump himself when the wagon halted; yet he did not believe that Joe had received the hurt in any other manner than by striking his face against some hard substance which he could not avoid in the darkness.

" Tou only fancy it was a bear, Joe; so come along back to the horses and drive on. The rain has ceased, and the stars are appearing." Saying this, Glenn led the way to Che wagon.

" I'd be willing to swear on the altar that it was a huge Sear, and nothing else!" replied Joe, as he mounted and drove on, the horses now evincing no reluctance to proceed. One after another the stars came out and shone in purest brightness as the mists swept away, and ere long the whole canopy of blue was gemmed with twinkling brilliants. The winds soon lulled, and the dense forest on the right reposed from the moaning gale which had disturbed it a short time before; and the waves that had been tossed into foaming ridges now spent their fury on the beach, each lashing the bank more gently than the last, until the power of the gliding current swept them all down the turbid stream. Soon the space between the water and the forest gradually diminished, and seemed to join at a point not far ahead. Joe observed this with some concern, being aware that to meander among the trees at such an hour was impossible. He therefore inclined toward the river, resolved to defer his re-entrance into the forest as long as possible. As he drove on he kept up a continual groaning, with his head hung to one side, as if suffering with the toothache, and occasionally reproaching Pete with some petulance, as if a portion of the blame attached to his sagacious pony.

" Why do you keep up such a howling, Joe ? Do you really suffer much pain ?" inquired Glenn, annoyed by his man's lamentations.

" It don't hurt as bad as it did   but then to think that I was such a fool as to go right into the beast's clutches, when even Pete had more sense !"

" If it was actually a bear, Joe, you can boast of the thrilling encounter hereafter," said Glenn, in % joking and partly consoling manner.

" But if I have many more such, I fear I shall never get

2 
   '4

WILD WESTERN SCENES:

back to relate them. My face is all swelled   Huzza! yonder is a light, at last! It's on this side of the river, and if we can't get over the ferry to-night, we shall have something to eat on this side, at all events. Ha ! ha ! ha! t see a living man moving before the fire, as if he were roasting meat." Joe forgot his wound in the joy of an anticipated supper, and whipping the horses into a brisk pace, they soon drew near the encampment, where they discovered numerous persons, male and female, who had been prevented from crossing the river that day, in consequence of the violence of the storm, and had raised their tents at the edge of the woods, preferring to repose thus until the following morning than to venture into the frail ferry-boat while the waves yet ran so high.

There was no habitation in the immediate vicinity, save a rude hovel occupied by Jasper Roughgrove and his ferrymen, which was on the opposite shore in a narrow valley that cleft asunder the otherwise uniform cliff of rocks.

The creaking of the wheels, when the vehicle approached within a few hundred paces of the encampment, attracted the watch-dogs, and their fierce and continued barking drew the attention of the emigrants in the direction indicated. Several men with guns in their hands came out to meet the young travellers.

" We are white men, friends, strangers, lost, benighted, and hungry!" exclaimed Joe, stopping the horses, and addressing the men before he was accosted.

" Come on, then, and eat and rest with us," said they, amused at Joe's exclamations, and leading the way to the encampment.

When they arrived at the edge of the camp, Glenn dismounted from the wagon, and directing Joe to follow when he had taken care of the horses, drew near the huge log fire in company with those who had gone out to meet him. Several tall and spreading elms towered in majesty above, and theft: clustering leaves, yet partially green, notwithstanding the autumn was midway advanced, were beautifully tinged by the bright light thrown upward from the glaring flames. The view on one side was lost in the dark labyrinth of the moss-grown trunks of the forest. On the other swept the turbid river, bearing downward in its rapid current severed branches, and even whole trees, that had been swept 
   A NARRATIVE.

14

away by the continual falling in of the river bank, for the sandy soil was always subject to the undermining of tha impetuous stream. A circle of tents was formed round thft fire, constructed of thin poles bent in the shape of an arch, and the ends planted firmly in the earth. These were covered with buffalo skins, which would effectually shield the inmates from the rain; and quantities of leaves, after being carefully dried before the fire, were placed on the ground within, over which were spread buffalo robes with the hair uppermost, and thus in a brief space was completed temporary but not uncomfortable places of repose. The ends of the tents nearest to the fire were open, to admit the heat and a portion of light, that those who desired it might retire during their repast, or engage in pious meditation undisturbed by the more clamorous portion of the company.

Glenn paused when within the circle, and looked with some degree of interest on the admirable arrangement of those independent and hardy people. A majority of the emigrants were seated on logs brought thither for that purpose, and feasting quietly from several large pans and well-filled camp-kettles, which were set out for all in common. They motioned Glenn to partake with them; and although many curious looks were directed toward him, yet he was not annoyed by questions while eating. Joe came in, and following the example of the rest, played his part to perfection, without complaining once of his wound.

The feast was just finished, when the dogs again set up a furious yelping, and ran into the forest. But they returned very quickly, some of them whining with the hurts received from the strangers they encountered so roughly; and presently they were followed by several enormous hounds, and soon after an athletic woodsman was seen approaching. Thia personage was a tall muscular man, past the middle age, but agile and vigorous in all his motions. He was habited in a> buck-skin hunting-shirt, and wore leggins of the same material. Although he was armed with a long knife and heavy rifle, and the expression of his brow and chin indicated an onusual degree of firmness and determination, yet there was %n openness and blandness in the expression of his features which won the confidence of the beholder, and instantly dispelled every apprehension of violence. All of the emi grants had either seen or heard of him before, for his name 
   16 WILD WESTERN SCENES:

was not only repeated by every tongue in the territory, bv was familiar in every State in the Union, and not unknown in many parts of Europe. He was instantly recognised by the emigrants, and crowding round, they gave him a hearty welcome. They led him to a conspicuous seat, and forming & circle about him, were eager to catch every word that might escape his lips, and relied with implicit confidencs on every species of information he imparted respecting the dangers and advantages of the locations they were about to visit. Boone had settled some three miles distant from the ferry, among the hills, where his people were engaged in the manufacture of salt. He had selected this place of abode long before the general tide of emigration had reached so far up the Missouri. It was said that he pitched his tent among the barren hills as a security against the intrusion of other men, who, being swayed by a love of wealth, would naturally seek their homes in the rich level prairies. It is true that Boone loved to dwell in solitude. But he was no misanthrope. And now, although questions were asked without number, he answered them with cheerfulness; advised the families what would be necessary to be done when their locations were selected, and even pressingly invited them to remain in his settlement a few days to recover from the fatigue of travel, and promised to accompany them afterward over the river into the rich plains to which they were journeying.

During the brisk conversation that had been kept up for a great length of time, Glenn, unlike the rest of the company, sat at a distance and maintained a strict silence. Occasionally, as some of the extraordinary feats related of the person before him occurred to his memory, he turned his eyes in the direction of the great pioneer, and at each time observed the gaze of the woodsman fixed upon him. Nevertheless his habitual listlessness was not disturbed, and he pursued his peculiar train of reflections. Joe likewise treated the presence of the renowned Indian fighter with apparent unconcern, and being alone in his glory, dived the deeper into the saucepan.

Boone at length advanced to where Glenn was sitting, and after scanning his pale features, and his costly though not exquisitely-fashioned habiliments, thus ad dressed him:    
   A NARRATIVE.

17

"Ycung man, may I inquire what brings thee to these wilds ?"

"I am a freeman," replied Glenn, somewhat haughtily, " and may be influenced by that which brings other men hither."

" Nay, young man, excuse the freedom which all expect to exercise in this comparative wilderness; but I am very sure there is not another emigrant on this side of the Ohio who has been actuated by the same motives that brought thee hither. Others come to fell the forest oak, and till the soil of the prairie, that they may prepare a heritage for their children; but thy soft hands and slender limbs are unequal to the task; nor dost thou seem to have felt the want of this world's goods ; and thou bringest no family to provide for. Thou hast committed that which banished thee from society, or found in society that which disgusted thee   speak, which of these ?" said Boone, in accents, though not positively commanding, yet they produced a sense of reverence that subdued the rising indignation of Glenn, and looking upon the interrogator as the acknowledged host of the eternal wilds, and himself as a mere guest, who might be required to produce his testimonials of worthiness to associate with nature's most honest of men, he replied with calmness, though with subdued emotion   

" You are right, sir   it was the latter. I had heard that you were happy in the solitude of the mountain-shaded valley, or on the interminable prairies that greet the horizon in the distance, where neither the derision of the proud, the malice of the envious, nor the deceptions of pretended love and friendship, could disturb your peaceful meditations : and from amid the wreck of certain hopes, which I once thought no circumstances could destroy, I rose with a determined though saddened heart, and solemnly vowed to seek such a wilderness, where I could pass a certain number of my days engaging in the pursuits that might be most congenial to my disposition. Already I imagine I experience the happy effects of my resolution. Here the whispers of vituperating foes cannot injure, nor the smiles of those fondly cherished deceive."

"Your hand, young man," said Boone, with an earnestness which convinced Glenn that his tale was not imprudently divulged.

2* 
   18

WILD WESTERN SCENES:

"Ho! what's the matter with you?" Boone continued, turning to Joe, who had just arisen from his supper, and was stretching back his shoulders.

" I got a licking from a bear to-night   but I don't mind it much since I've had a snack. But if ever I come across him in the daytime, I'll show him a thing or two," said Joe, with his fists doubled up.

" Pshaw! do you still entertain the ridiculous belief that it was really a bear you encountered?" inquired Glenn, with an incredulous smile.

"I'll swear to it!" replied Joe.

"Let me see your face," remarked Boone, turning him to where there was more light.

"Hollo! don't squeeze it so hard!" cried Joe, as Boone removed some of the coagulated blood that remained or the surface.

"There is no doubt about it   it was a bear, most cer tainly," said Boone; and examining the wound more closely, continued: " Here are the marks of his claws, plain enough: he might easily be captured to-morrow. Who will hunt him with me ?"

"I will!" burst from the lips of nearly every one present.

" Huzza   revenge! I'll have revenge, huzza!" cried Joe, throwing round his hat."

"You will join us?" inquired Boone, turning to Glenn.

"Yes," replied Glenn; "I came hither provided with the implements to hunt; and as such is to be principally my occupation during my sojourn in this region, I could not desire a more happy opportunity than the present to make a beginning. And as it is my intention to settle near the ferry on the opposite shore, I am pleased to find that I shall not be far from one whose acquaintance I hoped to make, above all others."

"And you may not find me reluctant to cultivate a social intercourse, notwithstanding men think me a crabbed old misanthrope," replied Boone, pressing the extended hand of Glenn. They then separated for the night, retiring to the tents that had been provided for them.

It was not long before a comparative silence pervaded the scene. The fierce yelpings of the watch-dogs gradually ceased, and the howling wolf was but indistinctly heard in the distance.   The katydid and whippoorwill still sang at 
   A NARRATIVE.

19

intervals, and these sounds, as well as the occasional whirlpool that could be heard rising on the surface of the gliding stream, had a soothing influence, and lulled to slumber the wandering mortals who now reclined under the forest trees, far from the homes of their childhood and the graves ol their kindred. Glenn gazed from his couch through the branches above at the calm, blue sky, resplendent with twinkling stars; and if a sad reflection, that he thus lay, a lonely being, a thousand miles from those who had been most dear to him, dimmed his eye for an instant with a tear, he still felt a consciousness of innocence within, and resolving to execute his vow in every particular, he too was soon steeped in undisturbed slumber.

CHAPTER II.

Boone hunts the bear   Hounds and terriers   Sneak Punk, the Hatchet-face   Another stump   The high passes   The bear roused   The chase    A sight   A shot   A wound   Joe   His meditations   His friend, the bear   The bear retreats   Joe takes courage   He fires   Immense execution   Sneak   The last struggle   Desperation of the bear