Chapter I: Preface

MY DEAR BOYS:--As doubtless you well know, the early pioneer days were times that tried men's souls. And boys, hardly in their teens, were taught, in the bitter school of experience, that they must always live up to the old Puritan motto, "Trust in the Lord; but _keep your powder dry_." These same lads early learned to be self-dependent, and to fight their own battles.

Steeped in this atmosphere, the names of many heroic early settlers have come down to us through the pages of history. We all delight to read of their bold achievements, for they were men of whom the country must ever be proud.

But those stirring times before the Revolution also gave birth to many a valiant soul whose daring and sacrifices have never been recorded on the scroll of Fame. Some of these heroes were mere striplings in point of years, yet capable, in times of great stress, of proving themselves "chips of the old block."

It is to record the intensely interesting adventures of several of these young pioneers, whose axes helped to blaze the way of civilization in the then unknown region beyond the Alleghanies, that I have started to write this series of books. I sincerely trust that if you enjoy reading the present and first volume, you will welcome the story to follow, to be called: "The Pioneer Boys on the Great Lakes; or, On the Trail of the Iroquois."

Cordially yours,
HARRISON ADAMS.

_May 20th, 1912._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE v
I. AFTER FRESH VENISON 1
II. THE CABIN IN THE CLEARING 13
III. CAUGHT IN THE SNOW-STORM 25
IV. THE WOLF PACK 36
V. WHEN KATE CAME HOME 47
VI. THE DIE IS CAST 59
VII. INTO THE UNKNOWN LAND 68
VIII. THE PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS 77
IX. ALONG THE BUFFALO TRAIL 88
X. ATTACKED BY INDIANS 97
XI. ON THE BANK OF THE OHIO 106
XII. BOONE, THE CAPTAIN OF PIONEERS 118
XIII. BLUE JACKET 129
XIV. A NEW HOME IN THE WILDERNESS 141
XV. THE SUDDEN PERIL 152
XVI. CHASED BY THE FLAMES 167
XVII. A STRANGE PRISON 178
XVIII. AFTER THE FOREST FIRE 189
XIX. CAPTURED BY THE SHAWANEES 200
XX. THE COUNCIL FIRE 211
XXI. TIT FOR TAT 223
XXII. THE ESCAPE 235
XXIII. A CANOE TRIP IN THE STARLIGHT 245
XXIV. THE FEATHERED MESSAGE 255
XXV. AFLOAT ON THE FLOOD 266
XXVI. THE SINKING CRAFT 277
XXVII. BOB 286
XXVIII. A RESCUE 295
XXIX. WONDERFUL TIDINGS 306
XXX. CONCLUSION 315
NOTES 327

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"'HERE WE ARE AT THE SPOT I PICKED OUR FOR YOUR
SETTLEMENT'" (_see page_ 119) _Frontispiece_
"DISCOVERED A HALF CIRCLE OF GLEAMING YELLOW EYES
WATCHING HIM" 35
"KICKING FURIOUSLY AT A LEAN BLACK BEAR, JUST
BELOW HIM" 49
"SLIPPING ADROITLY AROUND THE BEECH AS FAST AS THE
BUFFALO COULD CHASE AFTER HIM" 89
"THE FIRE WAS . . COMING ON AT HEADLONG SPEED" 170
"A PAIR OF MUSCULAR BRONZED ARMS SUDDENLY CLOSED
ABOUT THE BOY" 202

The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio