This was very much to his advantage, and aided him in various ways.
It enabled him to avoid difficult places, where his progress would have been slow, and it also served to keep him in a straight line toward the place of his destination.
Never turning from the point toward which his mind was set, the scout went onward.
But one thought was in his mind.
Should he be too late to save his friends from the terrible fate which threatened them?
Over and over again he asked himself this question.
He could only answer it by hoping for the best.
More than once had he warned Sam Wilson to leave his cabin in the forest and take up his abode in some settlement where he would not be so much exposed; but he would not listen to him.
He was as safe in one place as another, he always declared, but now the hour had come when he would find out his mistake.
It was near a half-dozen miles to the nearest settlement, and thus he was as completely cut off from aid as though he were in the heart of the wilderness.