They were now within a few miles of the trading post, and all hurried forward with much interest, curious to learn what they should find when they arrived there.
CHAPTER XVIII
RUNNING INTO A TRAP
“There is the post!”
It was James Morris who said this. He was slightly in advance of the others, and coming around a bend of the Ohio River caught sight of the place which had cost him so much hard work to establish.
As my old readers know, the trading post proper was a substantial building of heavy logs, containing four rooms, the main one of which was usually devoted to trading with the trappers and Indians. Near by was a storehouse of two rooms, with a stable attached for horses and cattle.
The site of the trading post was a small bluff fronting the broad Ohio, and not far away was a gurgling brook, with some rough rocks beyond. The buildings and grounds were surrounded by a strong palisade of sharpened logs, containing, at a convenient point, a gate ten feet in width, locked by two heavy crossbars. The palisade contained many loopholes for shooting purposes in case of attack. Around the outside of the palisade the ground had been cleared for a short distance, but otherwise, excepting for the river, the unbroken forest stretched for many miles. To-day this same locality is dotted with rich farms and villages, with a railroad running through it, and where the canoes of Indians and white hunters used to ride there now plow steamboats and tugboats. And yet this was but a hundred and forty-odd years ago! What wonderful strides our country is making, and who can imagine what the next hundred and forty years will bring forth?
James Morris called a halt, and all gathered around him, wondering what the next move was to be. They looked toward the trading post. The great gate of the palisade was wide open and there appeared to be no sign of life anywhere.
“Looks deserted, don’t it?” remarked Tony Jadwin. He had helped to erect the place and knew every nook and corner as well as did its owner.
“It certainly does,” answered James Morris. “But we must not take too much for granted.”
“’Pears like I kin see tracks in the snow, near the gate,” remarked Peaceful Jones. “What do ye think on’t, Pomeroy?”