"'What is that?' At the question the two pioneer boys stopped abruptly"
And panthers not infrequently hunted in pairs. It might be possible that two of the treacherous creatures had been following the slowly moving caravan, for slow-moving it was indeed. The children and women were carried on the backs of the horses. The few heavy wagons were dragged with difficulty over the rough ground, and many a time the entire band was compelled to halt while the men felled a tree which blocked their advance.
"I tell you," said Peleg in a whisper, "that sound we heard before was made by a painter."
"It may be true."
"Will you stay here while I go back over the trail a little way to see if I can find any signs of the varmints? It is yet too light for them to attack us, but I should like to know if there is a pair on our trail."
"Do not go far," said James Boone hesitatingly.
"You may be sure that I shall not be over-venturesome. I shall return directly."
In a moment Peleg disappeared from the sight of his companion as he lightly and yet swiftly sped back over the way by which they had come.
Left alone, young Boone seated himself upon a fallen tree and awaited the return of his companion. Holding his rifle lightly in his hands after he had carefully looked to its priming, he was keenly observant of all about him. He had been disturbed more than he had acknowledged to Peleg by the sounds which they had heard. He had known of instances in which a panther had trailed a man for many hours. The conjecture of Peleg that a pair of the hated beasts might be following the slowly moving settlers was not improbable.