The men at once carried out the bidding which their leader gave. Silently the settlers, for the moment all thoughts of vengeance gone from their minds, dug trenches wherever the soil permitted, and in these the bodies of their dead and mutilated friends were buried.
There were many faces in the band down which the tears were rolling while this task was being accomplished. The manner of the great scout, however, was unchanged. Only the deepening of the lines in his face and his unusual pallor gave indications of the strain through which he was passing. His manner still was silent and self-controlled, as in the days when the joyous things of life had more often been his portion.
When the gruesome task at last was finished, it was Daniel Boone himself who said to Colonel Logan in reply to the latter's inquiries: "It is useless now to try to follow the Shawnees."
"Why do you say that?" inquired the colonel.
"Because by this time they are far beyond our reach. They have lost no time, you may be sure."
"How many captives do you think they have taken with them?"
"Not many," said Boone.
"But there are some sixty-seven of our men missing."
"Yes," assented Boone, "but we have accounted for nearly sixty this day."