Just what happened at the camp during the seven days’ captivity of Boone and Stuart among the Shawnees has never been written. There is no record in the annals of the time that they returned to civilization; the confusion of the camp as found by Boone might have meant that it had been deserted hastily, or that the party therein had been murdered and robbed. But which was the truth he probably never knew.
For some time the two hardy adventurers remained staring at the remains of the shelter which had been their home for more than a half year.
“Well,” said Boone, “I reckon they’re gone.”
“Gone they are,” agreed Stuart. “And as we don’t know how or why, it’s my opinion that this is no safe place for us.”
Rapidly, but thoroughly, they ransacked the camp for ammunition; but none was to be found; then they made their way into the cane-brakes, carefully covering their tracks as they went, and took up their camp in a secluded place where an enemy could not come upon them without their having due warning of his approach.
From that time on the pair shifted their camp with each day; they lived much like the wild things of the wilderness about them, seldom making a move in any direction without studying the prospects and calculating their chances. But in spite of all this, Boone, with his usual hardihood, continued to make his inspection of the country; they extended their explorations in many directions; and though they lived in constant peril of their lives, and their food was reduced to the meat they could kill, they were not of the sort to cuddle fear to their breasts and increase their hardships by complaint. Accustomed to hard living they took their situation calmly enough; never once did it occur to them that it would be best to leave their work incompleted and return home.
“But,” said Boone, one night by their carefully-masked camp-fire, “I’d like to have powder and ball. There are only a half dozen charges between us; and every time I let off my rifle I feel that we’re slipping that much nearer the finish of the whole matter.”
Some weeks went by in this way; and one morning as they followed a buffalo path they heard a steady, long “clump-clump-clump” advancing toward them from the direction in which they had come.
“Buffalo?” asked Stuart, puzzled.
Boone listened, then shook his head.