“Has Logan begun the war?” asked Eph.
In a few words Oliver explained the situation; and in a marvelously short time Eph’s rifle was assembled and loaded; Sandy’s saber was wiped dry upon a tuft of grass and sheathed; the horses of all three were saddled and ready to start.
Boone had followed Oliver, and seeing them ready and determined, was the last man in the world to prevent their showing the quality that was in them.
“Look for the Baldwins, the McAfees and the Curleys,” said he. “Find the farm of one and you’ll learn from him the location of the others. And keep your eyes peeled for Injuns. Don’t trust to anything but the sight of your eyes and the touch of your hands. And if you find occasion to shoot, shoot swiftly and to kill, for the redskins are in no humor to be stopped by anything less than death.”
With a wave of the hand, the three boys were off along the winding trail which led toward the river; and this they followed all the remainder of the day. They came to the branch named by Boone toward nightfall, and went into camp in the midst of a clump of white oaks.
A turkey cock had fallen a few hours before under the deadly glance of Jerusha and while Sandy and Oliver were engaged in building a fire, Eph stripped the once proud bird of his feathers and prepared him for the spit. Sandy had filled his haversack with hard biscuits which had been made for the militia, and these, with the meat of the nicely browned turkey, made a bountiful supper.
“It seems to me to be a foolish thing for a great chief like Logan to do—this war,” said Eph, as he picked a turkey bone with much satisfaction. “A man like him, knowing how little chance the Injuns have against the troops of the colony, ought to have some horse sense.”
“They say Dunmore’s soldiers massacred his entire family,” said Oliver. “Of course, we can’t get the facts just yet, but if any of it is true, why, Logan, being an Indian, can see nothing else to do.”
“Many an innocent person will suffer for the doings of the hungry government and the red robbers,” said Sandy with Scottish foresight. “And it’s always so, I suppose, for they are the least prepared.”
They spent the night among the oaks and were stirring at an early hour in the morning. The sun was not an hour old when they were in the saddle once more and were riding along the branch in the direction of the scattered holdings of the detached settlers.