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THE YOUNG TRAILERS

CONTENTS

I.--Into the Unknown

II.--The First Great Exploit

III.--Lost in the Wilderness

IV.--The Haunted Forest

V.--Afloat

VI.--The Voice of the Woods

VII.--The Giant Bones

VIII.--The Wild Turkey's "Gobble"

IX.--The Escape

X.--The Cave Dust

XI.--The Forest Spell

XII.--The Primitive Man

XIII.--The Call of Duty

XIV.--The Return

XV.--The Siege

XVI.--A Girl's Way

XVII.--The Battle in the Forest

XVIII.--The Test

XIX.--An Errand and a Friend

THE YOUNG TRAILERS

CHAPTER I

INTO THE UNKNOWN

It was a white caravan that looked down from the crest of the mountains
upon the green wilderness, called by the Indians, _Kain-tuck-ee_. The
wagons, a score or so in number, were covered with arched canvas,
bleached by the rains, and, as they stood there, side by side, they
looked like a snowdrift against the emerald expanse of forest and
foliage.

The travelers saw the land of hope, outspread before them, a wide sweep
of rolling country, covered with trees and canebrake, cut by streams of
clear water, flowing here and there, and shining in the distance, amid
the green, like threads of silver wire. All gazed, keen with interest
and curiosity, because this unknown land was to be their home, but none
was more eager than Henry Ware, a strong boy of fifteen who stood in
front of the wagons beside the guide, Tom Ross, a tall, lean man the
color of well-tanned leather, who would never let his rifle go out of
his hand, and who had Henry's heartfelt admiration, because he knew so
much about the woods and wild animals, and told such strange and
absorbing tales of the great wilderness that now lay before them.

But any close observer who noted Henry Ware would always have looked at
him a second time. He was tall and muscled beyond his years, and when he
walked his figure showed a certain litheness and power like that of the
forest bred. His gaze was rapid, penetrating and inclusive, but never
furtive. He seemed to fit into the picture of the wilderness, as if he
had taken a space reserved there for him, and had put himself in
complete harmony with all its details.

The long journey from their old home in Maryland had been a source of
unending variety and delight to Henry. There had been no painful
partings. His mother and his brother and young sister were in the fourth
wagon from the right, and his father stood beside it. Farther on in the
same company were his uncles and aunts, and many of the old neighbors.
All had come together. It was really the removal of a village from an
old land to a new one, and with the familiar faces of kindred and
friends around them, they were not lonely in strange regions, though
mountains frowned and dark forests lowered.

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THE YOUNG TRAILERS