Again he set out alone and on foot for his far-distant home.

He had been absent over two years, and was new fifteen years of age.
He trudged along, day after day, through rain and sunshine, until he reached a broad stream called New River.

It was wintry weather.

The stream was swollen by recent rains, and a gale then blowing was ploughing the surface into angry waves.

Teams forded the stream many miles above.