The banks were densely wooded, and the few houses that may have been near were hidden by the trees.

No human beings appeared upon the banks.
Dick knew why the men did not come forth to see the ships.

The southwestern part of the state, the old Jackson's Purchase, and the region immediately adjacent, was almost solidly for the South.

They would not find here that division of sentiment, with the majority inclined to the North, that prevailed in the higher regions of Kentucky.
The country itself was different.

It was low and the waters that came into the Tennessee flowed more sluggishly.
But Dick was sure that keen eyes were watching the fleet from the undergrowth, and he had no doubt that every vessel had long since been counted and that every detail of the fleet had been carried to the Southern garrisons in the fort.
The cold was as sharp as on the day before, and Dick, like the others, rejoiced in the hot and abundant breakfast.