What the latter needed now was obscurity, the green blanket of the forest to hide them.
Carpenter led on over a narrow trail; the others followed almost in single file now, while the five scouted in the woods on either flank and at the rear.

Henry and Shif'less Sol generally kept together, and they fully realized the overwhelming danger should an Indian band, even as small as ten or a dozen warriors, appear.

Should the latter scatter, it would be impossible to protect all the women and children from their tomahawks.
The day was warm, but the forest gave them coolness as well as shelter.
Henry and Sol were seldom so far back that they could not see the end of the melancholy line, now moving slowly, overborne by weariness.

The shiftless one shook his head sadly.
"No matter what happens, some uv 'em will never get out o' these woods." His words came true all too soon.

Before the afternoon closed, two women, ill before the flight, died of terror and exhaustion, and were buried in shallow graves under the trees.