The Indians were short in stature and very dark.

All started to run when they saw the white man and boy, both armed with rifles, approaching, but Ned and Obed held up their hands as a sign of amity and, after some hesitation, they stopped.

They spoke a dialect which neither Ned nor Obed could understand, but by signs they made a treaty of peace.
They slept that night by the fire of their new friends and the next day they were fortunate enough to shoot a deer, the greater part of which they gave to the Indians.

The older of the men then guided them out of the forest at the northern end, and indicated as nearly as he could, by the same sign language, the course they should pursue in order to reach Texas.

They had gone too far to the west, and by coming back toward the east they would save distance, as well as pass through a better country.
Then he gravely bade them farewell and went back to his people.
Ned and Obed now crossed a low but rugged range of mountains, and came into good country where they were compelled to spend a large part of their time, escaping observation.