They were on the first slopes of the mountains that divide Virginia from Kentucky, and the bold, wild nature of the country pleased him.

He had never seen mountains before, and he felt the dignity and grandeur of the peaks.
Sometimes he went on ahead with Tom Ross, the guide, his chosen friend, and then he considered himself, in very truth, a man, or soon to become one, because he was now exploring the unknown, leading the way for a caravan--and there could be no more important duty.

At such moments he listened to the talk of the guide who taught the lesson that in the wilderness it was always important to see and to listen, a thing however that Henry already knew instinctively.

He learned the usual sounds of the woods, and if there was any new noise he would see what made it.

He studied, too, the habits of the beasts and birds.