Then he might be more readily excused and could take his rifle and seek the depths of the forest, where everything grew by nature's aid alone, and man need not work, unless the spirit moved him to do so.
They planted the space close around the fort in gardens and here after the ground was "broken up" or plowed, the women and the girls, all tall and strong, did the work.
The summer was splendid in its promise and prodigal in its favors.

The rains fell just right, and all that the pioneers planted came up in abundance.

The soil, so kind to the wheat, was not less so to the corn and the gardens.

Henry surveyed with pride the field of maize cultivated by himself, in which the stalks were now almost a foot high, looking in the distance like a delicate green veil spread over the earth.

His satisfaction was shared by all in Wareville because after this fulfillment of the earth's promises, they looked forward to continued seasons of plenty.
When the heavy work of planting and cultivating was over and there was to be a season of waiting for the harvest, Henry went on the great expedition to the Mississippi.
In the party were Ross, Shif'less Sol, the schoolmaster, Henry and Paul.
Wareville had no white neighbor near and all the settlements lay to the north or east.