About the middle of the afternoon Ross invited Mr.
Pennypacker and the two boys to ride three of the pack horses.

Henry at first declined, not willing to be considered soft and pampered, but as the schoolmaster promptly accepted and Paul who was obviously tired did the same, he changed his mind, not because he needed rest, but lest Paul should feel badly over his inferiority in strength.
Thus they marched steadily northward, Ross leading the way, and Shif'less Sol who was lazy at the settlement, but never in the woods where he was inferior in knowledge and skill to Ross only, covering the rear.

Each of these accomplished borderers watched every movement of the forest about him, and listened for every sound; he knew with the eye of second sight what was natural and if anything not belonging to the usual order of things should appear, he would detect it in a moment.

But they saw and heard nothing that was not according to nature: only the wind among the boughs, or the stamp of an elk's hoof as it fled, startled at the scent of man.

The hostile tribes from north and south, fearful of the presence of each other, seemed to have deserted the great wilderness of Kentucky.
Henry noted the beauty of the country as they passed along; the gently rolling hills, the rich dark soil and the beautiful clear streams.