Page 6 - A Hero of Ticonderoga

roof, for, however it might be, it could but be better than the almost
shelterless bivouac that had many times been their night lodging since they

entered the great Northern Wilderness, that, within a few years, had become
known as the New Hampshire Grants.

More than once, when they had fallen asleep with only the mesh of netted
branches between them and the serene stars, they had been awakened by

the long howl of the wolves answering one another, or by the appalling
scream of a panther. Then, with frequent replenishment of the fire, they had

watched out the weary hours till morning, alarmed by every falling brand or
sough of the breeze, or resonant crack of frost-strained trees.

Seth looked eagerly for the promised trail and was glad to discover the
blazed trees and the netted imprint of snowshoes, that, if but briefly, as

certainly, identified the path. He turned his oxen into the diverging road,
which, though narrow, gave ample room for the sled. After a little it led to
the winding channel of a creek crawling through a marsh, whose looped

and matted sedges were in turn bordered by the primeval forest and its
bristling abatis of great trees, prostrate and bent in every degree of incline.

At last, as the long shadows began to thicken into the pallid gloom of
winter twilight, a little cabin was discovered in a notch of clearing, as gray

and silent as the gray woods around it. A thin wisp of smoke climbed from
the low chimney against the wall of forest, and a waft of its pungent odor

came to the travellers. Even as they drew near, its owner also arrived, and
gave them hospitable welcome to his hearth, and presently the little room
was aglow with light and warmth.

Here Ruth and little Martha thawed away their cramps and chilliness by the

big fireplace, while Seth and his son Nathan, with the hunter’s help,
unhitched the oxen from the sled. From this they brought the rations of hay
and corn, and made the oxen and their comrade, the cow, contented with

their roofless lodging behind the cabin.

Then the pork and Indian meal were taken inside. Ruth mixed a
johnny-cake with hot water and salt, and set it to bake on its board, tilted