At times, when they approached one of those
little posts held by the American troops, with which the Highlands
abounded, he would take a circuit to avoid the sentinels, and plunge
fearlessly into a thicket, or ascend a rugged hill, that to the eye
seemed impassable. But the peddler was familiar with every turn in their
difficult route, knew where the ravines might be penetrated, or where
the streams were fordable. In one or two instances, Henry thought that
their further progress was absolutely at an end, but the ingenuity, or
knowledge, of his guide, conquered every difficulty. After walking at a
great rate for three hours, they suddenly diverged from the road, which
inclined to the east, and held their course directly across the hills,
in a due south direction. This movement was made, the peddler informed
his companion, in order to avoid the parties who constantly patrolled in
the southern entrance of the Highlands, as well as to shorten the
distance, by traveling in a straight line. After reaching the summit of
a hill, Harvey seated himself by the side of a little run, and opening a
wallet, that he had slung where his pack was commonly suspended, he
invited his comrade to partake of the coarse fare it contained. Henry
had kept pace with the peddler, more by the excitement natural to his
situation, than by the equality of his physical powers.
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