The First White Man of the West | Page 6

remain?"
"Three, sir."
"True. That will answer for whole numbers, now for your fractions.
Take three-quarters from an integer, and what remains?"
"The whole."
"You blockhead! you numscull!" exclaimed the master, as the strokes
fell like a hail shower; "let me hear you demonstrate that."
"If I subtract one bottle of whisky, and replace it with one in which I
have mixed an emetic, will not the whole remain, if nobody drinks it?"
By this time the medicine was taking fearful effect. The united
acclamations and shouts of the children, and the discovery of the
compounder of his medicament, in no degree tended to soothe the
infuriated master. Young Boone, having paid for his sport by an ample
drubbing, seized the opportune moment, floored his master, already
weak and dizzy, sprang from the door, and made for the woods. The
adventure was soon blazoned. A consultation of the patrons of the

school was held. Though young Boone was reprimanded, the master
was dismissed.
This is all the certain information we possess, touching the training of
young Boone, in the lore of books and schools. Though he never
afterwards could be brought back to the restraint of the walls of a
school, it is well known, that in some way, in after life, he possessed
himself of the rudiments of a common education. His love for hunting
and the woods now became an absorbing passion. He possessed a dog
and a fowling piece, and with these he would range whole days alone
through the woods, often with no other apparent object, than the simple
pleasure of these lonely wanderings.
One morning he was observed as usual, to throw the band, that
suspended his shot bag, over one shoulder, and his gun over the other,
and go forth accompanied by his dog. Night came, but to the
astonishment and alarm of his parents, the boy, as yet scarcely turned
of fourteen, came not. Another day and another night came, and passed,
and still he returned not. The nearest neighbors, sympathizing with the
distressed parents, who considered him lost, turned out, to aid in
searching for him. After a long and weary search, at a distance of a
league from any plantation, a smoke was seen arising from a temporary
hovel of sods and branches, in which the astonished father found his
child, apparently most comfortably established is his new experiment
of house-keeping. Numerous skins of wild animals were stretched upon
his cabin, as trophies of his hunting prowess. Ample fragments of their
flesh were either roasting or preparing for cookery. It may be supposed,
that such a lad would be the theme of wonder and astonishment to the
other boys of his age.
At this early period, he hesitated not to hunt wolves, and even bears
and panthers. His exploits of this kind were the theme of general
interest in the vicinity. Many of them are recorded. But we pass over
most of them, in our desire to hasten to the exploits of his maturer years.
We select a single one of the most unquestionable character, as a
sample for the rest.
In company with some of his young companions, he undertook a

hunting excursion, at a considerable distance from the settlements. Near
night-fall, the group of young Nimrods were alarmed with a sharp cry
from the thick woods. A panther! whispered the affrighted lads, in
accents scarcely above their breath, through fear, that their voice would
betray them. The scream of this animal is harsh, and grating, and one of
the most truly formidable of forest sounds.
The animal, when pressed, does not shrink from encountering a man,
and often kills him, unless he is fearless and adroit in his defence. All
the companions of young Boone fled from the vicinity, as fast as
possible. Not so the subject of our narrative. He coolly surveyed the
animal, that in turn eyed him, as the cat does a mouse, when preparing
to spring upon it. Levelling his rifle, and taking deliberate aim, he
lodged the bullet in the heart of the fearful animal, at the very moment
it was in the act to spring upon him. It was a striking instance of that
peculiar self-possession, which constituted the most striking trait in his
character in after life.
Observing these early propensities for the life of a hunter in his son,
and land having become dear and game scarce in the neighborhood
where he lived, Boone's father formed the design of removing to
remote forests, not yet disturbed by the sound of the axe, or broken by
frequent clearings; and having heard a good account of the country
bordering upon the Yadkin river, in North Carolina, he resolved to
remove thither. This river, which is a stream of considerable size, has
its source among the