22. Boone and His Swing

Daniel Boone was an early settler in Kentucky. He knew all about the woods and the ways of the animals and the Indians. Almost all the men that went with him into Kentucky were killed by the wild wolves or the savage Indians. One day when Daniel Boone was left alone in his cabin, four Indians came to kill him. He made his escape over a hill, but the Indians ran after him. He ran as fast as he could till he reached a wild grape-vine, which he saw reached to the top of a high tree, and was long enough to swing over a steep ravine. When he was a boy he had often made a swing of a wild grave-vine like this. So he quickly cut the vine off near the roots, took hold of it and swung out into the air with all his might. He was carried far out as he swung over the ravine. Then he let go, and as soon as he fell to the ground he ran away in a direction in which he knew the Indians could not find him. When the Indians came up to the place they could not find his tracks anywhere. So Daniel Boone was saved by a swing.