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taken along; hoping thereby to find the 

 way back, without the risk of being lost, 

 and perishing with hunger, in uninhabited 

 parts. On coming across the valley to the 

 river-side, supposed to be the easterly 

 branch of Kentucky river, she observed in 

 the sand, tracks of two men, that had gone 

 up the river and had just returned. She 

 concluded these to have been her pursuers, 

 which excited emotions of gratitude and 

 thankfulness to Divine Providence for so 

 fortunate a deliverance. Being without any 

 provisions, having no kind of weapon or 

 tool to assist her in getting any, and being 

 almost destitute of clothing ; also knowing 

 that a vast, tract of rugged high mountains 

 intervened between where she was and the 

 inhabitants eastwardly, and the distance of 

 the Kentucky settlements unknown, and 

 she almost as ignorant as a child of the 

 method of steering through the woods ; 

 excited painful sensations. But certain 

 death, either by hunger or wild beasts, 

 seemed preferable rather than to be in the 



