Of this last character were two of the men on the open glade just
mentioned, while their companions were of the race of the
aborigines. What is much more remarkable, the four were absolutely
strangers to each other's faces, having met for the first time in
their lives, only an hour previously to the commencement of our
tale. By saying that they were strangers to each other, we do not
mean that the white men were acquaintances, and the Indians
strangers, but that neither of the four had ever seen either of the
party until they met on that grassy glade, though fame had made them
somewhat acquainted through their reputations. At the moment when we
desire to present this group to the imagination of the reader, three
of its number were grave and silent observers of the movements of
the fourth. The fourth individual was of middle size, young, active,
exceedingly well formed, and with a certain open and frank
expression of countenance, that rendered him at least well-looking,
though slightly marked with the small-pox. His real name was
Benjamin Boden, though he was extensively known throughout the
northwestern territories by the sobriquet of Ben Buzz--extensively
as to distances, if not as to people.
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