"We next descended the hill, concealing ourselves as much as possible among the rocks and shrubs until we gained the plain.  Although Simon moved at a rapid rate, there was nothing frantic in his gestures.  He had made up his mind, should he find his loved ones destroyed, to follow the murderers with deadly vengeance, utterly regardless of the consequences to himself.  As none of the intervening country had been cleared except a straight road through the forest, where the trees had been felled, and the stumps grubbed up here and there to allow of a waggon passing between the remainder, we were able to conceal ourselves until we got close to the settlement.