Litchfield enquirer., 1835-11-26

"eH S"FSf'"SF y kept gOO0 FOnk OUt all
the while, lcsi the savages should come on
me nnawares. | had watched there for
more than an hour, when caught sight Of
them following my trail. The first was
Chief, iaIg e, tall, powerful fellow, with
traiIaer in his high tuft Of hair, medals ON
his breast, and wampWm beads hanging in
strings from his dress. At his belt hung
fresh scalp, which knew could only be
poor Jchnson's. He was followed, in In
dian file, by six others. Slowly and eau
sionSly they advanced on the trail, till they
came within City feet Of the tree. Here
they halted, and could have picked. off
one very easily, but [ thought I would
wait and see what plan they would adopt.
After s"me whispering aud gesticulsting,
two of tho Indians were detached, and
made a circuit round the tree, apparently
To discover whether the trail led beyond ii.
! When they had completed their errand
and joined their companions, they had an-
other long talk :, finally, three raised their
rifles aud fired at the hole in the tree
One Of the balls only entered the hole, but
! as took good care to be out of range, ii
did NO harm. Again they held a talk;
| they seemed irresolute what tn do, and I
began to think they .would leave me, bu,
such was no part Of their intention. / saw
them again raising their rifles, for shot,
when a plan entered my head by which l
hoped to get two lives at least so when
they fred i gave a furious scseans,4 as
though wounded, and then began to groan;
at 6rst very loud, and finally slowly and
softly, as though jus. dead. The strata
gem had its effect. Al the first scream the
Indians gave a shout oftriumph, aud then,
as they heard the groans, they advanced
towards the tree. Sill their natural craft
did not entirely desert them, for, they
crept on very slowly. stopping every now
and then, and listening with eager a,ten-
ton. Finally, the head man stood beside
the opening. he poked in his rife, moving
it about !; then he thrust in his head; and
just as he was fairly in, fired, and blew
The top Of his head all of. - He fell for
ward. his body blocking up the hole. In
an instant, / sprang on him, wrested the RI
fe from his dying grasp, pointed it from
one Of the small loop-holes. fired, and an.
other Indian was dead beside his Chief;
the others gave one yell of dssPair end
took 10 trees. There was now, for while,
a cessation Of par warfare. The Indians,
each hid behind some neigbboring tree,
were concealed from me, aud did not seem
very much inclined to leave their covert.
In the mean time was busy rifling ,ho
dead Chief. The gun had taken, and
which had already done me much good SER
vice, I found. on looking at il, was John
sons !; the savage had well filled bullet
pouch aad horn Of powder /; the ammu-
milton was of Immense importance TO me,
as had NO, above Il dozen charges left,
and there was no telling how long this fight
might last. Ialso got large bag Of parch-
ed corn, aud a small (pity it was SO small)
flask Of whiskey. Having secured these
valuable spoiis, resumed my quiet watch
ofihe sayages. t2 Eie5N@ta H"ft Tt.i1 &ptt"a "
The sun was a.lear setting, when saw
them, at signal, fly each from his tree, and
take refuge behind small rise In the
ground about twenty or thirty yards from
my tree. Here they were out Of my sight,
and what was worse, they could creep round
and approach on either side without my
knowing where to look for them. g This"
thought /, " will never do I'll see il
can't break up the council they arc hold
ing, or at feast get aH idea Of what they
are about" began to climb the sides oi
The tree. As tho rot had eaten in irregu-
larly, it left good many knots and knobs;
so thar, notwithstanding my lame leg.
made out finally 10 reach the upper hole.
Cautiously / poIsed my head out, and was
rejoiced to find that-I could command q
full view Of my enemies. There lay the
whole FIVE, their heads together, talking and
pointing, evidently matching some plan for
my destruction. Having satisfied myself
that from, the top Of my fort ] could hit
one Of the savages, I descended again, and
fastening one end Of my belt TO my side,
and tying the rifles, ready loaded, 10 the
other. assembled again. Just as caught
sight Of the savages. two Of them made of,
rolling and creeping along until they were
out Of range Of my rife then they took
to the woods and saw no more Of Thorn.
Here was aDo,her hint for me TO be in
haste, as the yarmin were sending for rein
forcements. Slowly and carefully push
ed ont my rifles. and resting one in the
crotch Of tlls tree, 1 took deliberate aim al
the nearest Indian. He lay dat on the
ground. and my ball hit she very centre oi
his head. His companions sprang on their
feet, gazing all around. evidently ut loss
to tell whence tho blow came. As they
stood there l could take perfect aim, and
| in moment another fell with ball lhrOIgh
aknA akA.