Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1849-11-02

/ Alter aSSlSuIlg 10 secure the door she naQ
knelt down at one a The loopholes to
reconnoiire. At the very instant when
she applied her eye TO the aperture, the
group Of savages who had been engaged
in stripping the body other husband and
hacking it with knives and tomahawks,
opened on the right and left, and a Draw
ny fellow in the war trappings of chief
advanced two or three steps and shook
the bloody scalp dcrisively. above. his
head, while the whole party joined in an
internal yell of scorn and exultation.
my husbands riier' she shouted,
springing 10 her feet; and rushing across
the cabin, she tore the weapon and ac-
coulrements from the wall. Blu, on try
ing the piece with tie ramrod, it proved
to be unIoaded. She thrust her hand in
the. pouch, butt contained nothing ex-
cept nnsket balls, which her husband
had purchased at Frankfort few days
before, intending to. run them into balls
suitable for his rife. The powder horn
was full; but Of what use was powder
without balla 9Dropping the weapon,
she wrung her haois in despair. Sud
denly thought struck her, she seized
one of the bullets, placed il between her
teeth, and by a tremendous exerlion, Bit
it clean in two! Dashing charge OF
powder into the barrel, she rammed
down one Of the fragments, primed and
cooked the piece, and the next moment
its muzzle, protruding through the aper-
ture, covered the body of the chief now
advancing at the head of his party. to-
ward the house. The quick eye Of the,
savage caught The glimmer of the rifle
sight as the sunshine fell upon il, and he
stopped; but before he had iine-ss- make.
rush for .cayer. Mieiam' $ finger pressed
/ Ihe trigger. When the puff of smoke
from the discharge cleared away, she
.
saw him reeling backward and elutching
at the air in the vain effort to recover
himself. Before the other Indians, who
seemed paralyzed by the unexpected ca
tastrophe. could afford him any assist
ance, he threw his hands wildly ABOVE
his head, and whirling quickly round,
fell upon his face. 4 shout Of triumph
burst Eom the lips Of Miriam as she saw
the edeekof the aveng ing shot, and then
Withdrawing from the loophole she COM
menced rc-charging horiae.
They sayages remained motlofissa
for few seconds, transfixed with aston
ishment, and then, lifting the body of the
chief, withdrew hastily to more respect
full distance from the cabin, and its in
mates half believed that their peril was
over. They were soon undeceived.
After getting outof gunshot, the sava-
ges clustered together aud appeared for
several minutes to be in close converse
ton. AT the expiration of their pow
WOW, having apparently agreed upon
their plan of action, the whole gang took
open order and dashed with wild yeIls,
at full speed, toward the dwelling. As
the foremost came up, Miriam Cook,
who was now static ned at another loop
hole, again discharged her rifle, and the
unlucky Wyandote, shot through both
legs, dropped in his tracks with an in
voluntary shrek of agony. The other
eleven kept on. and on reaching the cab
in six of them clambered on the roof,
while the other five commenced firing
at the doors and openings in the logs
Those on the roof, quickly kindled fire
on the shingles, which were soon in a
bright blaze. The destruction of the
cabin and inmates now seemed inevi,a-
BILE. But the brave garrison did no. des-
pair. There was a hogshead half filed
with water in the house, and Miriam, buck
ct in hand, mounted to the loft. Hope
and Alice supplied her with water from
below, and as long as it lasted she con-
triyed to ,exlinguish the flames as fast as
they broke out, while she herself, envel-
oped and almost sufocated by steam and
:. y =
smoke, was INVISIBLE to The assailanis.
At length the water was exhausted, and
one of the Indians, observing that the et-
forts of the beseigcd were slackening,
xcntured 10 poke his head through one Of
the holes that had burned in the roof to
see how the land lay. The ,tndaunted
Miriam was standing attic moment a
few feet from the opening, and the in
slant she saw the face Of the Indian she
whirled the empty bucket round her
head, and hurting il with The full swing
lof her powerful arm, and struck him d.
rcctly in the forehead with the sharp
edge Of the slaves. She heard the bones