Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1850-04-09

4 Hosea's household cons ,tcd Of his VIII
Miriam, like himself, native Of New Eng
I, lard-a woman Of Comman ling stature an,
. great personal sircngth-anl their dauChtc
Z Alice, fair coldcnhaircd beauty, with :
face tha, smiled all over, then in her sixteenth
, year Hope. the wife Of Jcssc Cook, was {
, rosy, eOmcly daughter Of Virginia, much
younger than her sisict.in.lay y, with two boys
of SIX and three years old, a, her apron string
Young MeAndrc, was hnr, handy Young
huu,sman, whose father had been killed in Z
rcncOn,re with a party Of W wiandotS, near the
Blue I.icks, m ,ha, memorable cra of the
frontier wars Of the West, tie wear l7s2,
jos, As the sun became visible above the
upper line Of the forest 10 thc east, the door
OF the cabin orotsd and the brothers passed
ou,. The s,cnc spread before them was one
Of perfect rcposr. The morning mis-, had al.
ready hRel from the stream and vas sailing
slowly upward, while no, breath stirred to
shake the pendant moisture from the forest
leaves, or ripple the surface Of the swiftly
gliding water. Bui the Cooks were not the
men to look upon the landscaFc with a poet
or a painters eve, and with he simple OBJ
,rr,a,ion ,ha, i, was fine growing morning,
the elder, Hosea, shouldcrcd his axe, and
followed by his brother, walked TO p,le Of
chcs,nu, timber a few rods we,; Of the house
where they had been engaged the preceding
lay IN splitting out fence rails
They were both unamcd, and would have
laughed At the idea Of carrying weapons to
pro,cc, themselves from the Indians, 50 conf
dsu, had their long exemption from attack or
mol,,iation rendered them. Bu, their dream
Of security vas destined to DC suddenly aud
avfully broken They had no, struck TWEEN
" blow, with their axes, when dozen IL
acs,
"Too usarl,. j all, aimed 20 err"
cracked from a clump OF NAPLES abou, forty
yari, m advance Of the nearest point Of woods.
and Hosea Cook, who was IA the &C, OF chop
p,nr, spraur like a ball IN the ar, and
strengthening as he descended, fcll with his
face upward, quite dead
/ Jesse, although struck with three bullcr'
and mortllIy wounded, started On a staggering
run lor the cabin, and fell few Zee, from the
door, a, the very moment when thirteen Wy
lnjo,s, painted and Plumcd lOr war, icaPcd
from the cover with a whooP Of icmoniac cI-
citation. For one momcu, the inmates Of
the cabin were panic stricken bot M The
next. the youth NcAndre, had rushed out Tor
/ the purpose oC bringing IN the wounded man.
/ lie ,s.lrd him hy The shoulders -ud was iu
,b, act Of dragging lum towards tie thrcsh-
hold. when an Old Indian, who had reserved
. b,, charge when the voiicy was fred, iook de-
fbcra,c ann q, the Young man and sho, him
through the brain He fell dead across the
body Of Jesse Cook
Had the saylccs rushed upon the cabin al
that moment they would have encountered no
resistance The door vas open, aud the NO
men completely uuucrycd by the horror Of
the scene. But the savagcs stopped when
,hcy reached the body Of Hosea Cook 10 scalp
their victim. They LneV that all the males
Of the household had fallen, and twas utter.
rs impossible for the women and children to
escape. IS TO any a,tcmP, at a defence, they
l,d ro, dream of that.
The tbrec females, Who with arms out,
stretched towards the bleeding bodies Of their
fallen protectors, and ewes dila,od with hor.
ror. stood huddlcd together on the threshold.
,el, rather than saw their ouly chance Of
avoiding immediate massacre, was m avaslmg
themselves Of the brief respite which the
blccd.,htrsy mllEu,,y Of the 'avsgc' allow.
ed them. Rushing from the Cabin, Miriam
Cook rraspcd the body Of her brOthcr-In,law
m her powerful arms, while At the same time
Hope and Alicc scllcd each aa arm OF the un'
i,rtuaa,r youth McAndrt, and IN the next M
stan, they had dar,ed b5ck again with their
burdens and closed and barred the door. The
cabin was a solid structure, built Of immense
locs Of chestnut and OAK, completely imPerrI'
ous In rifle or muskc, ,l'ct, oNccp, at three OF
four points. where narrow loopholcs had beer
lst for ,he convenience Of rcconnolterlng OF
firing upon an enemy. These holes wor,
about u,rcc ieci from The ground, and baTolS
d large ooourL To admit the play Of a rifle bar
+ rrI 80 as to command the whole front Of the
building. The door was formed ftwo thick
ncsSs,, Of heavy white oak plank, equally i'm
psne,fasle by bullets, snd when secured b.
the solid bar inside, was almos, as imPregna
, bic a. the wall Of the cabin itself
h Having deposited the dead upon the cabin
hoor. Miriam, Hope and Alice began to pre-
pare 6or a yigoroUs defepce Their faces
. uore no longer an expression OF terror. The
brnws Of the two matrons were knitted will
fierce determination, and their eyes sparkle'
with the instinct OF revenge. Alice was M
longer the umid maid Of yesterday. lie
, lover, (for she had given her whole heart
, and was .oon ~ have given her hand to young
, McAndre,) } and her beloved father lay deaf
, before her, side By side the red demons wer'
81 IN the &C, of scalping and muillating the body
OF her uncle outside and something Of th'
r tgress flashed even in her eyes half blinde'
) as they were by tears. The two childrI
D alone exhibited signs Of fear bu, Il was on
n " perceptble IN their blanched faces an'
e quiyering limbs. They neither shrieked MOI
r wcpt, but sat in corner Of the cabin, viii
their arms locked together, watching the &C
/, ton Of the females, as they piled chests an'
/, - e..,,,.,I ,,,,,.., ,h. d,,r an ar