The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-08-23

house, Eve miles further down the river, Co
be ready 10 Zoe when necessity should com.
pei, A faint hope that sho might meet her
lover doubtless was this ueorct Of her tarrying.
AZ last her brother sent peremptory order
for hor 70 join him, aud she promised 70 go
down ia a large batcau which was expected
10 leave with several families on the following
day.
Early the neat morning black servAut
boy belonging 10 Mn M'Noil ospied some Ia
dams steaithily approaching the house, aud
giving the alarm 10 the inmates he He'd 10
the lnrt, about eighty ro,ls distant Mrs NJ
Ncil'a daughtor the yonng friend Of Jenny
aud inothor oF asy ialortnsnt, was viii sonic
nlcnds In ArHyiv, ana tie family consisted
Of only the widow and Jenny, two small clhl-
ilrru, and a black female servant AZ usual
At that umc, the kitrhcn stood few fcut
frum the house and when tho alarm was CIV
GA the black woman snatched up the children
trap door 10 the cellar. Mrs M'Neil and
Jonny followed, but the former being aged
aud very corpulcnt, and the latter young and
agile, Jenny reached the trap-door first Be
fore Mrs M'Ncil could h,lly descend The Ia
dams were IN the house, aud a powerful saw
ase sriEcd her by the hair and dragged her
up Anot,or won't into tho collar aud brought
up Jenny, but lbc-black face of the negro
woman was not seen Va the dark, aud she aud
tho childon remained unharmcd
- a. -. 4
of, on the road to SANDY lTill, for Burgoyncs
camp aud when they came 10 the foot of the
ascent on which the pine trec stands, whore
tho ruad ibrkcd they caught two horses that
were grazng, and attempted 10 place their
prisoners upon them Mrs M'Ncil Was too
heavy 10 bo lined ON the horse easily, aud as
she signiGcd 10y hor signs that she could not
ride, two Indians took her by the arms and
hurried hcrsp tho hin, while tltr others with
Jenny ON the horse, wont along the road run
ming west oi the tree.
The negro boy who ran to the fort gave tho
alarm, aud sniR1l detachment was imnie,ii.
atcly sent out TO effect a rescue They fred
several ,olleys at1he Indians. but the sayag-
Is escaped unhhrmcd. Mrs NT'Neil said HAT
the Indians, who were hurDing her up the
hill seemed to watch the cash of the g,Ins,nnd
several times they threw her upon her face,
at the same time falling down thcnlaclves,nnd
she ,li-tirrt, h-er,l tl,,, brlls whistle Al.ese
them. When they got above the second hill
from the village The firing ceased they then
stopped, stripped her Of all hor garments OK
ccpt her chomiso, and in that plight lcd her
into- tho british =gsmT 'fiEgVe Bhg mut hur
kinsman, General Fraser, and approached
him bitterly for mnding his '-scoundrel I0di-
ans" amer her, lie denied all knoylc,lge
Of her being away from the city Of New York,
aud took every pains to make her comfortable.
She was 50 large that not women ia. camp
had gown big enough for her, so FrAzrr
lent her his camp coat for garment, and n
pocket handkerchief as substitute for her
stolen cap. .a.
Very soon after Mrs MNcl was taken in-
to the British camp, twn parties of Indians ar
rived with, scalps. She at once fcrognize,l
the glossy hair Of Jeniy,' aud, dough shud-
dcring with horror, boldly charged the Hava-
gcs with her murder which they stoutly de-
nied' They ayorrcd that while hurying her
along the road on horseback, near the spring
west of the piNe tree, ~ bullet from onc OF the
American guns, intended for them, mortaly
wounded the poor girl aud she fell from the
horse. Sure Of losing a prisoner by death,
they took her scalp rs tic next best thing for
them to do, and that they bore in triumph to
the camp, to obtain tic promised reward for
such trophies. Mrs M'Ncil always believed
the story Of the Indians to bc true. for she
knew that they were fired upon by the de-
tachmcnt from the fort, and It was far more
to their interest TO carry prisoner than a
scalp te-tle British eoHiinahder the price for
the former being much greater. In fact, the
Indians were 50 restricted by Burgoyhc's hu-
name instruc tions respecting taking of scalps,
that thcir chief soicitudc was 70 bring pris-
oncr alive aud unharmcd into eaynp And
the probability that Miss AcGrra was killed
as they alleged is strengthened by the fact
that they took the corpulent Mrs MNeil, with
much fatigue and difficulty, uninjurod to the
British lines, while Miss McCrca, quite light
and already on horseback, might have bcon
carried Off with far greater case. ~ .,,.ts.
1t was known in camp that Lieutenant
Jones was bctroihed to Jenny, and the story
got abroad that he had sent the Indians for
hor, that they quarelled on the way respect
ing the reward he had offered, and murdered
her 10 settle the dispute. Receiving high
touches of coloring as it went from one mar
ratet 20 another, the sad story became a tale
of the darkest horror, and produced deep
t.,.si..,~lis- rle,- l..;.si,-
ened by published letter from Gates to Bur
goync, charging him with allowing the Ind-
ans TO butcher with impunity defencoless
womon aud children. "Upwards of one hun
dred men, women and children" said Gates,
''hAye perished by the hands Of the rutiians,
to whom, il Is asserted, you have paid the
price Of blood" Burgoyno fatty denied this
assertion and declared that the case of Jane