Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1853-07-14

10 haunt them and. as his fellow woods
man persisted in treating his appeals
with indifference or contempt, he deter
mined on taking measures To ascertain
the truth or falsehpud of h,s suspicions.
Gradually slackening in speed. he drop.
ped some forty PAGES behind Yates, and
darling into a hollow ON the left, spran3
into cluster Of whor'leberry bushes and
hid himself. Ills companion. who was
too busily and satisfactorily engaged in
the exercise Of his vocal powers 10 note
the incident. was quickly ou, of sight,
Scarcely had he disappeared, when the
young hunter. To his unspeakable terror,
saw three savases in their full war paint,
and armed with rifles, gently put aside
the stalks of cane brake within a hun.
dred feet of his ambush. and l.oking cr,.
tlous!y in the direction which Yates had
taken. Believing they mus, have seen
him step aside, and knowing that they
could soon discover his whereabouts
when they came to the spot where he 3.
struck off from his comrades trail, he
determined To give them shot: bu, such
was the tremor of his nerves, iha, on
raising his gun 10 his shoulder. il went
oh. lie los, ND time in following is
example, and after running fifty yards.
met Yates. who had heard the crack OF
Downing's rifle. and was hastily retrac.
ing his steps. Explanations were unnec.
essary. The red skins were in full view,
pressing forward AT thei. utmost speed,
brandishing their guns in the air. and
yelling after fashion that would not
have ci.graced the poets description of
the banner cry of hell" .Sauye qai
peW was the order of the day. Yates
was by far the fee,es, runner of the two,
but he was as ch,valrous as he was reck.
less. and would have scnrned to outstrip
his comrade. even in the race for life.
The Indians, who were well acquaint.
ed with the country. soon struck into a
ders path. which diyereed from the ono
followed by tho whites. bearing the same
relation To il that the string dues to the
bow. The paths were no, al any point
dlstan, more than one hundred yards
apart. aud as the woods were nearly free
from under brush the fugiuves cuuld sea
their fierce enemies gaining upon ,hem.
al every bound The pursued. howev.
er. were the frst 10 reach the angle
where the paths united and quickly af.
terwards came deep and wide ravine,
extending as far az they could see direct
,y aihwart their homeward route. II was
necessary either 10 maze an attemp, to
cross or TO turn and face the savages. A
may be conjecsured. they chose the far-
mer ex2erlment without stopping 10 re-
fleet. Yates sprang clear over, bui d ,wn.
Ing. who was much exhausted hy fatigue
anil terror. leap, short. and coming With.
his breast agtinst she opposite bank.
rolled down the decliyiiy. The Indi,ns
crossed the gully about ihirsy Yards
above. in eager chase of Yates. without
appearing I'd see Downing The youae
woodsman, who had al frs, given hun.
self up lar lost. now fel, hope revive
within hifn. and began to move cau,ious-
~ along the bottom of the raviue, Al
he advanced. !, gradually became shall
lower. aud at length ceased 10 affr,f trrn
any cover whatever Peering cautiously
about. as he gained The level ground. he
saw one OF she Indians returning: sppar-
emily in quest Of him Unfortunately he
had neglected I'D reload hts gun. - he
might easily have done in the ditch. and
as an empty rifle was only an iacum.
brance. he drnpped i, a. the savage al.
vanced upon him. and took 10 his heels;
but the Indian, who ran like deer. gain.
ed upon him so rapidly ,ha, he soon des-
paired III escape. Cunning az length IN
a huge popular. which had been leveled
by the wind. he ran along one side of il,
while his pursuer took the other, expect.
ing to intercept him a, The root. But
here fortune, or Providence. in,erfereds
in a mos, extraordinary manner in pnor
Downing's behalf Among /" wonder-
iul coincldences." that which saved his
,iie was certainly uue Of the rnns, won
dertul, AMI as the circumstances is his.
iorically true. i, may be considered a.
clinchlng, beyond all controversy. the.
fact that truth 10 stranger than fiction.
II happened that "A large she bear was
sucking her cubs III bed which ahe
had made at the roos of the tree. Tue
lu,:,an reached ths. poin, first. and Tho
bear. enragsd at heing disturbed in her,
interesting maternal duties. sprang upon.
the intruder. A prodigious uprosr in.
s,antly took place. The Indian yelled,
and stabbed a. his enemy with the knife,
tha. he had drawn from his bel, in an
anticipation Of certain surgical opera,
ton which he contemplated performing
on Dowuing's head; the bear grpwlel
anG ii.hlened her embraces. and dawn
they both rolled Among the cubs; while
iI"wnlng ran of through The woods
without waiting - see the event of the
corhicl.
tie reached the f,rt in safety. and found
Yates reposing after hot chase. having
eluded the red skins. aud ga,ned ,he iyr,
two hours before hun.
Cn The following morning they collec,.
Ell party. and paid v,si. to the fallen
popular. Wnhm lew PAGES Of tho
root lay Tho Indian AMI ihe bear. both
dead. The beas, had fairly squeezed
the breath ot life ou: Of ths savage. aud