Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1854-05-04

youth, McAndre, and in the next instant they
had darted back with their burdens, and closed
and barred the door. The cabin was Of solid
structure, built of immense logs of chestnut
and oak, and completely impervious to rife or
musket shot, except at three points, where
narrow loop holes had been left for the conven-
ience of accommodating or firing upon the fen
dish enemy. These holes were about three
feet from the ground, and barely large enough
to admit the play of rife barrel SO as to COM
mand the whole front of the building. The
door was formed of two thicknesses of heavy
white oak plank, equally impenetrable as the
walls of the cabin itself.
Having deposited their dead upon the floor,
Miriam, Hope, and Alice began to prepare for
vigorous defence; their faces no longer wore
an expression of terror. The brows Of the
two matrons were knitted with determination,
and their eyes sparkled with the instincts of
revenge. Alice was no longer the tfmid maid
en- of yesterday. Her lover (for she had given
her whole heart, and was soon to have given
her hand, to McAndre,) and her beloved father
lay dead side by side-the demons were in the
act of ssalping and mutilating the body of her
uncle outside-and something of the tigress
flashed in her eyes, half blinded as they were
by tears. The two children alone exhibited
signs of fear, but it was only exhibited in their
bleached faces and quivering limbs. They
neither shrieked nor wept, but sat in the cor
ner of the cabin, with their arms locked to.
gether, intently watching the varied move
ments of the females, as they piled chests, and
benches, and frewoOd against the door, in or
der to make stronger the weakest point of de-
fence.
Miriam Cook was the first to speak After
assisting to secure the door, she had knelt
down at one of the loop-holes to reconnoitre
But the very instant when she applied her
eyes to the aperture, the groupOf savages who
had been engaged in stripping the body of her
husband, and hacking it with their knives and
tomahawks, opened on the right, and left one
brawny fellow, in the war trappings of chief,
who advanced two or three steps, and shook
the bloody scalp of the victim derisively above
his head, while the whole party joined in an
internal yell Of scorn and exultation.
& My husbands rifle !! she shouted, spring
ing to her feet and rushing across the cabin,
she tore the weapon and accoutrements from
the wall. But on trying the piece with the
rod n ~, ha cd
her hand into the pouch, but it contained moth
ing but musket balls, which her husband had
purchased few days before, to run into bull
lets suitable for his rifle. The powder horn
was full, but of what use was the powder
without the ball Dropping the weapon, she
wrung her hands in despair. Suddenly an
idea struck her-she seized one Of the bullets,
placed it between her teeth, and by tremen-
dous exertion bit it 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 protru-
ded through the aperture, and covered the body
of the party towards the house. The quick
eye of the savage caught the glimmer of the
rifle sight as the sun fell upon it, and he
stopped, but before he had time to make a
rush, Miriam's fingers pressed the trigger
When the puff of smoke from the distance had
cleared away, she saw him clutching in the
air in the vain effort to recover himself Be
fore the other Indians, who seemed paralyzed
by the unexpected catastrophe, could afford
him any assistance, he threw his hands above
his head, and whirling quickly around, fell up
on his face. A shout of triumph burst from
the lips Of Miriam as she saw the effects of the
avenging shot, and then Withdrawing from
the lOop-hOle, she commenced reloading the
rifle.
The Indians remained motionless for few
seconds, transfxed with as:onishment, and
then lifting the body Of their chief, withdrew
to respectful distance from the cabin, and
the inmates half believed their peril was over.
But they were deceived.
After getting out of gun-shot, the savages
clustered together, and appeared for several
minutes to be in close conversation. At the
expiration Of their pOw-wOw, having apparent
ly agreed upon their plan of action, the whole
gang took open order, and dashed at full run,
with loud yells, toward the building.
AS the foremost came up, Miriam Cook,
who was now stationed at another loop-hole,
again discharged her rifle, and the unlucky
Wyandott, shot through both legs, dropped in
his tracks with an involuntary shrek of agony.
The others kept on, and reaching the cabin,
six of them clambered on the roof, while the
other five commenced firing on the doors and
cutting openings in the logs Those on the
roof quickly kindled fire on the shingles,
which were soon in blaze. The destruction
OF the cabin and its inmates now seemed in
evltable. There was hogshead half full of
water in the house. Miriam, bucket in hand
mounted to the loft, and Hope and Alice sup
piled her with water from below, by which she
contrived to extinguish the flames as fast az
they broke out, while she herself enveloped
and almost suffocated by steam and smoke,
was invisible to the assailant. At length. the
water was exhausted, and one of the Indians
observing that the efforts of the besieged party
were slackening, ventured to poke his head
through one of the holes that had heep hurnad