Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-10-13


enough to bury them but we'll cover them
over wi leaves and the branches q tile pines,
dhd when we gel TO the fort, well ask the SOL
diers to come and make graves for them. Come
wi ME, Angus, DEAR
Angus took Douglass hand, and rose but
soon staggered and fell, murnuring, 'Oh, broth
er, I'm sair faint and III. think am dying.
Stay wi me a little while, and then ye may
cover US a up together and gang awa'.'
'Dinna say sic sorrowfu' things, Angus yer
no dying, puir laddie; yer but fain,ing wi
hunger and | the same, said Douglas, in a
tone Of hopeless dependency. Just at the mo-
ment, his eye fell on small hand-basket, in
which the laborers were accustomed TO take
their luncheon to the harvest-Gell. !, was now
lying where the dead had leii il, against pile
Of wheat-sheaves, and was found to contain
some fragments Of bread aud meat, of which
they pariook.
Somewhat refreshed, the boys set about their
melancholy duty. They did not attempt 70
move the bodies from the position in which
they had found them they en little A Archie on
his fathers breast, and faithfully old Dasie with
his face hid agains, his masters knees.
Douglas took out his pocket-knife to sever a
lock Of hair from his fathers and his little
brothers. heads for memenioes. oh dinna
tax that lock, Douglas, said Angus, with
shudder, did ye ma see the bluid on ti'
Alas ii was difficult to find lock on the
bead Of either father or child not darkened and
siilIened with gore.
When they had taken the last lock, the last
kiss, and had completed their mound Of bouphs
and leaves, the two children knelt beside il and
prayed. Surely the God of the falherless was
near them. Better in His sight, their pous care
Of the dead, than the most pompous funeral OBJ
seqnies sweeier 10 Him the simple prayer
they sobbed into bis ear, than the grandest req
uiem.
II was nearly noon when the boys left the
little valley, and took their way toward the fort
They had first visited the ruins Of their house,
and searched around them and the garden dill
gently, but yainly, for any trace Of their moth
er, and nurse, and sister. From tree in the
little orchard they filled their basket with ap-
plies, and set forth.
They had advanced but mile or two on the
dark winding forest path, when they heard be-
fore them the sound OF footsteps and voices. In
their sudden terror thinking only of sayages,
they fed into the thickosi recesses OF the wood
When their alarm had passed, and they sought
TO regain the path, they found 10 their grief
and dsmay that they had lost it. Sill they
kept on--apparently at random--but angel-gui-
ded, it seemed, in the direction of the fort
Yet night came upon them in the dense, gloomy
wood, and, a, last, very weary and sorrowful,
they sank down; murmured their broken pray
ers, and clasped in each others arms fell into
chill and troubled sleep.
Douglas was wakened in the early morning,
by touch on his shoulder. He sprang to his
feet and confronted-Brant. Behind the chief
stood a small band Of savage attendants, eager
ly uyiHg ti'e youns pale faees,i 80 ,hessL ai,sis
fingers iiched TO be among their curls.
who are you - asked the warrior, slernly
i am Douglas Lindsay; and this is my broth
er, Angus Lindsay
is Captain Lindsay your faiberi'
He iras our father replied Douglas with a
passionate burst of tears but ye ken weel
enough we hac no father moo, sin ye've mur-
dered him. Ay, aud puir auld Dayic, and the
wee BARN Archie, ye devils'
No boy replied Brant, in a not unsonile
tone, we did not murder your father. / am
sorry to hear he has been killed. He was a
brave man, and never took part in the rebels.
] promised him my protection. 1t mus, have
been some Of Captain Buffers men; they are
about now. would have risked my life to
save his. / will protect his children. Where
were you going =
TO the fort put in little Angus, eagerly.
May be we shall find mi,her, and Efie, and
Jenny a there. Oh Mister T'hayeudenaga,
TAX us 10 the fort, if it's no too far, for we
hae lost our way
Brant-who was an uneducated man, and
had lltte Of the Indian ia his appearance Of
speech-smiled TO hear himself addressed by
his pompous Indian name "a stroke of policy
on the lads par,,) and replied That is easy
to do. Cherry Valley is Just over the hill /;
only little way of. Let us CO.
Saying this and briefly commanding his war
riors to remain where they were, until he
should return-an order received in snllen ST.
lence by the sayages, who gared ferociously
upon their lost prey-the chief strobe forward
through the forest, followed by the two boys.
When they reached the brow Of the bill over
looking the settlement; he paused and said /:
Il had better not go any further. will wait
here I'LL see you safe. Good bye Tell your
mother that Brant did not kill her brave has
band. Say he's sorry about ii-go.'
The children sought to express their thanks,
but he waved them away, and stood with fold
ed arms under the shade of gigantic oak,
watching them as they descended the hill.
Mrs Ldndsay's part in the sad story is soon
told. On the day Of the massacre she heard
the firing in the harves, field, from the windows
Of the house, Witnessed the brief struggle of
her husband and Datie with their foes. The
fearful sight at first benumbed every faculty
but one cry from her baby reused her from her
siuPOr of grief and terror. She took the in
fant from the cradle, and rushed with il into the
woods, followed by Jenny, the maid. The two
women concealed themselves SO efectually in
thick under-hush that they remained uudiscov-
cred though the shouts of the savages came
10 their ears with horrible dstinciness, and even
the blaze of their burning home REDEEMED the
sunlight that struggled through the thick foliage
above them.