The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1855-08-04

At last. the largest One-thnkln lnT, probably
from Toms reservinc his fire so long, that hi
gun was empty. charged boldly up to him
and Higgins. with a steady aim, >!iot him dead
With four bullets in his body, and with Al
empty gun, two Indians betor, him, and ;
whole tribe a few rods of, almost any Other
man would have dc>parcd. BIT Tom IIic
gins had no such notion: an! the indian whol,
he had last slain was the most d}nccron> of
the three. and he felt little fear 0. the others
He had been near enough 10 sce their ewes
and he knew human nature sufficiently to Dis
cover that he was their superior IN courage
rifle. They raised whoop ami rushed on
him. "They kept their di>ianc, As long a
nv rifle was oalr'i, said he, d" bu now, when
it was empty, they We're better 50 liers"
\ fierce and bloody conflict c'.>nr,l The
Indians rushed upon Tom, stabbed him in
many places; but it happened. fortunately
that the shafts OF their spears were thin pole,
ri-ccd hastily for the occasion, which ben,
whenever the point struck rib. or encoun
tcrc! the opposition of one Of ll;.yins' tour
muscles. From this cause and the continued
eXcrtion OF his hand and his rifle IN wa.lin
off their tfru>t>. the wounds thus made wcr,
not deep: but his whole front was covered
with ya>hc>, OF which the sears vet remain
in honorable proof OF his valor.
At last one OF them threw lis tomahawk
The cd@e sunk deep into Higgins check. pass
ed through the ear. which it severed, lad
bare his skull to the back of his head. an,
stretched him on the PLAIN. The, Indian.
rushed on. bat Tom instantly recovered hi,
Sclt-po>>e>>ion, and kept them otl with hi.
feet and hands. unit! he succeeded, In .ra>,,
ING one OF their spears, which. as The In1ar
attempted TO pull it from him add him I,
rise and clubbing his rifle. he rushed upon
The nearest OF his foes and dashed his BRAN.
out. in DONG which he broke til,. i, k to ~.
ccS. retanin" onl V the barred in l> hand.
The other Indian. however warlv he hat
fought before. now came hrayclv INTO battle
1t is probable that he irlt his character as 4
warrior at stake. To have fled from man
desperately wounded and almost d>armed. OF
TO have suffered his victim 70 have c.rapcI
would have tarni>hed his manhood. Utter
InG terrific veil. he rushed on, ana attcm,.
ed to stab the exhausted RANGER. while III,
latter, while war,lin. o the spear with on,
hand hranil>hcd hi. ride barrel with the 9th
or. The Indian. unwoun,lcd. was now lv far
the most powerful man. but the moral courac,
of our hero prcvaich and the ~,vao.. un,-
Die 10 tcar the fierce glance of his untamr,,
eye, BEGAN to retreat slow ' towards the rac,
where he had dropped his rifle Tom knew
that II The Indian recovered his Gun III, own
ease was hopeless, and throwing away hi, RI.
ilc barred he drew his hun,in.-kn,,r. and
rushed upon him. Ad,rpcratc strife rn>nr,,
and several deep ra>hr> vcr, innlr1,l. lr.,
he Indian succeeded in casting lli.cln> from
hum and run To The spot whcr,. he had thrown
lown hi> gun while lIi4.,n- searched for III.
-'.n "i 'he other I"dlan. lhu> were both
searching for arms to renew 'h- conflict
Il tins t!Inr the >mok. that Law between
Fc colnI'atani> and the main body of th,. In-
han> had passed away. aad number o, the.
:''rr ha,in. p,~>c'! the hazel ,lichr., were,
IN full view. II seemed therefore. a~ ifno,h-
nv could save our hcro!c ranger. But relief
was at hand.
The little garrison a. 'he station. six or sey-
Hn III nUint"r. had Witnessed ;hc Whole 70.
this unparalleled combat. There was anon,
them a heroic woman. \ Ms Pur>.cy. who
whcn She saw Higgins con.cn,..nr sin ,ly with
Tue Toe urged 'hc men 10 20 70 his rescue
he rangers at ilr>t considered the att.r,r,;
hopeless. as the Indians ot!tnr!m!,rcJ them
ten 10 one. But Mrs. Pur,!cv declared that
f,y,.. t..'l.
want Of hcl p. snatc!,d a llilr out 0. her hr>-
'andS hand. Jumped on horse. and sailed
put. The men. not - he ou., ,,r Nv = wo,n-
an. followed at full ca'Ior toward the place,
Ji con;'at y scene OF intense Interest on
sued ; the Indians at the thirk.t had i,l,; dis
covered Tom. and were r,l>hinr ,,,wn toward
him with savage yc'!S his friends were spur
rln- their horses TO reach him first Ui,rin<.
exhausted with the loss Of blood. bad fallen
and tainted. while his adversary. foo ;p,cn,
On his prey I" observe anytbino else wa,
looking for 4 rifle. The rangers reached The.
battle-ground first. Mrs. Pn,>cley. who
knew Toms spirit. thought h. h., thrown
himself down in despair for the loss Of his
yun and rendered hIm III. ON. >h,. carried
but Tom was past shooting. His friends lit
cd HIM up. threw HIM across horse before.
one OF the party. and turned 10 retreat inst
as the Indians retired
We repeat th:s adventure inst as il was rc-
lated to lis. and have not the ,,a>, donl, II, a,
It Is literally correct. or AS nearly 50 a, Mr.
Higgins opportunity for observation wouIJ
adm't-tor. as he very properly observes. he
vas IN "'>f'ro'e dai .dr,' lust about ,ha,
time. and II was j.o'rr,tm b,,d rhc,.c.' for a
man to take notice Of what was oojno IN a.
rount: him
Aher hcInG carried into the fort. he re-.
ln''incd Inscn>lblc for some .iavs. and his liz.
was preserved with difficulty bv his friends.
who cxtra"tei all the bullets bit two which
renamed IN the thigh. one of which gave h;n,
great deal OF pam for several years. thou,h
the flesh was healed Ut length h. heard
that physician had settled w,,hin f, a.
ride OF lnm, whom hc went to see. The ,,hy..
lclan was willing foeXtract the ball, bu; ed
the sum of fifty dollars for the operat;on-
his Tom ilatlv refused to give. As il WIS
more than years pension KS he rod.
home he turned the matter in his mind. and
:" ii'.'!''' upon cheaper plan. When he
reached home, he requested his wife to hand
h'm razor The exercise of rlinc had 50
chafed the part, that the ball. which u~ua,lv
was n" dlscoverat.e T. the touch could tc
feit. With the assistance Of his Lcl,m,,.
ne very deliberately laid open his thirh, un.
III .hc edge OF the razor touched the ballet
ana inserf'n. his finger into the cash. "frte,l
II out as ne termed it. "withou, costing him
cent The other ball remains in his limb
vet' out gives him no trouble except when he
uses violent exercise. Tom. notwithstanding
MS INJURIES Is still one of the most successful
hunters HI the country.
- Mr.. Burnap, well-known acr;cpltu-
raj writer, says that the fences in the I-n;tcJ
,'a'cs ), cost more than twenty times the specie
tat Is IN 1t. The cost of the highway fanc.s
n ! PrIpOnt L. ust,,,,t..l