Litchfield enquirer., 1856-03-27

lungs. Sea and earth how dld this happen! Minamee, say !"
 Hush y exclaimed voice in whisper, Hush, you'll wake my child"
 "Wake your child l" repeated he, hearing her nestle her infant to her bosom, as he threw open the door, Wake your"-the sentence was unfinished. Fell horror petrifed with the sight that presented itself; his lower jaw drop ped, and his eyes seemed to start from their strained sockets; the warm blood curdled in his veins, and the pulse ceased it's throbbing.- Sitting before the hearth, upon the floor there was the young mother, bearing marks of cruel violence in her features and her disordered dress, and pressing to her breast the headless trunk of her infant Pale was her countenance and l the fixed glassy stare, betokened madness in all its horrid forms
 Say,' screamed the trapper, rushing to the side of his demented wife, "say how-who has done all this ?"
 Hush l" replied Minamce. Do you not see he sleeps"
 "God of heaven !" exclaimed he-she's daft, gone wild-mad l" and scarcely less so himself, the strong bold hunter howled in his misery. l For days he was unable to learn the particu- hrs of thc terrible catastrophe At length a change took place in the blighted reason of his wife but like the remaining sparks in the charred embcr it was the last effort of the mind ere death expunged it's miseries. It appeared that at sunset Mnamee was preparing 10 set out to meet her husband, after rolling her little charge in robe of buffalo skin, and placing him in his bed of straw, when the long shadow of man was cast suddenly into the entrance, and as quietly disappeared. The deer hound sprang from the floor on which he had been lying, and as he leaped to the door | way, followed by his mistress, the sharp crack of a rife was heard and the noble animal fell l dead at her feet. In an instant afterwards the l form of an Indian, whom Minamee at once re- mcmbered as the foiled assassin at her marriage bounded into the cabin, and despite the furious struggles of the mother, clutched her child from his couch, and brandishing his knife with savage yells, severed his head from his body "There," said he, pitching the corpse to- wards the frantic mother, is my revenge.- Blood to the rcd mans wrongs is as water to fire am satisfied. Farewell !" And turn ing upon his heel he quilted the spot, like one who had accomplished noble deed, with Q slow and naughty footstep.
 The hitherto happy and contented home of l the trapper was now made desolate. It was long, long time since tears had fallen from Nick's eyes; but as he watched the sinking moments of his dying wife, they chased each other down his fttrrowcd checks in streains, and showed that the flood gates of his heart were open As the sun rose, the spirit of ! Minamce fled.
 Revenge" exclaimed the trarper, raising from the dead body of his wife, over which he had mourned for hours "Ill have such re- venge, that in tale and story none can equal I'll be more bloody than the panther more cruel than the beast or savage of his kind or time. Revenge" continued be- with a con vulsive laugh the white mans vengeance shall at least match the red"
 Mounting his small fleet horse, caught from the wild prairie, the trapper turned bis head towards the west and driving his heels into his Hanks, galloped like one reckless of life and limb, to the Valley of the Mohawk. There, as he anticipated, he found the tribe from which his Indian wife had been chosen. Brief was the horrd tale of wrongs and as brief his de- mand for justice.
 Give me the murderer" said the trapper, and let me deal with him as list"
 The chiefs listened with that seeming apathy with which they listen to every relation whether of good or evil ; and continued to send thin volumes of smoke, curling upwards from their lips. as they sat in circle about the fire with out a perceptible emotion of any kind. At length the eldest said after long silence, My white brother says well. Let it be so. Do with him as you list. Take him hence' l The consent obtained, howl of savage de- light burst from the trapper's breast. as he bounced like a gsllcd tiger upon his victim. You're mine" cried he, clutching the re morseless wretch by the throat, and lifting him from the earth in his brawny grasp like weak pnny child "You're mine p repeated he and as ye gave no mercy none shall be given ye."
 l Winding long. narrow strips of tanned hide around the shoulders, arms and wrists of the prisoner, he bound them tight to his body, and fixing one end to his stirrup, threw himself upon his horse, and retraced his steps at a slow.leisurely pace. The trapper appeared to select the path with care, so that the prisoner should not be injured by brake or briar, in their progress.
 In slence-without one word being spoken in that long, long night-they continued on through waste and wild The unrufied Hud- son reflected the clear rays of the moon, bright and unbroken as looking glass.
 The refreshing mists rolled along the sides Of the highlands in graceful folds, and nothing broke on the ear but the washing of the water and the melancholy notes of the whip-pcor.win Just as the first streak of light tingcd the cast, the trapper arrived at the door of his cabin :; and after securing his prisoner beyond the chance of escape, to the trunk of primeval willow L-.l L.,k k> nk kk~ oA AR Ls-