Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-03-19

"Dear Fanny" said Mrs. Gilmore, lay.
ing her hand gently upon her daughters
head, 1--WE have waited five long and
anxious years for aid from the white set
Elements, and owe our safety from all, save
captivity, to that frmness of character
which we have displayed on all trying oc.
casions. The same means may still work
the same results; but should they fail
our last hope is in flight. The liberty
allowed us, as members of the tribe, and
the knowledge we have both acquired Of
the management of a canoe, may enable
us to escape down the river, could we be
assured of several hours the start l car
not live to see you the wife of that hated
chief and if there be no other escape than
death, let it come and it were better tC
meet it in struggle for freedom than a:
tame and unresisting captives."
4Then, Mother, since there is no hope
but in fight, why not attempt it whilst
the great body of the warriors is absent?
"You speak, my child, as if it were an
easy matter to escape the vigilance of the
ceaseless spies who surround US. Re-
member, we once made the attempt, and
barely saved our lives by coquetry that
can not avail us again. But as we must
be captives for life, unless We can effect
our own liberation, let us mature some
plan. 1t will be several days before the
war party will return, and who knows but
something may turn up in the meantime
the five warriors who had the captive girl
in charge, must have been killed or
captured, and who can have done it p
May it not be that they have been pursued
by the whites, and that aid is at hand 2"
"Nay, mother, let me entreat you to be
no longer deceived by such hopes. You
have INDUCED them for years, and they
have ever proven fallacious; and so long
as you lean upon them, your own energies
will sleep. Should assistance come, it
must be purely accidental. We are dead
to the world, and in the world, who is
there to aid us save Charles, and even il
he be alive and able and willing, what
probability is there that he has learned
that we still live! What is there in the
hateful life we lead, that makes life desir-
able? Then, if we can not escape, let us
die together in the attempt"
81 am ready, my dear child, to act with
you but We must be cautious even the
earnestness with which you have just
spoken, may already have aroused the sus-
picion of some eaves-dropping hag who
cnvies your beauty and the attentions be.
slowed upon you by many of the war
riors, The night is dark, and stiffness
as of death, reigns without; yet VIC
may have been overheard, though not un.
derstood, except by our tone and manner
both of which will be readily understood
by our shrewd and suspicious foes. You
must remember, too, that Tatunkah gave
orders that we be closely watched during
his absence"
Scarcely had Mrs. Fillmore finished the
sentence, when the blanket which cover
ed the opening into the hut was slowly
raised, and the hideous visage of brutal
savage was presented to their view, dis
torted by mocking grin, and the small
black eyes flashing back the Pickering
light emitted by feebly blazing brand
Both ladies met his gaze with seeming
composure, though shudder shook the
frame of Mrs. Fillmore as she looked upor
the demoniac countenance of the savage
iend who aspired to the honor of being
her husband. With a gesture of i'm
patience and look of disgust, she mo
toned to him to withdraw. He obeyed
with threatening gesture, and an intima
ton that, on tomorrow, she must decid,
to be his wife or be burned at the stak c.
The chief had given him the power, anC
he would use it. .............. ...
Mrs. Fillmore knew that he lied, bocaus
as an adopted member of the tribe sh
would not be forced to marry. Still sh
was uneasy, and foreboding of evi
weighed upon her mind, and it amounte'
almost to a certainty, when her practice
ear informed her that the Indian ha
stretched himself across the door way
measure of precaution that had not bee
adopted for years.
But these parties were not the only one
on the alert, in aud about the village, Q
that night, Wilmer and the Hermit ha
arrived that afternoon, in the vicinity, an
in time to reconnoitre before. nightfall.-
About a mile back of the village, they ha