True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1858-05-19

1g Though at one time imam of wealth,
Colonel Bertrand had lost much, and
suffered much, through British invasion
and when, shortly after the close OF the
war, he had met with few more serious
Ireverses, he had been fain to accept a
grant Of land, near the Falls of the Ohio.
now Louisville, rendered him by Virginia,
which then held Jurisdiction over the
entire territory now constituting the State
of Kentucky 5fel'H ssodj 2fa qtj7'iaa
The; grant had dscidedeilhe Colonel
upon seeking his new possessions, and
building up new home in the then Far
West, and as his wife had insisted upon
accompanying him on his first tour, he
had assented toiher desire, on condition
that Blanche should be left among her
friends, ill such time as a place could be
prepared which might in some degree be
considered a fit abode for one SO carefully
and tenderly reared. al 9H' .1iia. .gai
Blanche would gladly have gone with
her parents; but on this point her father
had been Misunderstanding that she
would have TO remain at the East till he
should see proper to send FOR her; and
as he was man of positive character,
and rigid diseiplinarian, the matter had
been settled without argumen II, =,
/ When Colonel Bertrand moved to the
West, Eugene Fairfax as we have seen,
accompanied him; and coming Of age
shortly after, he had accepted the liberal
offer of his noble benefactor, to remain
with him in the capacity ofprivate secre-
tary and confidential agent. On taking
possession Of his grant, the Colonel had
almost Immediately erected a fort, and
offered such inducements to settlers as to
speedily collect around him quite alittle
Icommunlty--of which,, as matter of
course he became the head and chief land
to supply the wants Of his own family
and Others, and increase his gains in a
Legitimate way. he had opened a store,
and filed it with goods from the Eastern
marts, which goods were transported by
land over the mountains to the Kenawha,
and thence by water to the Falls Of the
Ohio, whence their removal to Fort Ber-
trand became an easy matter. To pur-
chase and ship those goods, aud to deliver
alpackage of letters to friends in the East,
Eugene had been thrice dispatched-his
third commission also extending to the
escorting of the beautiful heiress, with
her servants, to her new home. c'Fh is
last commission, had been SO far executed
at the time chosen for the opening of our
story, as to bring the different parties to
the mouth Of the gle al Kenawha, whence
the reader has seen them slowly floating
of ON the stillpi CLASSY, bosom Of :" the
belle Of riversr"a i4,iod aoi,am1&lai bqaI
The day which, was on auspicious one,
passed without anything occurring worthy
Of note, until near four O'clock, when, as
Blanche was standing on the fore part Of
the dsck gazing at the lovely scene which
surrounded her, she saw a seemingly fly
ing, body suddenly leave, the limb Of a
gigantic, tree, Whose mighty branches
extended far over the river. and near
which the boat was then swayed by the
action Of the current, and ahght with a
crash upon the deck of the boat notmore
than eight feet lrem her. One glance
suffced to show her what the object was,
and to freeze the blood in her veins
The glowing eyes Of a huge panther met
her gaze. The suddenness Of the shock
which this, discovery gave her was over
powering., With q. deafening shrek she
fell upon herknees and clasped her hands
before her breast. The panther crouched
for his deadly leap, but erehe sprang, the
hunting knilerof Eugene Fairfax e(who
with the steersmap,1 was the only person
on deck besides Blanche), was buried to
the. hilt in his side, inAicting a severe. but
mot fatal wound The infuriated Beast At
once turned upon Eugene, and a deadly
struggle ensued. But it wasia short one.
The, polished blade Of the knife played
back and forth like lightning flashes, and
at every plunge it was buried to the hilt
in the panther's5 body, who soon fellto
the deck, dragging the dauntless Eugene
with him. b On seeing her protector lfall,
Blanche uttered another shrek and rushed
to his, aid but assistance from stouter
arms was at hand. The boatmen gath
erred around, and the savage monster was
literally 5fhacked inlpisces with their
knives andhatchets. and Eugene, covered
with blood. was dragged from under his
carcass, Supposing him to be dead or
mortally wounded, Blanche threw her
arms around his neck and gave way to .
Ipassionatea burst Of griefaa But he was
mot dead--ha was IA even; hurt with the
exception ofs few,scratcAes. The blood
with which he was covered was the pan
Tiers not bis own. But Blanche's EN-
brace was his--a priceless treasure--an
Index Of the hear. 8 emotions and affec-
tons. Itwas 10 color his whole future
life, as will be seen in the progress Of our
story. u.
Slowly and silently, save the occasional
creak, dip. and plash;of the steersman'i
oar, the boat Of our yoyagers was borne
along upon the bosom of the current, on
the third night of the voyage. The houl
was waxing late, and Eugene, The only
one aslir except the watch, was suddenly