Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-01-14

band of cannbal Indians. Enraged at the
sight, this hero fell upon them single handed
and took the scalps Of all except one. That
one had fled and, ever since, Mamiskogahhe
had prowled through the woods, gnashing his
teeth and seeking him everywhere. The mis-
sing Indian had shrouded himself in every sort
of Disguise But all to no purpose" said the
stranger savageIy, for Mamskogahihe slays
every Indian he meets, so that the william must
fall beneath his knife at last"
When had got over the novelty of the
strangers excited manner and cleaning eye, !
became somewhat weary of this Indian hyper
bole but Shegashie listened to every word
with breathless attention | was lounging
beside the fire, more asleep than awake, when
| was aroused by the stranger abruptly de-
uanding of my guide if he had ever seen this
redoubtahle brave, the great red-nailed bear
to which the young Indian replied i'll the mega
| tive
Liar !" thundered the savage springing
to his feet. ! am Mamiskogahjhe !" and in
a moment he stabbed my companion in the
chest.
sprang upon him in an instant, and seized
his right arm which, 10y violent effort, he
succeeded in dsengaging. He aimed deadly
blow at me with his knife, but | evaded
it. and drew my own. With a yell at his dis
appointment, he began to draw his tomahawk
from his belt with the view Of hurling it at my
head but | darted upon him, pinioning his
arms His feet gave way, aud we both roll
ed together on the snow. 4 struggle for life
between US succeeded The Indian kept max
| Ing little digs at me with his knife. but he
could not get purchase enough to do more
than penetrate my clothes and inhict slight
wounds upon me. He rolled over with me,
hoping to get me undermost but | always
rolled farther than he wished and got on the
upper side again. At length lost patience !:
and, still holding his right arm tightly down,
| | loosened the hand which held my knife
| But, quick as thought, Mamiskogabjhe chang
ed his knife into bis left hand also. Then com
menced another rolling aud tearing struggle,
more like that Of tigers than Of men, for my
| foe assaled Inc ferceIy with his teeth We
stabbed at each other wildly, and many a
woand | gave aud received. At length the
Indian relaxed his mold, fell back, and | arose
victorious.
! My first thought, now, after fervent pray
er for my dellvcrance, was for my poor guide
| found that, though desperately wounded and
bleeding profusely, he was not dead | bound
up his wounds as | best could, and placed him
on his bed My own wounds, though hume
rous, were marvelCusly slight more cuts than
! stabS, and even those my thick clothing had
| prevented from doing much damage. / dres-
Sed them, and heaping more wood on the fire.
sank down beside it to watch my poor She
gaShie.
! The next morning Shegashie was so weak
! from loss of blood that each moment expect
ed to see him pass away, and leave me alone
in the woods to die in my turn | now bit,
| terly regretted that | had ever entered on this
disastrous enterprise. However, there | was,
and had nothing for it but TO make the best
! of it so | set to work, buried my dead ene-
my in a snow bank, collected wood, shot a
hare, dressed it, and returned to my sad task
of watching my woun led guide.
At the end Of ten days, despite every adj
verse circumstance, Shegasbie was great deal
better yet it was evident to both of US that
it would be a long time before he could tray
el The poor fellow earnestly entreated me
not to stay with him, but to leave him to his
| fate ; and he directed me in the right way to
pursue my Journey. | would not have desert
cd an enemy thus, much less one with whom
| had faced sorrow, danger, and death. Yet
powder and shot were rapidly failing. After
much cogitation, | took all the spare snow.
shoes, and, by the aid of bearskin, succeed
ed in making a sleigh capable of holding She
gashie very comfortably, as well as all our be-
ongngs. | rose proudly the next morning ;
and, placing my companion in the sleigh, re-
commenced my Journey.
1t was weary work to drag that clumsy
| sleigh, the wasted Indian looking Out now and
then to direct me on our way. ! was often
obliged to make long detOurs to avoid thickets
and places where the trees grew too close to
admit my sleigh between them. When day
was done, had the fuel to collect, the fire to
make, shelter to prepare, Sbegashie to move
! his wounds to dress, and then the game to cook
which | had killed during the day. Many Il
time / thought should be obliged to give up
the struggle. When | lay down to rest vas
sometimes so tired that could not have re-
sisted another MamiSkogahjhe, had he come
90 end the work the first one had begun !; and
when morning reappeared, ! recommended my
| tugging and dragging with arms so weary,
! that did not care if another snow storm came
and sent US to sleep till the great day of ava
| kening
Neither Indian nor snow W-storm came, and |
was compelled to go on from day to day en-
acting by turns the parts of horse, forager,
| liremaker, cook, builder and nurse. AT length
| | became so exhausted, that one morning,
| though it was scarcely midday, | began to
| look about me for suitable place to encamp
for the remainder of the day and night hop
ing after such rest, to start fresher on the
following morning. Suddenly, thin column
of smoke, ascending from the trees at a short
distance, caught my eye; and, turning off
! from our route, I made the best of my way
towards it. 1t rose from the hut Of newly
arrived settler. The man gave us a hearty
welcome, and we slept beneath roof, for the
first time for considerably more than month.