M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-03-08
Skating for Life aud Revenge.

b"lI1t'I anu puISuST' NT NUlCu dCt lHIS
RELENTLESS vengeance is taken:
Night after night | lay concealed at
the bluff,awaiting the murderer; | was
armed with pistols and wore skates.
Skating was an amusement which |
had excelled in when school boy and
facility in the art was Of the most i'm.
'portance to my scheme ofretribution.
At length he came. 1t was an exqui
site night; the white ey panse around
sparkled in the sheen Of Canadian
moon, which sailed coldly through a
cloudless sky. conll have shot the
villain as he skated 10y me within fl
ty yards, but would not risk the
Chance aud besides my vengeance
cried tor strrncr fate than death bv
e'plslol. No sooner was he past my
hiding place, than, with shout OF ex.
ultatlon, | started on his track Oil.
YER swerVed moment to see who his
pursuer was, then, quick as lightning,
tried to double up the river again
But had anticipated this, anu with II
cooked pistol in either hand, barred
hls passage. Wtla curse lie turned
and sped swiftly down the ice.
And now the race for lille began.-
Mile after mile We swept along in ST.
lence. An awful portcntious silence
it was, through which nothing broke
save the hollow boom oI the swift steel
cutting its way over the imprisoned
Scugog. The moon lit me nobly to
my vengeance. lie could not escape
me, Tor found with a savage gIue
that was match Ior the swift. footed
Indian. Oler became aware of this,
too, tor now and again he would skate
close to the woods, looking in vain for
an aperture. But no, there WAS but
one outlet from this walIel.in.river,
ard that WAS over the falls
Faster and faster yet we skated to.
wards the cataract. 1t could not bs
far off | pictured to myself what Oil
er's thoughts might be. Did he know
whittier he was hastening2 Or had that
awful light yet to flash on his guilty
mndl The halt breed made answer
to mH thought. lsaw him start con.
vulslvely, and throw his arms
in the air; but he dared not stop, an
on again he darted with a
yell OF despair, which echoed weird.
like up the channel. Another sound
came to my ear, and knew what had
caused that cry OF agony to burst from
Oiier; it was the dull thunder of the
tall! We were nearing them last
Still the walls of snow 5huti in my vic.
tim, ard every moment lesseued his
trail hopes OF escape. Ore Chance was
left him--to distance lie, and hide
somewhere in the snow from my scru
tiny. Vain Gope--the wing of the
bird could scarce have saved hinh
Hoarscr and louder grew the noise
Of the waters. Ii | thanked the AL.
mighty in frantic prayer that the mur.
derer was delvered into my hand, |
humbly trust that it may be forgiven
me now. From the time | had first
started on Oilers track, we maintain.
ed exactly the same distance between
us--perhaps a hundred or hundred
and fifty yards. | still grasped my
pistols, ready fnr any strataseIn on the
part Of the murderer.
And now the crash Of the falls came
loud and ominUus on the ear.
Another five niuutes would decide
the hunt. Suddenly Olirr turned and
stood at bay. He was not armed, |
felt certain OF that all along, Tor other.
wise he would have measured strength
with me before. Without ahating my
pac. skated down upon him, hold.
ing a pistol in each hand. Still my
purpose was as fixed as ever only IT,
shoot the villain as last Resource. =
When WAS within twenty yar,ls oI
him, tho coward taltercd. and agair
turned swiftly down the river. Witt
a yelling laugh | pursued him. press
ing still more hotly on his track.
Dtaftning was the roar OF the cata
ract; high into tn, pale sky ascended
the mist of the spray, through which
the spIintercd lines OF the moonlight
! darted in rainbow tiutd beauty.
could See directly the Jagged line o
the ice, where it was broken 10y the
rapids immediately above the cataract
and beyond could trace the dark vol
ume OF the Scugng, as 1T emerged
from its prison OF snow and ice. Fol
an instant the haIf-breed turned bis
face towards me, as | pressed with
concentrated hate Oh his footsteps;
never shall forget the horrible des
pair that distorted the villains lea
lures 1t was mercy that the falls
drowned his curses. Il knew that he
was shrieking curses on me--tor they
would have haunted me in after years
With the courage which is begotter
OF darkest despair, he dashed on tC
the brink Of the rapids, and the mex