The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1862-09-24
A THRILLISG ADVENTURE
The rionecr's Last Shot.

ealIY 1aYs NSiS speuA near the hSf Vi tIe
tragic adSens6re here recorded. - Ga
We give the story as related to US, in the
words OF our hero: 'a -''
at was S6cut the year 11s5 that I settled
in Virginia, near the Ialls OF the Gahasho.--
The country at t5al time was unbroken viii
dernsss. But few settlements had been
made then by the whites, and they were so
far apart as to render vain all hope Of ass.
sistrnce in case OF an attack from hostile In
dams numbers OF whom still infested the
neighborhood. '''l ''1.s Z ii-' IN
.-aT'IiFed here alone with my VIE for sew
= eral months unmolested, and by dint Of un-
. tiripg perseverance, being then young and
hardy, had succeeded in making quite large
clearing in the forest which | had planted
with corn, and which promised an abundant
yield.
Zone moruing after we had dispatched our
humble meal, and had just repaired to ven
ture orth on my regular routine oflabor, my
attention was arrested by the tinkling OF a
COW bell in the corn field.
Sc. There !, said my wife, the COW is in the
corn feld.'
,sBS"Ilha the ear Of the backwoodsm.n be-
comes by education very acute, especially
50 from, the fact that his saetyotten depends
on the nice cultivation Of that sense. was
not easily deceived, l listened--the sound
was repeated. ..-....-- d. 49,
"tThat. said I, in, reply TO the remark o
my wife, was not The tinkle Of bell upon
the neck ofa cow. 1t is decoy from some
Indian who desires to draw me into sm-
bdstl3s s4A MI %s
believing this to be the case, took down
my musket, Il had no rihe) and seeing that
it was PROPERLY loaded, stole cautiously
around the fold toward the point from which
The sound seemed to proceed. As had
suspscted. there, in . cluster Of bushes
crouched an Indian waiting for rae to appear
in answer to his decoy bell, that he nigh,
send the fatal bullet TO my heart. ap.
preached without discovering myself to him,
unil within shooting distance, then raised
my piece and fred The bullet sped true ts
Its mark. and the, Indian fell dead. "a
"Not knowing but that he might be &C
comPanied by others, returned with all
speed to my cabin, and barricaded the door,
4swatched all day from the port hole, in an
ticipaHon OF an attack from the companions
Of ftheIndianI had killed, Toy add to the
danger and seeming hopelessness Of my sit
uatiop, discovered that | had but one charge
of powder left, could make but one shot,
and then if attacked by numbers, | should
be,entirely in their power Determined to
do the best with what had, poured in my
last charge ol powder, and put into my
musket fifteen slugs, and then waited for the
approach ofnight, feeling confident Of an 1t.
tack. ',..,,.. "A :. a.e a,s4r aa
Might came on at length As beautiful
moonlight night it was too, and this favored
lie greatly, as I would be able to observe ths
movement Of the enemy as they approached
my cabin IT. two hours after night fall
and as yet had neither seen or heard .
sign of the Indians, when suddenly we:
startled by the barking Of my dog st the STA
hle i knew that the indians were coming
The stable stood little to the west of lht
cabin, and between the two was patch o
clear ground, upon which the light Of the ful
moon iell upobstructed. Judging from tn,
noise at the stable that they would advance
from that direction, posted myself at th'
port hole on that side Of the cabin.
,EIhad previously placed my wife upon th
cross-pole in the chimney, SO that in cas-
our enemies affected an entrance to the cab
in she might climb out through the Low
chimney and effect her escape. For myssl
determined not to be taken alive, and re
solved 10 sell my life dearly. .re3 e
gWith breathless anxiety watched at tn.
port hole. At lengthI saw them emerg
from the shadow oi the stable and, adyanc
across the vacant ground toward the cabin
-two-three-g great heayena six stal
wart Indianss armed to the teeth, and urges
on by thelhope OF revenge And I alone t
oppose them with bnt one charge of powder
My case was desperate indeed. With qpicl
but atealthy step id close single file they sp
preached, and were already within 3 f.,
yards Of the house, when slight change 0
divegebcs'in the movement of The 6rwap
Indian Rchauged the position Of the entir
six; so that portion of the left side Of eac
was uncovered. They were ALL in range
one aim would cover all. Quick asthoughI
l aimed and fired, aAs the smoke cleared a
way, l could hardly credit what my sense
showed as the result Of my shot The I'll
teen slggs with which had loaded m
musket,had done their work WE'LL. Five {
the six Indians lay dead upon the groun
ard the sixth had disappeared ;,5iaaa5
.HAlthough no enemy was now in sight,
did not venture forth until morning. Ther
lay The bodies Of the FIVE Indians, I olloWe
up the trail Of the missing ope, until
reached the river. beyond which point
could discover no traces whatever FFoI
the amount Of blood which marked the trai
together with the unmistakable evidence ths
he'had picked his way with difficulty. | va
led to Believe that be had been mortal
wounded, and in order to prevent his bod
from falling into the hands Of his white fo'
had oroped htS4tnv tn tlin yer and throw
hiihseRinto ths current which had born
him ,away.uaspt yab sGi q Aafsp'o q e
"The Indians had killed ny COW, and ,llha
you may be assured was no srifiing loss, ye
in my gratitude for my escaps rom The Imer
ciless saYages, would have been entrel
wlling'to have made much greater sacrifices