The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-02-12
that,inyo'yed not only hisowpIl,fe, but that.
Of his beloved. xiGs and childrsn--who %.
swift of foot as "a. ovcrtake bimsl a4gtfj

tnatinvoayed.n0t only htsownit,te, but thai
Of his beloved xiIs and children--who %
swift of foot a. to ovcrtake bimsl squ1i,l
With louder yell Of mingled ljay and
defyance, away he went over the hill. and
with louder yell ofrage Al bis unexpected
escape, the fierce savage came bounding
after him. Bowd,tch knew every inch ol
ground in that vicinity. and:he had already
regained sufficient presence Of mind to shape
his course 80 as to take advantage Of al the
chances In his favor Tho Hill, about lhe
summit, was . succession Of rocks aud bush.
es, with caves, chssns, and precipices: and
over, throug'Eand!a !along these1 natural oh.
structiendthe fugitive believed be could
make his way with any man living, eiihes
white or red, and 50 took the most trouble'
some route fx his larger and more unwieldy
pu-suer, resolved. should he sby chance And
the lattar gaining on him, to double on him
at certain cave not IA ore than haifa mile
distant, where he could enter, and, by fol.
lowing one Of the labyrinthian passages
within. could come'ou the. sains side into q
thlcket not more thaa Atty feet from the
main opening.
Looking Hbscks occasisn,lly. AZ he fed
along his. rocky way with tbs sass:of .
mountain goat. Bowltch soon discovered
that however superior to him his .sdversary
might be in mere physical strength, he was
no match for him in speed in hat particular
locality; and this not only inspired him
with the hope ofescape. but with such con-
hdence in his own resources, that he began
in turn to calculate how best he might COM
pass the destruction Of his foe.
"Why not lure him into the cave" he
inu,tered, "snd let him fool HE time round
thai. whilst start back after my rife. and
then follsr tho audac,ou whslp, I'll do
it, and If don't git even with him yit, then
it's case fm tins agin me-"
Having como to this determination, Bow
ditch slackened his pace till hia pursuer was
within fair view, when he pretended to
stumble and fall, the, got up and ran with q
limp. which caused the savage to yell with
fierce delight and to redoublc his excrtions
to cvertake him. This was exactly what he
iatcnded to bring abont. and he now man
aged his pace with sp,much deception that
though seeming to exert himself to the ut
most. he permitted the painting savage to
giana little every minute, till the mouth of
the cavo was reached, at which time not
more than hundred PAGES devidci thsm.
The Indian saw the fugitive disappear in
ths dark opening, and believing he now had
him secure once more. he came bounding sp
and plunged in af.er. with a yell Of triumph.
The settler. who knew every twist and turn
Of every passage in the cave--and there were
nany-now uttered sort Of wailing grcan
from thsscsntre, to draw the Indian on. aad
then quietly slipped of in different direc
tien, and reached the bright, open air about
the same time the other did the middle ints-
rior.
Snow then for it!'' muttered Bowdi ch,
~ he slipped over the brow Of the hin and
ran down towards his dwelling, which, owing
to the ridge bending around the valley, in
the shape Of a magnet, or horseshoe, was
scarcely IS far distant a. when he called to
his wife
Hisgfamily saw him, ane with cryjof joy
his wife threw open the door.
"Quick, Esther r'tihs exclaimed, as he
came up painting "votherl powder horn
and some bullets s-quickl"
"Ain't you coming ir. Samuel p inquired
the wife in soms surprise and alarm.
''Jest long enogh to get them thiags, since
you won't I" he answered, as he bounded
in aud hurried to rude shelf on one ride
Of the room. "I'vs sort of played the cow
ard enct to-day" be added. "and now I'm
going to wipe it out shut the door, Esther,
and keep yourself and children out of dan
ger. III be back sosn. Goodbye" and
without waiting for reply. he ran out in
the direction Of his rife, his wife vainly call
ing to him and entrsasins him to come back
and not risk his life foolishly.
As soea as he had once more got hold Of
his rife. he hastcned to load it, and then
felt. as he afterws-d expressed il. 'like a
new man. Then keeping himself as much
under cover a. passi Die, he hurried MP to
point where he could secure himself and
cammand fair view Of the nsuth of the
eays, within easy rife range.
"Ef old Paint fars hsin't mizzlsd," he
muttered. with IN ominous frown, sits my
opinion he never win r. and like eat
watching for game. he kept his eyes rivetsd
upon the spot where be sxpected to see him
appear. itlt.j., 48i FiisH
For ten minutes all was stiil-nothiug
moved-and then, to his bitter satisfaetioM,
he beheid the Indian coming out With .
stealthy step. locking cautiously and sls-
picioualy aronnd. The settlers rife was
already icveled, and for = moment or two
he sighted directly at bis heart, and then fir-
ID. The savage threw up his hands con.
uttered noise between . groan
and 2 yell. and fell back quivering on the
sarth. Bowditch teok time to Reload and
then approached him cautiously. He found
him quite dead.
II never scalpsd . rcd skin in my i:te,"|
10 muttsred, ''but I'll do so onct." and hs
lid. tEfy a 4as
When he had finished his blsody work,
md secured everything Of valxs, he threw