East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-02-21

door, Bill Doctorl doctor doctor
| Pstl pstl Here, lad" The dos
IIleaped on the shepherd. I" BY gum,
he said, 81 thought be was outside
| , BY this time Mr., S. was coolly
reconnoitering through the loopholes
lie had 10. down the window, and
was preparing for action as uncon.
cernedly as the shepherd.
These quiet brave men inspired ms
with confidence, and l remember
thinking, az / threw water on the fire,
so as to egtipguish all light, that the
black fellows had met with their
match. By this time the moon was
up, and its light was gradually grow
i..e, vs, Aio, 1anaps-. ~. a. a. :. -
could discern the outlines Of the trees,
and then, as the night gathered, the
white scared grass between the shad-
ows. There was long time of silence.
Mat, Mr.. s., and myself had our
barrels through the loopholes, and
were closely watching, for any move
ment outside. The convulsive shud-
derings of the horse had ceased, and
there was a painful silence. The
squatter and Mat were like two statues,
and Notwithstanding the quiet breath
ing of the dog and the croaking Of
frogs along the river, there seemed to
me to be frightful significance in the
silence that was brooding above these
sounds. Every instant l was expect
ing rush from the outside, but there
was not sign or sound. to betray the
presence Of any enemy. The sheep
were camping quietly round the hur-
dies. Silence the bright moon-the
white feeces mingling with color of
the grass the still shadows of the
trees-the spectral tracery of the
branches in the moonlight. The ST.
lence was terrible. One Of the out
side wethers rose and walked forward
few yards, then commenced stamp
ing quickly on the ground.
"Darn my eyesn p said Mat, for the
first time breaking the silence, "if
Ole Parsons aint sighted one of the
niggers." q.'
The .'Ole. Parson" was patriarch
wether who was afflicted with the
foot-root, and usually fed on his knees.
$50 he has, and, by gum, there's
crowd the whole tribe hev come to
visit. Not enough in shade, boss"
concluded Mat after another interval,
an in hard whispering tone.
The next moment. the first report
rang out into myriad echors. A shrill
death shout followed, as the dark fig
ure of man leaned with a sudden
force from his ambush and fell prone,
gurgling out blood and broken words.
"Now, boss" said Mat, looking out,
but still charging fifty yards to the
right %. .hc hurdle"
rection of his gun and fired. The hui
man figure seemed TO sink down so
quickly, so calmly, so helplessly, that
FELT strange thrill ofpity.
"He's fixed, safe as houses; let's
physic another or two, and maybe
they'llmake tracks," again muttered
the shepherd in tone of suppressed
glce. "Cook, why the devil don't you
shoot? Squint round that first block
to the right Of the waffle"
Looking in the direction indicated
by Mat, whose eyes seemed every
where, l saw the figure of q man par
italy visible against the ground. He
was evidently sheltering himself from
the other two guns, but owing to my
silence hitherto, he must have enter
tanned the opinion that the portion of
hut where / stood was unoccupied. l
took a steady aim at the black fellow,
and fred. For'an instant i could see
nothing through the smoke, but it
cleared almost Immediately. just as
the shepherd said, "Don't shoot again
- he's fixed," saw the poor wretch
staggering wildly towards the hut,
and then falling with dull sound
God forgive me, it was very like mur-
der. This was the first life 1 had
ever taken.
The next thing l remember was
Mr.. S. asking me if had run any
bullets.
'Not one"
'Have you any in the hut"
"Not one"
Mat informed us that we were
'trecd," much in the same way as
he would tell the overseer that the ra-
tons were short. He quietly pulled
his gun from the loop-hole, saying
"Ive only ono more pill to keep ouI
skins whole. Well hev to trust to
| Doctor"
Mats dog, Doctor, was partly O
Smithfield and partly a Newfound.
land He had been trained by him
to do all kinds Of tricks. Amongst
others, he repeatedly took writer
messages TO the station when attached
to his collar, and l presume this was
the object Mat had in view when re,
ferring to him as capable of procur
4 ing relief.
"Mister, dye think you kin write {
massage in the dark, or by moonlight
nskin' the hands at the Homestead t.
como this way? No time to lose,
I see the darkies dodging around th'
hut. Bill, knock away the lower par
fof the rotten slab behind your back
Here Doctor.
The message was scrawled and fas
tened to Doctors collar, in less than
minute, and the noble brute, VIII
seemed to know the danger, stoo'
anxiously trembling until the prepa
rations were completed.
! AS I before stated, the hut stoo
= close to the stream, and from the rea
the bank sloped abruptly toward tn
5 water. The American for the frs
( time seemed affected. When the me
a fell under our shots there was not tn
: slightest change percertibie in hi
0 voice; but for the few words he spok
0 to his dog were broken and singularl
a soft. I'll be sworn there were tear