Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-02-17
4 RIVER ADVENTURE.

In the summer of 1882 I was Ell
gagged with a young man named Ly-
man Kemp, in locating land lots along
the Wabash, in Indiana. l had gone
. out partly for my health, with one
who had purchased a great deal of
government land. At LoganspOrt he
was taken sick, and after watching
with him week, in hopes that he
would soon recover, / found that he
had a fever, and as the physicians
said he would not probably be able to
move under a month, l determined
to push on alone. So / obtained a
good nurse, and having seen that my
old friend would have everything nee
essary to his comfort which money
could procure, left him.
As good fortune would have il, /
found a party of six men bound on
the very route was going, andwaited
one day for the sake of their company
At length we set out with the pack
horses to carry our luggage, and soon
found that / had lost nothing by wait
ing, for my companions were agree
able and entertaining. They were
going out to st. Joseph, where they
had mills upon the river, intending
to get out lumber during the remain
der of the season.
On the third day from Logansport
we reached WatsOn's settlement on
the Little River, having left the Wa
bash in the morning of that day. 1t
was well on into the evening when
we reached the little lOg-built inD o.
the settlement, and we were glad
enough of the shelter-fOr ere we had
fairly got into it, the rain commenced
to fall in great drops, and thiekly,
! too. Aud more still had to be thank
! full for, for my horse began to show a
I lameness in one of his hind legs, and
when 1 leaped from the saddle, L
1 found that his foot panied him much,
; as I could tell from the manner in
which he lifted it from the ground
/ l ordered the hOstler to bathe il with
cold water, ana then went into the
house, where / found a good substan-
tial supper, and comfortable quarters
that is, for the section and that
time.
About ten o'clock, just after / had
retired, and Just as was falling into
a browse, l was startled by the shouts
of men and barking of dogs, directly
under my window. AS the noise con.
tinued / arose and threw on my
clothes and went down.
"What is it?' / asked of the land
lord, who stood in the entry way.
"Ah-don't you know stranger?''
the host returned. you've heard OF
Gustus Karl, perhaps?"
Who in the West at that time had
not heard of him? The most reckless
? L H. l,t, hot
er cursed country. / told the host
l had heard of him often.
"Well," he resumed, ''the internal
villain was only here this afternoon
and murdered and robbed a man just
up the river. We've been out afteI
him, but he's gin us the slip. We
tracked him as far as the upper creek
and there he came out on the bank
fired at us, and killed one of our horses
and then drove off into the woods
We set the dogs on the trail, but they
missed him.
7 "And you have come back boot
less" said.
"Yes, ," "thelandlOrdg growled. "But,
he added, with a knowing shake o.
the head, ''he can't run much longer
The country is in arms, and he'll eth
er have to leave these huntings or bi
dropped"
"What sort Ofa man is he ?" 1 asked
1.-THE very last man in the worlC
you would take for Gus Karl. He'
: small-nOt a bit over five feet high
: with light, curly hair, smooth whit
face, and not very stout. But Lore
love We, he's quick as lightning, ant
his eyes got fire in it. He dresses il
F. all sorts Of shapes, but generally lik,
; a common hunter. Oh, he's the verl
> devil, / do believe"
, After the tub full of whisky anC
i water, which the host had provided
!. was all drank, the crowd began t.
E disperse, and shortly afterwards
E went up to the bed again, and thi
time 1 slept on uninterrupted til
= morning.
I had just eaten my breakfast AM