Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-03-05

for human sympathy can but at best
awaken afresh the wells of Tpournful
tenderness in my breast, without pouring |
one ray of sunshine upon The troubled |
fountains they must flow on in darkness
without prospect of day; yet listen TO |
my story. tiI.sl
About eight years age, with tho spirit |
of adventure stirring within me- | came |
from the walls OF an English university |
tn the far western States of America. / |
wrote to my parents for money in fact | |
asked for my patrimouy and said lwould |
never expect any more from them. They |
sent me a handsome sum, and sought
with this capital in hand to make trade
with the Indians, and, therefore, took land
close ON the frontiers. l bought furs from
the natives, and bsrtered generally with
them. For all the country could produce
gave manufactured articless and thus !
went on prospero1sly. MY capital
doubled, trebled, quadruplc1-in fact, in
all respects l was prosperous Then fol
lowed q love affair, and 1t was pure love
with me, my friend. The family of my
affianced thought lived too much out Of
civilisied life, and would not consent 20
our union and so we eloped, and what a
wife she made mel Ispeak not in rhap
sody, but abe was the l0veliest being that
ever inhabited this lower world. None
could excel her in beauty, and she made
that beauty perfect by the graces of a
mind pure and highly cultivated. Her
| voice was melody, her smile q burst of
pure and living light, and her calm, blue
eyes were the sweet expositors of sim
less affection. To speak no more of her
perfections, suffice it to say that loved
her with my whole soul. She was my
idol her happiness was the center of my
every wish, and she was the object of
every aspiration.
1--WE were married time went on, and
| brought me q bud from the rose / had
established in nay green bower at home.
We were indeed happy then. AloOf from
society, though we missed few of its
luxuries, we suffered none of its veXa-
tions and demoralizing corruptions. On
! Sundays we rode many miles through the
| wilderness to attend a place of worship
established by the missionaries, and to
hear the word of God read and revealed.
"On the day that my dear little Sarah
had attained her second year. she was
seated near to my counter, and her mother
was standing by, when three fiercc-looking
| Indians entered the store, They had
evidently travelled long way, for their
lleggings were torn and dirty and their
! feet were almost bare / recognized one
of them instantly as the Crouching WOLF
desperate being who hung alternately
around the skirts of settlements, begging
for rum, or getting it in barter for the furs
of wild animals. Just a year previous to
this he had visited me for the purpose of
procuring the fire water; had refused
him, and he left me with the VOW of future
vengeance.
"FHooghp said he, as he reeled up with
| lAN taiO r1 hn
counter where my child was playing and
my wife stood, sthe Crouching Wolf said
he would come back. He wants the talk
iDg-water; he wants that, or revenge. He
will have one.'
a. tried to reason with him, but he was
deaf to reason. He had tasted from the
fagon Of one of his red companions, and
the fumes were in his brain.
"Come, medicine-man,' said be, the
Wolf wants the fire-miIk. Where ia it?
he cannot wait. His spirit IS up, and his
forehead is warm
"I saw that he grew desperate but my
resolution was taken. sternly denied
him; it was fatal denial.
"During the colloquy my wife and child
had gone out on the green sward, and the
latter was picking wild flowers and string
ing them. The Crouching Wolf left me
!
companions; and, oh merciful. Heavens
n saw them advance toward my child.
was motionless, and paralyzed with terror
AS the Wolf approached my little girl, he
drew a tomahawk from his belt, and
flourished it on high. l sprang toward
him, but was pushed back by his com
panions. The DEAR innocent, unaffrightod
child smiled in the face of the Crouchine
, Wolf, and il seemed as if the cheerful
, purity of her look stayed his vengeful arm
He paused, until scream from the mother
, aroused the terror of her little girl. She
then shrunk back from the relentless
savage, while her mother, like myself, wal
, kept at bay, and the dear little innocent
, quivering with dismay, said, in childisl
: simplicity, Naughty Indian! if he hurtI
Sarah, ma will be angry, and punish him.
! cas- she said this she burst into tears
! her last for everl
, ain one instant the trenchant weapon
, of the infuriated Indian Glove asunder tn,
: head of my babe; in the next his excited
a comrades, of whom now there were five
had murdered the wife OF my bosom.
. have an indistinct and hOrrid remem
!: brance of my burning store-the ret
e fends yelling over the consuming roo
/ and walls-and my escape to the forest
q The rest was but silence and oblivion.
: was mailman I'D .A}
"Ten months after that found mysel
/. in New Orleans. had reached the city
n no one knew how-had been conveyed t
4 hospital, kindly treated, and discharge
o as cured, but an outcast and beggal
n Misfortunes seldom come alone. foun
h that during my seclusion from the worl
. my father had died, and as had alread
q received my share of his property, tn
|
brothers and sisters My inheritanC
Z on this side of the Atlantic being destroye
!. by Indians, l was without home or
4 friend.
e "HoW l subsisted scarcely know. A
last, as l was one day walking moodil
" along, saw a group collected around a
D indian who was performing tricks from
e box with rattlesnake. The Indian wa
d the Crouching Wolf, .--s...
% "The murderer of my wife and child
8, exclaimed, as penetrated through til
d ring, and with one fierce blow fehed Ii
g. vile monster to the earth. / seized hin
10 by the throat. / placed my knee upo
a his breast In a few moments he VIZ
e distorted and CHASTITY corpse beneath m
I feet.
" "My award Of retribution was consiC
ls cred Just, and no effort was made to ARE
"a me. Awaiting myself of the box belong
n ing TO the Crouching Wolf, which col
G. tended was mine as debt, / soon learne
n the mystery of his art, as if by intuition
An upper drawer Of the box contained th
IE real rattlesnake; an under drawer merel
the skin of one, which could be initiate
ID by the breath at will The motion of IL
a tongue, which was dried, and had wire
ce within, was produced by load-stone; th
a movement of the rattles by the same caus
re Filled from the lungs, 1t could readily
ge taken into the mouth and compressed int
"a a very small compass, and while re-pAg
ID ing outward, inflated again, / bought
q, new snake from the museum, which
ht killed and prepared according TO Il
ct model before me. could not endure Il
at thought Of even using the same instr s