The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1869-05-29

The girl now crept stealthily through the un'
derbrush up the hank to the prairie above. She
Knew that to reach the house the Indians would
have to GROSS broad, fat field. where tAeee W
| they would hesitate to do this, became, having
taken the two men. they would hardly expect
any resistance from single girl About thirty
rods to the right of the path cattle yard had
been erected by her father, and in the corner soi
the fence stood an immense elm tree. Inside Of
! this yard climbed Leonora, and behind tie big
| elm she concealed herself. spnqs = "a,
few minutes more proved she was right in
her conjecture. The Indians, having tied stout
| rswhide thongs around the feet of their PRISON.
ers laid themdown in the bottom Of theireanoes,
strobe gaily and laughingly along toward the
house, without any sttemps xt -eeaesalmsnt. ,
Leonors's heart grew as hard agstQnc, and her
nervee-.which hnttereds sfNn4& snow
grew as firm rs steel. She had ~ q = SSter:
proof caps upon each nipple y ~ Ntppt-
ting the barrel ON the r1il e. q &3tt 2few 1
sharp bead upon the foremost Al hi aGher
finger curved to press the trigg q he kesfd what
actually seemed to be q voice that was whisper.
ing to her y Inom sHhs@.f Iaieag-
mot yet, Leonera!" b
She paused, and then, as if BY inspiration, Assh-
ed the thought into her mind: 80 r, e gt4
"Wait until they get nearer the house, then
shoot the hindmost one first" tgs.t
She obeyed the impression, and let them come
ON few rods nearer. Suddenly the thought
came again:
''Nows your timer af
Clapping her face to the riAe-breach, she train.
the death-dealing tube steadily at the chest of
the rear Indian for an instant, and fired INA
The bullet proved true to its mark, and the
burly Indian merely threw up his arms and fell
dead, the rifle ball having gone directly through
his heart. re-
A clap of thunder from clear sky could not
have so utterly astonished those remaining In.
dams. Wildly they looked in every direction to
see whence came the fatal shot. In the next mo-
ment.bang! went Leonoras rife again, and one
more dropped dead. 80 q,
But they saw the smoke Of the last shot and
caught a glimpse of the shooter. At once they
comprehended their peril. They could not hide,
and their only show was in running to the tree
and tomahawking their presumptuous foe on tho
spot. Instantly sounding the war.whSop, they
bounded forward, but with the notes half uttered
another Of their number leaped into the air and
then fell back to rise no more. Leonora had
fired again.
The remaining three rushed on, but again the
brave girls rifle rang like the knell of doom, and
there was q Fourth savage pitched headlong to
the ground. n.4~-,.
The terror of the remaining two was now
pitiful to behold; they stopped short in their on
ward course, and uttering the most fearful and
terrible screams. discharged their rifles ct the
tree In the Widest and most unavailing manner.
But again the relentless rifle blazed, and another
of the remaining two sunk to the ground as the
bullet went crashing through his brain.
1mmedistely the one left threw down his rife
and cried out: y EE N~N MT SO
mo shoot me! No shoot me! Ne will give
up"
Leonora had drawn bead on him.. but now
that they seemed 90 perfectly in her power she
lowered her rifle, and stepping from behind the
tree climbed the fence briskly, and commenced
approaching the savage. gv s,.-s
I The surprise and indignation Of the Indian q.
the sight of the girl was intense, and forgetting
his duplicating cry, he put his hand behind
him and drew forth his tomahawk to throw ct
her a t.ah
Leonoras eye was as sharp a. an eagles. She
saw the treacherous movement, and Just as the
bright blade of the Ratchet CLEANED for the
throw, she raised her rife and shot the faithlsss
scoundrel dead in his tracks. M
With the speed Of a. eershe now bounded for.
Harry W Watson n shouted aalory h.lls,uiah. I
knew it was Leonora r. and the father cried for
joy as her little form appeared on The bluff, rifle
in hand.
Quickly she descended to the canoes and un-
bound the two men, who embraced her and cried
over her in the most extravagant manner.
But they felt they had no time to lose; and,
hastily gearing up their teams and loading up
their valuables, they set out for Iinneapolis,
where they arrived safely, and where Leonora
aud Harry Watson were Immediately made one
flesh 49,.
Old Walter Brown and Harry Watson both
did good service in the Indian battles which fol.
lowed; and when the savages were finally EXTERN
mated they all went back to their old home on
Green Lake, where they now live. They have
one of the largest stock farms in the State; and
Leonora, though the happy wife aud mother,
still clings to her beautiful revolving rifle and
yet occasionally uses it SO as to keep herself in
practice.
some day as was returning to Tallahassee
from hunting excursion in Florida" says re-
cent traveller, eve were rowing along by the
shore, about sunset, when suddenly strange,
grave, and prolonged sound struck my ear. At
FIRST I thought it must be drone, or fly of ex-
traordinary magnitude; but seeing nothing, I
questioned my guide as to what it could be, > q
Il "Oh, massa," replied he, "dat is de fish what
sings Some call it siren, or mermaid fish, and
others muslco." A little way on we heard a
greater chorus of these strange voices, reminding
Inc family of the music OF church organs. I
stopped the canoe, the better to study this
strange nhenomenon when, at my request, my