Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-08-03
NO. ls2.
Tales aud Sketfhes.
THE WARNING.

days as Watch Trot, man by the name
OF Silas Herd had built cabin in the midst
OF u small clearing, and set himself down
with his family to rough it as pioneer in
the wilderness.
Their nearest neighbors were good two
miles distant; and the road to them and
the settlements at Dover, which is now SO
good, was little more than path through
the forest to guide those to and fro who
had occasion to 60 that way.
His family consisted, beside himself of
wife and two small children, and his grand
mother, an old woman of nearly eighty
years of age, whose own children one after
another had left her, until she had none
but her grandchildren to look to for sup
port.
One afternoon Silas Herd started on a
visit to the settlement below, saying that
he would be back by nightfall. He had
some business that needed his attention,
and he thought he might as well attend to
it then as at any other time. Before set
| ting out he warned his wife not to go far
from the cabin, or allow the children to do
so, on account of the Indians, and then de-
parted.
The afternoon wore away, but slowly,
to the inmates of the cabin, till at last
came sunset The children who had been
playing about the cabin, now tired of their
sport, came in and seated themselves on
the floor at her feet. The work about the
cabin had all been done up; and as it was
not yet time to prepare the evening meal,
she bethought herself of what she should
do. She suddenly remembered that her
husband had said something about rent
in his frock which he had exchanged for
another, and hung upon wooden peg in
one corner of the room. Now was the
time Tor her to make it whole before he
would want 10 wear it again; and rising
from her seat she went to the spot where
it hung and reached up her hand to take it
down. As she did so three drops of fresh
blood fell from it upon her hand. A cry
escaped her lips, and she turned as pale as
death.
"What is it, Susan P'' asked the old lady
from her corner.
| The frightened woman turned to her and
showed her the three drops of blood that
lay upon her hand.
''lt's a warning, Susan," said the old lady
solemnly. I've known such things to
happen before at Salem. A man once
went out hunting in the forest, and his
wife had just such q warning as this. He
never came back alive. The Indians killed
and scalped him and the people thought
that he had died the very moment when
the drops fell on her hand.
"And would you have me think that
harm has come to Silas ?" she asked in
tone of terror.
81 don't know, but am afraid it is
warning" said the old lady with solemn
shake of the head.
Il don't believe it l will not believe
t." cried Susan the blood came upon my
hand in some natural way. Perhaps the
cat caught mouse overhead, and the blood
dropped down through the cracks in the
floor.
With trembling nervousness the young
wife examined the garment held in her
hand; but there was no sign Of anything
like blood upon the boards or beams above
the spot where the garment had hung and
so she again descended to the floor Of
the cabin and reported to the old dame
the result of her search. a
lit is warning tell you, child" she
said in solemn tone. '.Oh, why did
Silas leave the cabin to-dayP"
"Why, indeed? moaned Susan .Still
| cannot believe that harm has come to
him.
Susan seated herself at work again but
her trembling fingers would not allow her
to make much progress. Over and over
again her gaze went out through the win
dow to watch for the coming of her hus-
band, and it was as much as she could do
to bring her mind to the task now before
her. At last she managed to finish it, and
hung the garment upon the peg from
which she had taken it. Then with gaze
at the blood stain on her hand, which still
remained, she went to the door Of the cab
in and looked long and earnestly in the di-
rection Of the forest in hopes Of seeing him
return.
The sun is going down. 1t had touched
the tops of the forest trees to the west
ward, and already its rays had quilted the
earth, and were for moment resting
upon the summit of the cabin. Oh, that
her husband would but return before the
darkness should come down filed with
unknown dangers.
But perhaps it was not in his power to
do So If the blood stain was indeed
warning. it might be that he had already
fallen. The horror of the thought sent
back the blood from her heart, and made
her face almost as pallid as death.
Suddenly her gaze was attracted by an
object moving in the edge of the forest.
At first she thought it was her husband
returning; but another showed her that
SuC was uIiotohChs anu - ACChu3 VA ottCA
despair took possession of her heart when
she saw that it was redskin, prowling
along the edge of the clearing as if for
the purpose of observing what was going
on in the cabin. The thought of the three
drops of blood had not left her mind for
minute, and at the sight of the savage:
that, and the stories the old dame had
told, came back with force. Surely . ter.
rible fate was impending over them; and
most likely, her husband was no more.
With another glance of apprehension To-
wards the forest, she closed the door
and barred it and then turned to her chill
dren who were lying on the bed.
The old dame saw the movement, and
Immediately exclaimed:
..What is it, Susan? Are the redskins
comingp' .u.p
4 sod