The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-09-05

| hist landed was enough, II nothing else,
| to recall the circumstances. ..ss r..
The summer passed away and they
saw the drunken guest no more, He
failed to make his appearance. But
as the leaves began to fall the settler,
one day, while returning from hunting
on the hills, and passing through a
dense piece of timber, not far from the
house, caught sight of a figure lurking
among the bushes, but quickly disap-
peared when he advanced towards
where it was. The figure was that of
an Indian warrior, and Rufe Bronson
would have sworn that he was the In
dian whom he had knocked down and
bound the previous summer The
knowledge was not in any way com
forting, and hence he wOuld not tell
his wife of the discovery which he had
made.
1t would only alarm her, without,
perhaps, any good results. He simply
told her he had discovered bear tracks
near by, and that she and her child
must stay within, or close the house,
when he was absent
Several days afterward Rufe Bron-
son heard his dogs in the timber down
by the river, and knowing they never
opened without good cause, he
caught up his rifle and hastened to
where they were barking. They had
struck a fresh bear track, and as he
arrived in sight they fairly lifted it,
going off in a straight line down the
river.
The chase led him several miles,
and when at last he got his shot that
finished Bruins career he found that
it was three or four O'Clock in the af-
ternoOn.
Swinging his game to a sapling out
Of reach of cat or wolf, he started for
home to get the gray mare, and return
to fetch it that night.
Taking q near cut, he approached
the cabin from the western side, where
timber grew heavy up to within a few
yards of the building, and consequent
ly he could not see the clearing, or
what might be transpiring there, until
he passed through the wood.
Thus it was, that when within but
! a very short distance of his house, he
heard a wild, piercing shrek he could
must be taking place beyond the screen
| Of bushes and leaves.
Uttering a loud shout that his pres
ence might sooner be known, Bronson
sprang forward with the leaps of a
wounded buck, a great fear in his
heart, for he had only too clearly re-
cognized in that scream the agonized
voice of his wife. F..
1t took but a moment for him to
clear the intervening timber and un~
| dergrowth
As he dashed out into the clearing,
/ holding his rifle ready for instant use,
he cOmprehended in one swift glance
all that had taken place and what was
! further to fear.
Near the end of the cabin, facing
the cliffs of which | have spoken, stood
the mother, her face pallid as the dead,
her arms outstretched and her staring
eyes fixed upon the precipitous heights
up which the figure of an Indian war
rior was struggling.
my child my child - was all the
woman said, and then Rufe Bronson
saw that the bundle borne in the In
dams arms was the form of their only
child, little Maggie.
Firm Of heart, and with nerve as
steady as the rocks around, the father
for a moment actually quailed and
covered under what his quick sense
told him, the deadly peril of his little
one. But he was quick to recover.
The Indian was drawing away step
by step he was increasing the distance.
And as he occasionally glanced back
ward and downward, the parents saw
in his painted countenance the fell
purpose that actuated the abductOr.
God aid me - muttered Bronson,
as he raised his rifle, glanced through
the sights and touched the trigger.
The Indian started violently at the
shot He was hit, but not badly, and
with yell of devilish triumph, he
passed upward.
Too low, by a couple OF inches"
said low, calm voice at the settlers
elbow.
Bronson started as though he him
self had been shot.
Where has this man come from
Who was he ?
Neither had seen him approach.
But there was no time Tor eNplaha-
tions.
The stranger, man rather below
than above the ordinary height, whose
fine, athletic form was fully displayed
bv his closely fitting buckskin gar
ments, stepped quickly forward, few
PAGES, and firmly planting his left foot
in advance, threw up an unusually
long rifle as though preparing to fire.
.sFor god sake, stranger, be careful
of my child - cried Bronson, while
the agonized mother uttered an maud
ible prayer
"It's our only chance. | know that
Indian was the quick reply, aud the
sharp click click of the hammer as
if was drawn back told that the criti-
cal moment had come.
+;,,a tho Indian had nearly