The Lake County star., 1873-07-03

his blanket hunting.coat was held
together by a huge belt Of wan
pun. His buckskin leggings and
moccasins were profusely decorat-
ed with beads and the colorcd
qnills of the porcupine. He wonld
have passed for rather formida-
ble savage,had not his physio gno.
my betrayed him, There was no
mis,aking the sinistcr-looking
American cpuntenance, though ii
was sun.burncd and tanned by
exposure to almost the color OF a
genuine savage.
"G"od cveniu', strangers" says
he, without any attempt at con-
cealing his race, eye pear to be
'joyiD' yourselves"
'Ya'as,' says Deacon Beers, who
from from force Of habit, WAS gen.
orally the self-constituted spikes.
man of the little company on such
occasions, "the Lord has scattered
his blessings around here with
such a lavish hand that only inf
dels could help enjoying them
selves"
"Wa'al," answered tho new
conner, 81 don't set much store by
scattered blcssin's and sich like,
but when you como right down
to good hnntin' and fisl,in', ! calc'-
late these diggin's aint to be beat.
But whar yer goin' to, anyway,
and wbar dye come from 2"
"We have come many weary
miles, in search of Just such pic.
ture of paradise as this, and we
have pitched our tents, the Lord
willing for good, and we shall 60
no further" answered the Dea-
con.
The hunters brow had been
growing darker during this reply
Of Deacon Beers, and his counte-
nance wore now a most malignant
scowl.
"Them as comes inter the fire
must expec' to get their fingers
burned" says he, ''and him as
trcads OH the yaller massauger
hercaways is purity sure to get
bitten - and with these rather
ominous mutterings aud defient
gestures, he strode off into the
thicket.
The new settlers went to work
next morning to erect some log
shaniies for immediate use. Small
clearings were made, and crops OF
turnips and buck wheat were raised
first season. The stream, on the
banks of which they had pitched
their tents, offered fine water
power, and arrangements were
made for the erection of mills,
which in due time were completed
and added largely to the impor-
tance Of the settlement.
In pursuit of their avocations
the party of settlers had forgotten
their first and only visitor, who
came and went so mystcriously,
leaving such an ominous croaking,
on the evening Of their arrival at
the settlement. Other adventures
followed them, and soon the little
colony was augmented to quite a
respectable sized village.
Across the river from the se..
Element the heavy.timbered land
stretched away to the north, none
If the settlers knew how far. Not
a clearing had been made, nor a
shanty erected, on that side of the
river, and the region was a per.
feet te,7a iacogn,ta. Quite a
large stream came down out of
this unknown forest, and emptied
itself into the river opposite the
settlement, whose waters had a
peculiar ferruginous tinge that
was distinguishablo in the river
for mile below it's mouth; but
where the stream had its rise, or
what gave to its waters their pc
culiar color, was as much a mys.
terry as the source OF the Nile.
Among the first party Of our
settlers was Arthur s., a young
man of peculiar disposition. lie
loved nothing go well as lonely
strolls through tho deep and 81.
lent forests, where he could look
through Nature up to Natures
God. This youth determined to
devote his next holiday to tracing
the mysterious stream to its source
and satisfying himself at least ms
to the cause Of its colored waters,
for all the other streams in that
neighborhood were perfectly linn
pid.
The opportunity soon offered.
Il was q bright and exhilarating