The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-08-25

----1,'rd pt.tg 57qy
"Come, uncle, tell us q good story
You've been in some pretty hard scrapes
as, Eve e'heard yeuisay, SO / think you
might tell US story that would be very
interesting. 4 The evening will seem te
pass a great deal more pleasant by lis
tening to good yarn"
"Yes. uncle,'' chimed in Frank and
Bessie, '"do tell US story Of some kind
Tell US good Indian story. We like
to hear them ever so much" ..4
I Uncle Ben, as we usually called him
was seated before a blazing fire, putting
away at his old, short tobacco.
stained pipe; and when we asked him
for a.story, he Strengthened up, gazed a,
me for moment and then replied +: if ]
"Well, l will tell you one-one which
1 was ;ust thinking about I really think
you could not have asked me in a bettel
time, if you had tried. If you. will 4 al
keep quiet a few moments, i willproceeG
to relate it as best can" .bes9 rPyoi.
r. At this we all drew our chairs little
nearer the fire, for lit .wss "a very colo
evening. in the latter. part of theJ montI
of December, and. waited for Uncle Ben
ITO commence. .............. ...... s9Utrtof
|od After, knocking the. ashes from his
|pipe and layipg.it carefully onsthe msn
telpiece, he moved his chair aiittie near
|ee the fireplace. and began :iEq Taq sdoyS
"Years ago, when the Indians were as
numerous in the New Englanih States as
they. are now in the Western States and
Territories, L lived in a,small log house
on the banks. of the. Connecticut River,
which separates Vermont afrem New
Hampshire, Lived some distance, from
any white inhabitants, my nearest. neigh
boris house. being. some two or three
miles up. the river. | had cleared, a few
acres Of land near my house,on which !
raised all the.produce needed for the sup
port ,oflmy wife and children: .... ssT
81 was very fond of hunting and trap,
ping, and. SO one fine. afternoon o about
the middle of. August, .IbtAipkn / shouL
dered my old musket-a trustyo weapon,
l assure you-took a few traps in my
hand, 'andsstarted, up theEriyer, in the di
reetion Of my neighbours cabin, TO, see
what could find in the, way of game,
and to see if could find a good bplace
to set nay traps. AspI had seen no red.
skins in the neighbothoofyery recently,
IfelthoCiear forthe safety ofsmyIWife
and children, intending to return home
in few hours, ,or.as soonas J. could find
a good spot to set my traps. ben
"Well, In shortatime found good
place, as l thought,fof there were plenty
Of tracks all about, and | made up any
mind the. 4 ,rlIouia7 ha pretty successful
"Well, after seeing that my trAps- -wefa
all right, shouldered my musket and
started off into the woods, to see if
could not catch glimpse of a deer OF
something else that ] might bring dowr
with my trustyo weapon. Deer were
pretty plenty then, aud so entertained
no doubt but Pshduld run afoul of one
ina short time E1aol1-,9t l@u%Fi
5s'Wath my musket ready for instan,
use, in case l should see any game, L had
proceeded op ABOUT half Or. two.thirds o
4 mile, when suddenly there arose on, tht
still, summer air the most terrifying wa
whoop that I ever had the fortune d
misfortune to hear. From behind th'
trees and clumps Of. bushes all about me
there rushed, with, eupHftel stomabawks
full q dozen Indians, iwhooping like Sc
many enraged devils. i had no idea 0
having my 4'topnot lifted as old scouts
term it,bul meant to, sell my life as dear
ly as possible. l have been in som,
pretty topgh scrapes with redskins, but
thought this would be the last, for fel
as though should be ovespoW Wered be
fore /, could hardly offer a resistance.
- In one, minute more / should hay
been in their fendish clutches, hut ! di.
not stand idly waiting for them Quicke
than2I can possibly relate twenty words
brought my musket to my shoulder
and fired at the foremost of the imps,-
Then, without stopping to see -whethe
/ my BhottoUk sefects Istarneag and witt
allthe speed attainable,. ran toward tn
river, the whole pack of scslp1thirst
outlaws at my heels Il kept hold Of no
gun, thinking it might yet, be of som
service to me:tr4 60 AN. ,s,,-,.ls =
is"Reaching the bank of the riyer,wlic
luckily, was but7a short distance away,
made up my mind that my only mean
of escape, from the, unpleasant positio
was to plunge into the water, trusting t
my skill as a swimmer. This immedi
ately carried A1to execution, for there wa
no time tobe lost-there was no alterns
|tive-1:must,do one or the otherl-eithe
TRY and reach the opposite shore, or b
captured, and the latter idea L did nc
believe in anyway. $3.50 D. econ
9"Exerting all my strength, 1 plunge
Into the. river and struck: out, for th
other shore; but to my astonishment,m
Ipursners leaped into the water and push
ed after me. / was an excellent swimmer
but in spite of my utmost exertions m
pursuers gained upon me. ofGi'isa
aThe river at this place was not S
wide as at other points, and so j 4 felt 8
though might reach the other shore,a a
though my strength was fastbecomin
exhausted t. r.Hln.m ..% G2)k ~
"My clothes being soaked with waite
hindered my progress somewhat, ,butlsti
l managed to keep up quite aspeet
trusting that Ilmight reach the Lopposi1
J shore before. nv pursuers did. aa ~ "a
81 have been in places where Il zhas
had-mys sstrength~tested pretty critieall..
| but i think this was the most thoroug
| test ever experienced.
son / swan as fast as I could; I'll
distance between me and the shore WI
fast lessening; I was more than thre
fourths the way across the river, and
my strength would hold leut q few MI
ments more 1 shonld soon be once mo-
on te73:n 6nnads ! Thought
"Again 1 exerted my whole strengt
and in few, moments reached the opp
site bank, few yards ahead Of my pu
suers. and then dashed of, hotly pu
sued SIS -. f,,n.,vsT .,s0.s8 hKp eip'
"The Indians, on reaching the shor
separated and endeavored to head n
eli, butethis plan ffailedf and twas 500
given up. Foremostsof the pursuers, WI
a. tails savage who bappeared~ to sbett
chief ;he steadily gained on me, ,and das
ed ahead IF tie rest. He i0eifco,
aged ep hy.thp' $ells ,ef those ,behind,