The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-05-07

III ffttHttr Ntii llht ttH tfAAA w
'em. But Luther may feel, and II he finds
bullets on me, You may tomahawk me on
the spot
And Luther did feel; and. though he
handled at least pound Of bullets In
those capaciOus pockets, still he did not
lind any, The Mohawks were satisfied
with the exam nation; for they hat uD-
bounded confidence in Luther. who had
shown them many favors-only, howey~
er, for fear of mourning their enmity In
case Of refusal. Still, they were not con-
WINGED OF Fosters innocence of the charge
they had preferred against him; and
Waugh-legskah, the ex Chiefs son, said
To him:
Your turn next; Injen have revenge;
revenge sweet
glance at Luther's rifle. hanging against
the wall (his own concealed beneath the
feather and straw beds. "All right,
Waugh. you redskins killed fathers fam
lily. all but me; and lam ready To 20
when can stay no longer. Come. step
ping forward and taking down the rifle,
''let's 20 out and settle IL now
"No,' said Waugh; LINEN no fight RI
file with bow and arrow; he have rifle
next moon; then white mans blood ~
Waugh was strong. athletic fellow,
active as a cat. and a splendid shot and
Foster knew that ms were not mere words
of sound and that terrible meaning was
wrapped up in those brief uuerances.
And very soon there commenced most
exciting contest. Another Indian had
suddenly and mysteriously disappeared;
and. whether justly or not, Foster was
held responsible by the Indians for this
subtraction from their forces. Waugh had
mr. raaoix-.t his rffIa nd has allf.I
in search of Foster. who was upon the
lookout for the Indian. About noon they
discovered each other. half mile distant,
on either side of. an almost impossible
swamp. Foster sent his compliments as
near TO Waugh as the CARRYING capacity
OF his :. shootingIroni would allow, and
the Indian politely reciprocated. Ofccurse.
no damage was done. and these We're the
only shots exchanged during the dav.
The contestants plunged into the swamp,
thickly studded with black alders and cat
tail flags. and mutually strove 10 reduce
the distance between them. Every step
must be cautiously taken, and every sound
be carefully noted. In this manner was
the entire afternoon spent. the parties hay
ing presented themselves 10 each others
yiew but once, and them nor long enough
10 admit the drawing OF bead" The
y
period To the paragraph of day. the con
tesfants. az by mulnal consent. suspended
operations until an early hour on the
morrow.
immediately after breakfast. next morn
ing. Foster shouldered his rifle and STARTED
for the scene of conflict. today 10 become
the field OF blood and Ceath. Following
circuitous path. which led through 20
acre lot Of heavily-timbered woodland. he
ut length reached an elevated point from
which the entire swamp was visible. TAX
ing position upon a ledge of rocks.
he calmly awaited the appearance OF
Waugh; nor had he long to wait. for the
Indian. aware of the advantage this rocky
promontory would afford, was making all
the haste consistent with prudence to
reach il. so far neither had discovered
the other. Foster was anxiously watch.
ing the swamp. and the Indian was APP
preaching. catlike, in his rear. Accident
ally stepping on a small dead limb. il
cracked under the Indians foot. Eos
ter's quick ear detected the sound. and he
turned instantly 20 ascertain its cause.
The eyes of the foemen insrantaneously
met. and sparkled with CLEANS Of peculiar
satisfaction and undissembled hatred.
Each man sprang for his tree. NOT more
than sixty PAGES apart and various were
the devices employed to draw each others
fire. Not word had been spoken and
since the first discovery. not hands
breadth of others person had been ex-
posed. And thus. hour after hour whiled
away. no advantage being secured by
either party. TIE sun had now gone 10
his western home; and it was needfdl
that II any thing be done to-day. il be
quickly done. Foster finally adopted this
cxprdient. as he stood behind his large
bodied be, ch. Placing his scalskin cap
over the muzzie Of his rife. and attach
ing his coat TO the barrel. he projected this
effigy sufficiently beyond the body Of the
tree 10 attract the Indians attention. and
offered him, at the same time. tempting
mark. The ruse was successful Waugh
leveled his rife and sent a bullet right
through the CSntcr Of that sealskn. which
appeared 10 acknowledge the compliment
by striving to cling 10 the tree for a while.
and then sinking slowly TO the ground
Waugh was delighted. and started irons
his hiding-place with bound and whoop,
and brandishing his scalring-knifr. But
he had no further use for that knife. Toss
ing sealskin and coat from the rifle. Eos
ter now stepped from behind his tree. and
sent his furious death-messenger tearing
through the brains Of the astonished In.
dian.
just how many Indians Foster had slain
in the prosecution Of his life work" we
could never learn. IL was his habit TO cut
a notch ia his rfle-stock every time he
" brought his man, this being his only
method of preserving the bloody record.
The last time we examined these
: notches.' they scored seventeen: but the
number was probably increased subse-
quentlv.
We donot think that Foster was natur-
ally bloodthisty or cruel. ON the contra
nv. he was very considcrste Of other peo-
pies feelings; never inflicted wanton in
jury upon dumb animals; would not Kill
wild game for the snort cotiid not bear