The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1876-02-05
Fergusou's Adventures.
A STORY OF PARTISAN DAYS.

This for the gallanJ relBueOh
The foregoing Ave words had instltu-
ted n IeIgn Of terror in one OF the love-
liest districts of the Pamletto State-a
district watered by the Catawba ana
Parcolet rivers and their gentle triou-
taries. ,-oo
In the month of September, l7SO,
Cornwallis detached the notorious Coll
Ferguson tc the frontiers OF North Caro-
lima, for the ostersible purpose OF en-
coura pine the tories Of that region to
take nm arms for the king. Ferguson's
force consisted in part of the most pro-
flieate and abandoned characters ot the
partisan days, and his march was mark
ed by atrocities Of the most shocking
description. The hardy men OF the
Carolinas, Kentucky, and Virginia, rose
AGAINST the marauders, and, led by
Boone and other back-woods WORTHLESS,
gave them a decisive defeat at Kings
Mountain. Ferguson was slain in the
battle. and his fellow foragers. .nuMoer-
inc about one thousand, were nearly
all captured or killed.
This conflict revived the hopes OF the
Southern patriots, and forced Corn
willis 10 T6luiu w Nh"''S"
fitted and cast down. ,
We shall have rest now, the patri-
OTIS said, after the battle. !" ferguson,
the dreaded, Is dead, and the few tor
les who escaped with their wretchec
lives are not strong enough to do US
HARM"
Everywhere in the vicinity of the
battlefield the Americans breathed
freer, and the loyalists in whose inter-
ests Ferguson had marched to his death,
curbed their loyalty, and III secrecy
swOre revenge.
But the settlements we're soon to learn
that the victory of Kings Mountain had
nerved the arm of o foe more terrible
than any which they had hitherto
known,
The existence of the new terror was
discovered by boy one morning about
foreright after the battle. He found
the family of Archibald Mettson muir
dered in their own house, and to the
corpses had been pinned paper bear
ing these words:
" This for the gallant Ferguson u
This terrible atrocity aroused the
country, and the excitement was quick
ly heightened by the finding Of the body
OF another murdered patriot. On the
cold breast, which had been pierced by
pistol balls, was the palid paper and its
words of terrible import, and the coun-
try knew that fearful vengeance
would be taken for Kings Mountain.
During the week that followed the
discoveries [ have mentioned, the work
OF the Avengers was terrible. They
fell upon patriot houses at the dead of
night, and left on the bosom of their
victims the five words which had
already terrorized the country. 1t was
in vain that the patriots summoned their
cunning and energy for the capture OF
the band of demons, which, as 1t had
been discovered, numbered six men,
masked, and mounted on black horses .
They came and went like ghosts, but
always left behind the terrible sentence
which had made their existence exc.
cradle. At times they fell upon their
hunters, and left them by the roadside
marked with the sign of vengeance.
Fear began to paralyze the Carolini-
ans many abandoned their homes for
the sake of their families and 1t is
probable that the entire district would
have been depopulated in short time,
had it not been for the courage OF QUE
woman.
Her pane was Alice Beauchampe.
1t was a dark night in the last week
Of November, when the heroine OF my
story left the house of friend. Her
own house, which had been deserted
for several days, was not far away. and
she had determined to return to 1t for
the purpose Of securing an article OF
apparel left behind In her recent flight.
Before she set out on her journey she
was warned of the dangers that en-
vironed it but she smiled, and de-
clared that she did not fear them. She
could enter the old house through the
kitchen, in the rear, find tho garment
without light, and return safely to
her friends.
The path she had often traversed
was barely discernable but she made
good headway, and reached her home
without Incident. The silence Of the
grave hung about the forsaken place,
and the lifting of the latch sent a chill
of terror to the young girls heart.
Through the kitchen, across the desert
ed parlor, and up the stairs, she crept
to the room where she had left the OBJ
ject of her nocturnal quest. The
drawer of the old bureau yielded with
ont noise, and Alice was drawing forth
the garment when the voices OF men
fen upon her ears.
She started dropped her prize, and with