The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-08-17


of the trunk, while others were heapinl
brushwood above him; and he knew by
this time his hiding place was discovered
and that the savages intended to burn
him alive inside the tree.
To describe the terrible agony that con.
vulsed the heart of the settler, as he be-
came aware of the object of his enemies,
is more than our pen can do.
He was not afraid to die; but death
by fire is one from which the bravest
would shrink. There was no chance OF
dying by su6ocation, for the tree was full
Of seams that admitted the air. No,
death would not come to his relief until
the red flames should warp his body like
winding-sheet And this would not be
done. Hours must elapse before the
flames would reach him. The tree was
a resinous pine, and would burn briskly
for while on the outside; but the inte-
rior of the trunk was damp, and would
not catch so readily. The torture would
be only the more prolonged,
Death would come at last but not un-
til it had been experienced, as it were,
dozen times by the unhappy man within,
Higher and higher the red flames
rose as the dry brushwood was heaped
upon the glowing pile, Like so many
spirits of evil, the red demons worked at
their terrible task. To avenge their
comrade was grimly in their minds; and
as the minutes went on they listened for
some shrek to come from the flames to
delight their savage hearts.
And our friend in his fiery prison, how
bore he the terrible ordeal? Already he
could feel the heat, and few moments
more it would be insupportable.
Once he had tried to escape from his
shell, but found that the aperature had
been so securely closed up thatit was inn
possible. Death by their arrows would,
he thought, have been better than by the
flames; but this was denied him.
Hotter and hotter it became, until he
felt stinging on his leg as he lay upon
his side. ......
A place had burnt through, and now
the terrible torture had begun. The end |
was not far away; and with thoughts of
his wife and children uppermost in his
breast, he waited for death.
Higher and higher rose the red flames
rs the savages worked steadily for the
1eath of their victim but it was so fated
hat theirs was to be accomplished first.
A loud report and volley of bullets
anne ringing through the leaves, and the
i've savages fell to rise no more.
The next moment dozen of Dicks
leighbors from the settlement, who had
'eenin pursuit all the past day and night,
ushed forward, and an exclamation of
isappointment fell from their lips as
hey saw nothing of the object of their
earch.
At this instant the report of a rife rang
ut as if from the center of the fire, start
ng them back apace; but the next mo-
ent the one Of them who had been ex-
mining the end of The tree, that as yet
as untouched by tke fire, exclaimed
"Qnick, boys! tear away the fire. He
in this trunk, and the redskins were
'asting him alive" t
With will the brands were scattered g
the forest, and in few moments Dick Q
as hauled out more dead than alive,
ough not much burnt; and afterwards
henever he told his story, he always c
id that the rife saved his life, the heat t,
using it to be discharged just at the
yht moment