The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1879-10-21

and, OF course, the ,dismounted Indians
had to slacken their fire for fear OF hit
ing their own warriors. This was the
opportunity for the scouts. Now
shouted Forsyth, and Che scouts spting-
ing to their knees and casting their eyes
coolly along the barrels of their rifles,
opened on lie advancing savages dead
ly fire Unchecked, undaunted, on dash
ed the warriors steadily rang the clear.
sharp reports of the rifles ot the 'front.'
iersmen. Roman Nose falls dead, frous
his horse. Medicine Man Is killed, and
fer- an instant the column, now within,
ten feet of the scouts, hesitates--ialters.
A cheer from the scouts,s who z,serceive
the effect of their well-directed fire, and
the Indians hegin to break and scatter
in every direction, unwilling to rush to
a hand-to-hsnd struggle A few more
shots and the Indians are forced hack
beyond range Forsyth inqairea anx
iously, sCanothey do 5belter than that,
Grover?' Il have been on the Plaiuss
General. since a boy,l landnever saw such
a charge as that before 'All right
then we are good for them"
In repuising the -sayages= the -scouts>
bad lost heavily, among the killed being
young Beecher. 'fThe Indians keptup q
continuous fre, bat by this time the
miniature eartbworks, afforded q good
shelter. At two O'Clock and again az,
sunset thev charged The scouts, hut hav-
ing lost their best leaders. and being dis
pirlted by the unexpectedly stubborn re-
sistance, they were more easily beaten
back each time with beavy loss. At
dark they ceased firing, and Forsyth
could .qake stockf'a' FourDeD had beenf
killed, four others we're mortally and
four severely wounded, ten others had
received wounds of less grsvityT~in oil,
twenty -three Of fttyrone, men bad been,
hit. All his horses we're killed, his sup,
plies were exhausted, he was withous'
medical stores, the Indians had, COM
pIetely invested him, and the nearest
post was l10 miles away K On the Others
side Of the account he had beaten thea
Indians, had plenty of ammunition, wa
ter could be had by digging in the sand,
and the, carcasses OF, forty odd mules.
and horses stood for the commissariat.
A well was dug, the wounded were made
as comfortable as possible with blankets,
the earthworks were strengthened with
the dead animals and saddles, and large
quantities of horse and mule meat weres
cut off and buried in the sand. Two
scouts, Trudeau and StiIlvell, the latter
a slight, beardless boy OF nineteen, werss
selected to run the gantlet Of the swarm.
ing Indians and carry d;spatches'to Fort
Wallace, ITO miles distant. and crawl.
ing out into the sand a. soon as 1t was
dark, were seen no more. 81 siAs @ $f'1s
On the second day Of the siege nos
charge was attempted, but the Indians
kept up as heavy fire As possibleEa 10
tease the scouts into using theirs ammu,i
nition, but the Americans we're now,well7
sheltered, and only answered where q
bullet was likely to tell. At night two
more scouts we're sent out, but tailed to
elude the vigilance of the Indians, and
were driven Ba ok to the encsmpment->is :
which placed gloomy look upon ths7
probable fate OF Trudeau and Stillwell.
The Indians kept up the firing during
the 10Th, hut about noon their women
and children retired from the hills-a,,
hopeful sign. Later they sent in u ftg
of truce for parley, but the frontierslt'
men were too wary to be entrapped =
That night Forsyth senttwo more mes~
sengers, Donovan and gPlylysswithr dis-sl
patches asking for assistance. Lam on
q little sland,' the message read, land
have still plenty Of ammunition left
We are living on mule. and horse.meat.
aud are entirely out of rations. II 1t
was not for so many wounded I'woulds
come in and take the chance of ewhipss
ping them if attacked They are eyios,
dently sick of their bargain. can hold
out for six days longer, II absoluteiynse
essary, but please lose, no time 3s,ar
On the fourth day the main body or
Indians departed, leaving small investie
ing force The wounds Of tue injaredd'
we're rudely dressed, shelters we're como
structed and soup made from horse-fesh.
On the sixth day, however.stbe fret
traces Of gangrene set in, and the entire !
party was almost, overpowered with the
intoierahle stencil from the carcasses OF
the dead horees Food there was none! Q
Forsyth assembled the men and hades
those who would go and leave the woun-
ded and those who preferred staying in
the camp and taking their, chances OF,
aid coming from the fort, All voted to,
stay together till the end. They lived
on putrid horse.fesh rubbed with enn.
powder for two more days. On the 25thi
Colonel Carpenter, with the cavalry,
came up from Furt W allace, which, Tsds
deau and Stillwell had rescheasin .safety2,
when he reached the island be found :
the defenders in the most pitiahle condi-.
tion, yet the survivors we're determined
to be plucky to the last. Forsyth him.
self, with rather indifferent success, isf.si
fected to be reading an old novel thatp
he had discovered in. a saddle bag; but
Colonel Carpenter said bis. voice ,was .
little unsteady and his eyes were some
what dim when he held out his hand to
Carpenter ana bade him welcome To =
'Beecher's Island, name,that hassincs
been given to the battle-ground sw.
OF lhe fifty-one men, who, went, into
the fight eight were killed, eight were
disabled Tor life and twelve others were
wounded The Indians, Who we're sew
|enteen to one, admitted subsequently,
loss of seventy five killed shxsxs 81
Don't imagine, young man, because
you peep in while passing the door OF
the ladies' dressing room at patty md ;
behold half dozen young lsdies with
their feet on the center table, that any 1,
particular violation Of the properties is
going on. On the contrary, they are
only toemartyrs from tight boots, and
are merely holding their feet 90 thst the
blood will run out OF them, and their
corns will let up q. little in time for The !,
next round dance.
A Kansas genius, representing him.
aplf as n nracfical farmer hae lately