The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-03-24
=THE OUTPOST.

Towards the latter part of the year
1851, the French, aided by vast bodies of
the Hurons and 1roquois Indians, had
begun to make themselves disagreeable
neighbors to the American colonies in
Northern Virginia and the North west
portion of New York State-the French
by their encroachment on the frontier,
( and the Indians by their numerous forays
and savage barbarity to all who were un-
fortunate enough to fall into their hands.
To put stop to these aggressive pro.
ceedings, numerous bodies, both of the
regulars and colonial militia, were des-
patched to the several points assailed;
among.the rest Col. Henry Innis, with
]. accompany of thirty men, was ordered to
occupy small outpost, or log fort, which
at the period, stood within few miles
from the North fork of the Allegheny
river.
Having arrived safely attheir quarters
1 the little company set about righsing up
the old post to make it as comfortable as
circumstances would permit; aud this
being. done and order once more restored,
sentries were placed at all the advanced
points Of the station, while the strictest
vigilance was both enjoined aud exer-
cised by day and night.
Among the Virginia riflemen who had
volunteered into the company, was tall
manly looking young fellow who from
fatal aud unerring skill as marksman
had received the somewhat inspiring non
de plume of Death. But with whatever
justice his name had been applied to him
for his skill, his disposition certainly en-
titled him to no such terror spreading
epithet. On the contrary, he was the
very life of the company.
His rich fund of mother wit, large
social propensities and constant good
nature rendered him a general favorite
with the men; while the never failing
stock of game which his skill enabled
him to supply the mess table ofthe officers
with, not only. recommended him to
their good graces, but caused many q
little shortcoming of his to bewinked at
and passed over in silence, which other
wise, perhaps, he might not have got over
z oseasy.
The company had not been stationed
at the fort more than a week, ere Death,
in one of his excursions for game, dis.
covered a small farm house some three
miles from the fort, where lived certain
Miss Hester Stanhope, whose equal in
beauty and amiable qualities he had nev-
er seen before. And to render himself
still more certain of the fact, he called on
the following day under cover ofpretense
L Of having left his powder flask.
80 Death was invited to come again BY
farmer Stanhope, who happened to be
ssffom the same parish as the father of our
hero ( and we need scarcely sayit that the
imitation was eagerly and joyfully &C.
cepted, and as often as circumstances
would permit, compliedwith.
The second week after this occurrence
.took place, was marked with two events,
which. though singular, both affected
6 The welfare of widely different degrees
s Of Importance. The first was, Death had
either lost his skill as marksman or that
game had removed to q safer or more
distant neighborhood, for the officers
Iarder had been found sadly wanting in
the items of wood cocks, black-cocks,
parlmigan, &C., for the week past-and
the second and most important of the two
events, was, that in regular succession,
q four sentinels had disappeared from the
extreme left line, without; leaving the
slightest trace toelucidate the mystery
of their disappearance.
The circumstance struck such dread
4 intothe breast of the company, that no one
s. could be found willing tovolunteer to take
the post-well knowing itiwould be only
like sigping their own death warrant to
do so; and COL Innis, not wishing to
wilfully sacrifice the lives of his men by
compelling them to go, enjoined double
caution on the remainder of the sentinels,
and left the post unoccupied for a night
or two.
Two or three accommodating parties
had been dispatched off around the.neigh.
borhood in the hope of finding some clue
-to the mystery, or-of finding some intel-
ligence of the enemy, but each ofthem
& returned as wise rs they started, with no
reward for their. trouble except weary
bones.
It was on the third night of the deser-
tion of the post that our hero, Death, was
returning to the fort. after paying visit
to Stanhope's farm. The moon was
up, but her light was nearly all obscured
= BY the dense masses Of clouds which at
every few minutes were driven by a pret-
sty stiff breeze over her face, while the
huge trees, now all in full leaf, cracked
and groaned, and bent their tall forms to
and fro, as the heavy gusts rushed whis-
ting in among their branches.
80 Our hero had approached within n
hundred yards of the termination of the
forest that skirted the small open space
in which the fort stood, when he sudden
" paused and crouching down upon his
hands and knees crept cautiously forward
few PAGES. Having remained in this
position for several minutes, he stealthily
again returned in the manner he had
Z advanced, and plunged into the forest at
point considerably lower than where he
had intended to leave it before.
Col. Innis sat reading alone in his pri-
yate apartment, when an orderly entered
and informed him that one of the men
wished to speak to him.
Send him in" said the colonel; and
at the next moment our friend Death had
entered, and made his bow to the COM
manding officer.
ell, WnaG scrape nave you Deen get
; ting into now?" said the colonel when
he saw.who his visitor was.
s'None, Colonel" replied Death, "but
I have come to ask favor"
"Let us. heari it," said the Colonel, "and
wewill then see what we eau do.''
81 .Well, Colonel, it is simply this, ifyou
will put the critics" under my orders for
tonight, and let me occupy the deserted
post, I will not only clear up the mystery
of the disappearance of the sentries, but
make the post tenable for the future"
"But how?" said the Colonel, in intense
surprise.
aI guess, Colonel" answered Death,
/ .tyou had better let me have the men,
and order US of, and I'll tell you the