The Florida agriculturist., 1884-08-20

enough to know that there were three In |
our party, and now they were waiting to
trap me.
All these thoughts and actions of mine
that take so long in the telling, were
thought and acted very quickly, and
while stood staring and wondering, in a
dazed fashion, why they had not killed
me already, sudden burst OF derisive
laughter rose from little clump of bush
es short distance away. The only spot
Of cover there was thereabouts, except
the few trees where / stood.
At the same instant almost, five or SIX
rifle shots rang out; one of the bullets
struck the tree behind me, and one went
through my cap that reused, me assure
you, and all my stupor fed to the right
about.
l jumped behind the tree-it was the
one where the two rifles were standing,
happily, and when / saw not only nine
or ten Indians, but two white men, leap
ing out from the bushes yelling like de-
mons, thinking they had winged me, my
blood went up to boiling heat.
l had heard that several renegade white
men, outlaws, had joined with the lndl-
ans to kill their own countrymen, but
l could not believe it; so now, when L
saw it, and those two dead bodies lying
at my feet, felt like demon ofrevenge,
and if | could have torn those men limb
from limb, I'd have done it without re-
morse.
Inever thought of my own desperate
plight. | forgot that l too would soon
in all probability be lying dead there
like poor Bob and Bill, and as the whole
party came dashing along, | let drive at
one of the white men with my rife-he
dropped like a stone-I was always a
good shot-and as the others hesitated a
moment, l emptied the second barrel,
and the other renegade fell dead, as |
meant he should. / would rather have
made those two rascals bite the dust
than the whole crowd of Indians; the
latter were only acting up to their nature
and teachings, but as for those two
wretches-I've no words to express my
horror of their brutality.
Quick as a flash l dropped my now
useless rifle, reached my hand out around
the tree, and grasped both the others.
One of them / fired-both barrels-on
the instant, to confuse the redskins, and
then with the other in my hands, start
ed for the river bank on a full run.
Why | headed that way never could
tell--unless God began His direct aid
then, as know he did later on there
was no cover there, not a tree or shrub,
while in any other direction there were
plenty of trees, after a small open space
was crossed.
HavzNVar itraEas -aaeatle " q-s.rsetsfs,
tajjgtnere, as / mentioned BEFORE and the i
Sling pack of Indians came tearing /
ter me, firing as they ran, but not a /
lllet struck me; it is not easy to get
ny aim, you know, when both parties i
,e running and rushing along at the top /
their speed. /
was good runner and kept my dis I
nee; only one redskin gained on me,
nd when he was fairly ahead of the t
hers, | faced about all of sudden, ,
I'd fired at him point blank, and down i.
3 went; then | rushed on, painting, and ,
retty well used up.
And then, all at once, l saw why my :
cps had been turned towards the river,
r there, on the shore, right ahead of
e was canoe, no doubt belonging to :
y pursuers, for it had evidently Just !
zen used. =
You may believe 1 didn't think long :,
oout the matter, but dashed along to- !
ards this unexpected haven of refuge /;
seized it by the bow, without stopping !
second, ran out with it into the water, +
Id as it swung clear of the banks, tum :
ed into it head-over-heels, dropping
y gun into the water without an effort
recover it. !
Such an ear-splitting yell as those In !
ans gave when they saw what l had r
one! l snatched up apaddle, took two :
three rapid strokes, swaying myself :
and fro to keep the bullets from being 4
med true, that sent the canoe out into :
le current, then laid down in the bot !
IN and let it 90. I
l heard yells OF rage and disappoint- :
ent, and the patter, patter of bullets in +
Ie water all around me, two or three !
zen came through the side of the canoe, !
1T not one touched me. I
could tell by the sounds that the red !
lins were following along the shore, but /
Y and by the bullets ceased to rain ;
own around me, and their shouts grew +
inter and further away.
But all at once | could tell that their :
les of rage had changed to yells of tri- :
Inph and delight, and then ventured Z
} raise myself from the bottom of the !,
moe, where had kept quiet all this : :
me and looked around. The moment :,
did so, saw why the redskins were .
and why it had seemed to
row dusk suddenly-as it had done for :
ome time past,
mentioned awhile back, the abrupt |,
hange in the character of the river, =
'om peaceful stream to fierce rapids, !
lshlng along between perpendicular =
ralls of rock
50 absorbed had been with thoughts ?
the pursuing rascals on the shore, L
nat had forgotten all about it-indeed,
had not, it would have made no diff
,rence; it was "Hobson's choice :" but y
ow understood the far-away shouts, !
nd why they were SO full of Joy instead =
{ rage. a
The Indians were running along the
erge of the rocks, high above me. SO !,