West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-02-19

family lay down in such a way as to
hem me in. For the first three or four
hours they were like cats, starting up
at the slightest move, but toward mid
night l was satisfied that all were
| asleep. could not reach the lire-arn.
without stepping over the bodies, and
| they knew that any effort ou my part
70 loosen log would arouse them.
About midnight, after q long and
| cautious effort, sot mp. TWAS % star
! light night, and, as there wa, no door
| 10 the cabin, | could see out | wa,
| fully determined tu make uu clort to
! escape, but whenI came to canvas, the
| chances, / had 10 abandon the idea
! The alligutors were constantly about
| H., often rearing up To- paw attic log,.
! and unless ! could g-t hold of the fire
! arms and begin tho tight. I should be
| wiped out i'm amy effort made
| think / slept for au hour or TWO. and
what aroused me / can not tcll. WA,
| still sitting, and. %. | looked out upun
/ the night ! saw human figure draw
! ITSELF up ON the bows Oi the boat at
| first supposed IL was one OF the family.
| but moment observation convinced
| me to the contrary. This iuure moved
| cautiously, as if desiring lis presence
| unknown and was "a long time ina rcach-
| ing the door. II then leaned against
| the logs and made long survey OF tho
/ interior, and finally sank out OF si0ht
| My heart was beating like "A trip-ham-
/ mer, and ! could not flthom the mys-
| terry. Was it an Indian or another out
! lawP Moving so cautiously. what OBJ
/ icct had he in yicwP Had / once
! thought of jackson, | should not have
I dared 10 hope he had como TO my res
! cue through that water; and, too,
| could not have believed he knew Of my
I whereabouts.
From the time first caught sight of
| the figure to daylight was probably an
I hour and a half, but II seemed TO me
! as if | lived five years. had no
/ hopes that the man was friend. and
Yet ! could not look for new enemy
Perhaps, after all, it was only one Of
. the y"t"gCC negroes, OF whom scores
: were hiding IL She swamp, "h0 E%a
! made his way TO the scow i'm hopes TO
! lay hands on provisions or clothing
/ kept my eyes on the spot where / had
/ last seen him, and, rs he did not reap
J pear, | began TO feel that he had
/ slipped back into the water. and re-
turned TO the shore.
/ Did you over watch the coming of
/ daylight when YOU felt that with IL
! might come some life on death trans
! action? The first signs came from
/ the birds! Then, afar up the lake,
! came the cries of water fowl 4 fox
/ or some other animal stood on the
! shore near where we had tied up the
night before and barked i'm an angry
voice. The stars paled and driftcd ont
of sight, and the interior OF the cabin
began to light up until ! could distin-
I guish the forms of the slecpers.
Where WAS the strange man-fricnd
or enemy A if in response to NV
| query he suddenly rose up, stepped
noiselessly inside the door, and next
instant voice shouted at me:
Keep down, Colonel; hug the
noor!'
rolled over on my face, and heard
yells, screams and groans 1t was all
over in thirty seconds. and some one
| called: "All right, Colonel-Tve wipcd
| the varmints outl'
! sprang up TO find jackson standing
I'm the center of the cabin, and on the
floor lay the outlaw, wife and children.
all dead. 1t was as ] had argued the
day previous. The two men had sepn-
rated in the woods Sheen to return
directly TO camp and jackson To hunt
for supper. The outlaw had ambushcd
Sheen and killed him, and jackson had
heard the report of the gun and become
suspicious. He hurried to camp to find
me gone and everything taken, and had
traced us 20 the lake He found indi-
cations to prove that boat had been
used, and he followed the shore of the
lake down until he found the scOw at
anchor.
Not one in "A thousand would have
shown his nerve. He knew of the ALI
gators could see dozen of them NOV
ing about and yet he disrobed. tied his
weapons across his head, and swan
straight for the scOw, and reached ia
unmolested. He saw that the only way
was TO wipe out all the gang and as
soon as daylight would guide his aim
he began his work.
When we had buried our cOmrade
we made a close search of the floating
cabin. and we found indisputable proof
of the murder of five or six persons. I'm
an old wooden bucket were two cold
and three silver watches. several peck
ct knives, half a dozen rings. and eivht
hundred and twenty-five dollars i'm
gold, silver and greenbacks. AS none
of these articles could be traced back
TO their owners. and as vengeance had
ovcriaken the murdcrers. we felt no
hesitation in taking possession Of every
thing for the benefit Of Shecn's widow.
The last act was TO set fire TO the
scow and push it out into the lake. II
was ~ merciful TO copsign the bodies
to the flames as 10 see the allioators
fight over them Such human wolves
did not deserve burial N y sam