The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1886-03-18


dropped one Of four iellers. To.
morrow III drop tub other, aud the,
take keer Of you. Cit over thar and
lay down"
"Over thar" vat The far corner
and entirely out Of .es "a ufmy Win
chester. When | buhked down j,
my corner the gnn was removed en-.
tirely, and the family lay down IL
such a way as to hem me in. Fo,
the first three or four hours they |
were like cate, starting up at th.
slightest move, but toward midnight |
| was satisfied that oil were asleep. |
l could not reach tLe firearms with.
ont stepping over the bodies, and |
they knew that auy effort on m,
part to loosen log would arous,
them.
About midnight, after a long and
cautious effort, sat up. 1t was
starlight night, aud as ihere was u 0 |
door to the cabin, | could see out. |
was fully determined TO make Ill
effort to escape, but when / came I,
canvass the chances Ind to aban-
don the idea. The alligators wer.
constantly about us, often reaiiue
mp to paw at the logs, and unless !
could get hold Of tie firearms and
begin the fight. -bould be wiped
out in any effort made l think I
slept al hour or two.and what arous-
ed the | canuot tell was still sit
ling, aud, as looked ont upon the
night raw human figure draw it,
self up on tue bows OF the boat. /
at first supposed it wss one Of The
family, but a moments observation
convinced inc to the contrary. This
figure moved cautiously, as if desir.
ing its presence unknown, and was a
long time in reacbiag tho door 1t
then leaned against the legs and
made a long survey OF the interior.
aud finally sank out Of sight. Ny
heart was beating like trip ham
mer, and could not fathom the
mystery. Was it an Indian or an
other ou,lawf Moving no cautious
ly, what object had he in Wow Had
| once thought of Jec.son, should
not have dared TO hope he bsd come
- ~ ~""o"~ .hrough tla, water;
and, too, ! could not have believed
be knew Of my whereabouts.
From the time first caught sight
OF the figure to daylight WAS probA p
bly, M hour aud bali, but it 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 oil, it was
only one OF the refugee negroes, Of
whom scores were hiding in the
swanps, who bad made his way To-
the scow in hopes to lay hands on
provisions Or clothing kept my
eyes on tho spot where l had last
seen him, and as pe did not reap
pear began to feel that he had slip
ped back into tho water aud return
ed to the shore.
Did you ever watch the coming of
dayligh! when you felt that with i,
might come some life or death trans
action The first sigus came from
the birds Then, afar up the lake,
came the cries ~ wstar fowl A fo~
or some other animal stood on the
shore near where we had tied up the
night before and barked in an angry
voice. The stara paleG and drifted
ont OF sight, aud the interior Of the
cabin began % light mp until | could
distinguish the forms OF the sleepors.
Where WIS the strange man
friend or enenyi As in response
TO my query le suddenly rose up,
stepped noisdessly inside the door,
aud the next Instant q revolver bee
gan to crack ind voice shouted to
me.
Keep doVp, Colonel; hug the
, floor"
} l rolled over on my face aod
heard yells, scieams aid sroans. II
: was all over 10 thirty seconds, and
. some one called:
' "All right, Colonel I've wiped the
varmints ont
] l sprang to find Jackson standing
3 in the centre OF the cabin, and on
the floor lay OUTLAW, wife and chill
/, dren all dead. 1t was as | had ar
gued the day previous. The two
men had separated in the woods
Sheen to return directly to camp ant
Jookaop In hunt for game for SUD,