The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1888-04-12

picked out several who had d4ten been
supplied with food snd 4 6nasanition.
There were yells Of rage frsG thoss who,
dDmounted and entered t&S hOuSe 70
ind it stripped. bat presentI = council
was held in the one big reoG Aftsr .
few minutes an Indian apps4esd around
the corner Of the house with > white rag
tied to stick, and when he kad waved
it few times he called 90 that he
wanted stalk" Miller sKodled to him
20 come on, aud he advaucedeto 10 within
fifty feet of the fort before he stepped and
called out
All come out Indians no hart Dutch
man." Ia
Is there war ?" shouted Miller"
No war-no war! Young men get
drunk and ride around, bat no war. In
dians all like Dutchman." -
"f you like us, then go away and
leave Us alone !" shouted Miller.
will you come out?'
| emo"
"Then we burn house aud kill al cat
tie I" IS
The Indians were too anx;ons % get at
their bloody work to waste mach time in
parleying. The messenger was no sooner
under shelter than the gang began to
howl and hoop, and while some opened
hre on us from the windows, others made
preparations for bonfire, In about ten
minutes the house was on fra, and the
Indians crowded together on the far
side: 1t was log house, and the roof
tell In before the sides were hardly ablaze
The slight wind blew the smoke and
sparks directly over US, so that we could
not see five feet. The Indians continued
to yell and dance for time, but sudden
ly there was a terrific explosion and a
dozen screams of terror. I was looking
into the smoke cloud, which now and
then lifted for an in slant, and l saw the
burning logs of the house scattered to
the four winds by the explosion. Miller
knew the reds would set the building on
fire, and he placed one of the kegs OF
powder where it would do the most good
We counted five Warriors killed or dis
abled by the explosion, and Miller killed
two others before the crowd got out of
range. The house was the best shelter
from which to worry US, and they had
lost by destroying it.
The strength of our fort could be seeu
at a glance. The Indians were wise
enough not to attemp rush, and the
whole party were also impatient to push
on to other scenes. Six or eight more
arrived soon after the explosion, and
presently we saw them making ready to
move Off A general volley was fred at
US, the war whoop was sounded, and the
brief siege was raised. 1t was half an
hour before we ventured out, and not an
| t. -
see tall columns of black smoke whichever
way we looked, and it was plain that the
whole section was in the hands of the
Indians. We could not at first make out
why they had left US, but Miller soon CON-
cluded that they knew what they were
about. We had no means of escape left
to us. The savages were on ev cry side,
and if we attempted to leave the neigh
borhood we should fall into the hands of
some of them. 1t was quite safe to leave
us there while they pushed on to butcher
the defenceless ones.
An hour after dinner we were Joined
by three young men who had been hid
ing, lodging and travelling since the
evening before, and who had come q dis
tance of twenty miles. They were
bachelor homesteaders, and all had rifles,
revolvers and plenty of ammunition. 1t
was welcome addition to our party, for
we now felt that we would have to stand
a siege. Mrs. Miller brought out the
pots and kettles, and cooked dinner on a
fire in the open air, and after it was eaten
she began to prepare food for the siege.
Pork was boiled, -four stirred into cakes,
coffee made and put into jugs, and before
night she had enough food to last dozen
men a week Meanwhile the rest of us
had not been idle. Some large posts were
sunk in the earth before the door, leav-
ing space enough for only one person to
come at US at time that way. -Four
more loopholes were made in the walls,
and then the planking Of the roof was
loopholed by means of the anger in at least
twenty places. I now saw what Miller
had been up to the day before. He had
put In no less than three powder mines
in the vicinity, running slow match to
each one. The only cover the Indians
could have in the neighborhood was in
the rear of the fort, where we had mined
the rock. We had left big hole, which
was a natural rifle pit, and our loopholes
did not command it. They would be
sure to occupy this place, and the men
prepared torpedo holding fifteen pounds
of powder, and hid it under the rocks
and dirt on the brink of the pit. A trench
was then dug to and under the wall of
the milk house, and by means of boards
train of powder was laid. When the
earth had been filled in again no one
could have told it had been disturbed.
We were as ready as we could be At
six o'clock, but the sun was just going
down when we saw the Indians approach
ing By that time more than 5000
| settlers had been butchered or driven
from their homes, and the war which
was to sweep over an extent of country
200 miles long and so broad, and alarm
10000 settlers, had opened in all its
| ferceness. The band which now sp-
preached numbered only sixteen war
riors, and as soon as they saw our
strength they fred q few shots at long
range aud passed on to the east. AT
dark we entered the fort, arranged the
goods and provisions to give MS all the
room possible, and by and by turned in
to sleep while one man was left on
watch. This was Miller. He was to
watch until midnight, and then call one
of the young men, but at eleven O'Clock
he quietly aroused the garrison and
whispered the news that large num-
Der of Indians had arrived. We were
hofo-o hosup IA