, 1888-07-11

49, - ~
tell on him, and the shouting Indians be-
gan to gGin. They were thirty rods be-
hind him at the start, but before half the
distance TO the house had been traversed
they were not ten rods behind.
Run, fatherl run for your lifei"
shouted grandmother, waving her hand
to him; and he did his best.
But the old man did not have it in him.
He was within rife shot of the door,
when the redskins bore him down to the
grass, right 10 plain sight of his wife.
Five or six of them halted to take care
of the prisoner, and the rest, whooping
and yelling, made for the house. Grand
mother stood square in the door, and the
rifle vas slowly lifted.
When the foremost savage wa twenty
rods away, out on a line with the barrel,
there was a quick report and the Indian
fell forward on the grass. Then she
stepped back, closed the door, and the
next momen the shouting demons
jumped against it. The door stood like
a rock. Baffled and disappointed, the
Indians hacked at the boards with their
tomahawks, as If to hew their way in.
Striking away, one of the blows fell on a
knot in tine plank and the knot fell at the
woman's feet, while a hole as large as a
mans fist was left in the door. En-
couraged by this the Indians were chop
ping away, when grandmother seized the
revolver, took swift aim, and a horrible
yell mingled with the report. The In
dams then fell back to where they had
left their prisoner, and were out of
range.
Grandfather had his arms tied behind
him, and after a few minutes walked out
a few feet in advance of his captors. He
looked at the house, her looked back
and refused to obey the command given
him. The Indians advanced, drew their
tomahawks, and then the captive shouted;
Nancy Nancyi unbar the door,
leave the rifle in the house and come out
here. They won't hurt you'll"
The wife heard every word of 1t, and
the trembling tones Of the old mans
voice made her heart ache. But she
knew that the Indians had forced him to
make the appeal and that it was only a
ruse for them to get another prisoner.
She made no reply, and directly the red
skins forced the old man 10 speak again.
Nancy" be called, ''the Indians say
If you don't come out they will murder
me right here"
1t was the hardest struggle of her long
ihp, u BldidLlOthti GthlLLtd luhL DOl1
would certainly be murdered IL she COM
piled, and hat if she held out there was
hope that help might come from immi-
grants or hunters before night. Tears
came to her eyes, and she could not
choke down her sobs as she thought of
her husbands fate; but she was deter
mined to resist to the last. As she did
not reply, one of the Indians, who could
speak English quite well, stepped out
and shouted:
Come, hurry up, quick. You no
come out, we kill old MANI
Peter Barnes" shouted old grand
mother, her mouth at the knot hole, 81
know that you don't wan me to come
out, and / shall not come. / nave the
rifle and revolver, and 1 shall defend the
house to the lastl Be on your watch for
a chance to break away and run to the
house."
h Indians understood sufficient Of the
speech to know that the woman did not
propose to surrender, and they gathered
around the prisoner and held a consulta-
ton. At length, leaving two OF their
number to guard him, the others, fifteen
III all, made a detour and collected on the
north side Of the house. They had no
arrows to fire the house from a distance,
but gathered brush and piled it against
the north door to force the woman to
come out.
She had no loopholes on that side, but
going up stairs she softly removed a strip
Of ''chlnldng" from between two Of the
logs, thrust through the hand holding the
revolver, and shooting by guess badly
Wounded one Of the savages.
With a great whooping and yelling the
rascals drew out of range and held an
other consultation. In a few minutes
they all reappeared on the south side,
gathered about grandfather, and directly
struck a course for the woods from
which they had first issued, grandfather
being led along behind. The woman
watched them with the greatest anxiety,
believing that they had abandoned the
siege and that she would never see her
husband again.
She watched and waited for about half
an hour, and was just thinking Of open
ing the door when a faint whooping
reached her from the woods. Amoment
afterwards grandfather came flying
across the fields, waving his hands to her
as soon as leaving the woods. Two or
three minutes later the Indians burst out
of the woods in full cry, but were forty
rods behind the fugitive.
Grandmother realized that an escape
had been made, and she laid down the
revolver and stood ready to open the door.
AS the fugitive got within twenty rods,
being then thirty rods ahead of pursuit,
she began to unbar the door. She had
only touched 1t when some one leaped
against it-not one, but four or five.
Finding it fast, the savages, for such they
were, sat up a howl of rage and retreated
out of range. Grandfather was standing
still, about fifteen rods from the door,
and the woman did not nave to look twice
to see into the game. One of the Indians
had donned the prisoners clothing,
jammed the familiar hat over his fore
head, and the pursuit was all a sham.
Before he had left the woods four or five
Indians had made q detour and softly APP
preached the house, SO as to be ready to
leap in when the bar came down from
the door. 1t was not grandmother's wit,
but their own haste In leaping out, which
had prevented the capture Of the house
and her death.
The savages her tried another plan.
They brought the old man u of the
woods, naked except his shirt, tied him
to a wild plum tree Just out Of rifle range