Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1888-02-18

was then uuS 10 anu ulucI luC wan Va
the milk house, and by means Of
boards Il train of powder was laid
When the earth had been filled in again
no one could have told that it had been
disturbed.
We were as ready rs we could he Mt
six o'clock, but the sun was just going
down when we saw the Indians ap-
preaching, BY that time more than
three thousand settlers had been butch
cred or driven from their homes, and
the war which was to sweep over an
extent of country two hundred miles
long and sixty broad, and alarm thirty
thousand settlers, had opened in all its
ticrccnesS, The band which now
approached numbered only sixteen
warriors, and rs suon rs they saw our
strength they fired Il few shots at long
range and passed on to the east, AT
dark we entered the fort, arranged the
goods and provisions to give us all the
room possible, and by and by turned
in TO sleep while M man was left on
watch. This was Miller. lie 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 a large
number of Indians had arrived. We
were scarcely awake before being made
aware that our fort was being closely
inspected by spies, When we had
carefully pulled the plugs from the
loopholeS we could see and hear them
moving about in large numbers, BY
and by we heard Il number of them Oh
the roof. They were probably invcsti-
eating to see how TO burn us out.
At a signal from Miller we took
up our guns, carefully pokcd
the muzzlcs through the loopholcs
in the planks, and at another signal all
fired. We killed or wounded two In
dams by the yolley. and the others
hastily departed. Half an hour later
two or three Of the reds crcpt up to
the barricade in front of ourdoor with
arms full of light wood and started Il
fire. The posts were only half sea-
soncd, and all that afternoon | had
kept them wet with water. They
charrcd 4 little under the flames, but
the fire would not take hold. From
the number of Indians we could see,
and to Judge by the yclls of those out
of sight, our enemies numbered at
least fifty. After trying us with fire
they drew off to wait for daylight, and
the most of them probably went to
sleep,
When daylight came Il enemies
were re-cnforccd b, Il band Of twelve,
and these newcomers brought with
them two settlers teams and wagons
and three prisoners. Two of the pris-
oners. a man and woman, were killed
soon after coming w. | knew the
man. He lived about eight miles away,
and had frequently called at our house.
Inc thIid prisoner was Il settler zone
of us knew, About an hour after day
light the Indians sent him forward with
a white FLAG to demand our surrender.
He came up within thirty feet of oul
barricade, and then halted and told II,
what he had been commanded to do,
a dozen or more lhulalS had thtli
rifles on nm, ready to shoot IN case he
attempted to play thchl lalSc' lie wa
a blE' powerful lelloW' ana heler 81"
such Srlc1 anu anxiety III a human
couhtenahce' IN voice iouu enough
inr the indians TO near ne q Sba2s na
,aI mot a. ovorv one If II.
would bo hntrhcrrd. Miller renlicd te
him, from , 1oonholo tnllinr him to q,
hack to the Indians and ask their hes.
terms When he returned he was tc
come as close rs possible, and at a ,ig
n,I ho was ,o snrino forward and th,
,1onr would ho man for him II
WAS a pretty cool fellow. in spite o
MI his %suhcrinos. He returned f.
the Indians consulted for = f.,
minutes, and when he came back TO Il
Lo anrrn,cbod within ~twontv-Gvo foo
hoforn they shouted 70 him to half
'rhon no toll ms that we woull ho ma,
r,i,,od 70 ,,Lo ana os Tho foam, On
lrove the country. th,t fine Indians n
lovod ~. thot ali thov w,rtod W.
thoir land W. had orr prns roodr :
ooror linn o,I ~ ,w him draw lon
..aL A. z;..al ,
I Miller uttered a whistle one OF the me
t pulled open the ldoor, and nj the san
| instant the stranger made a spring fc
E shelter. 1t was a vcritablc spring fc
| life. The Indians fired at him, but &c
G late, and he pitched in among us witt
out a scratch.
Then began u Siege which lasted nil
Il days, and in which over forty Indian
G were killed or wounded. They cat
e cred in the quarry, As expected, al
o Miller exploded the torpedo and kill,
It four and badly wounded a dozen. Tn,
!, tried every possible way to burn lis o,
q and on one OF these occasions, viii
they were congregatcd together, Mill
Is sprang another of his mines and kill
|. several Of them. Five or six diilere
a times they uisnlnVol a nnU nf trucn nl