The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-09-04

1 ty message.to Major Crogllan, de-
|mAnding the surrender of the little
j tort. Hiss demand was met with the
reply that "the fortfshoulH not Be
given up while O man was able to
4 fight. The ASSEMBLING lines were
i quickly formed, the Indians were
prompted to deeds ofsdApred ation,
and the conflict began.
Within'th the fort one hundred and
sixty young men stood waiting pa
1 tiently for the unequal fight to begin.
!. Silently they watched 1.-THE. dlsky reds
as they stole stealthily up behind the
brush-Wood, while the British regu-
lars weraforming into assaulting col
umns. Side byside, musket in hand.
stood Pete and Albert.
Pete" said Albert. 81 feel as
though my time were near at hand.
II should go to-day, Willyou promise
to deliver a little packet you will find
in my pocket to the rightful owner,
at the first opportunity you have?
Break the seal OF the envelope, and
on the face Of an inner one YOU will
find the full address. y
1, promise; and if ] GO to-day, will
you'go the School-teacher at Nav
tuckst and tell her that Pete, the
ploM-boy,' did his very best?'
u will, but what is she to you?''
The rattle Of musketry put an end
to- further conversation, and in a few
minutes the two friends were engaged
in y hand-to-hand struggle with six
Indians.
Brave hearts, those, yet each one
seemed to realize that, perhaps, be-
fore the glorious midsummer sun
sank down the. placid waters of Lake
Erie, they would fire their last shot
for their coulltry's cause. The
assault was terrible. The Indain
war-whoop pierced the bosom of the
forest with it's shrill Muskets,
tomahaWks and sabers clashed and
glittered in the sunlight. The resis-
tance was furious and determined.
The assembling columns fell back to
reform their lines. Again they ad-
vanced, to meet demoralizing re-
pulse. A third and desperate attack
met with far more disastrous results;
for, besides repulsing the enemy, the
noble little garrison now sailed forth
to rout them. Defeated and demon
allied, the invaders were put t. FIGHT,
followed closely by the brave little
band. Unfortunately, small parties
of the latter became detached from
the main body, and becoming
separated one from another, were
soon struggling in couples through
the woods: Pete and Albert shared
this fate. Throughout the en-.
tire struggle they had stood side
by side, had sailed forth together,
and now they were skirmishing here
and there, eager for an encounter oil
some kind or other. In the distance
they could hear the shouts of the
victorious little band, answered at
times by faint volleys from the pur.
sued. Quickening their steps, they
soon emerged from the forest into a
clearing. Albert was slightly in ad-
vance of Pete. Just as he
passed from behind huge oak tree
on the border of the forest, he
threw up his arms, uttered a cry OF
anguish and fell dead. A stray shot
had found it's way home. Pete
dropped on his knees and raised AL
bert's head. A little stream of life's
fluid, coming from little above the
heart, told the tale. Pete raised the
body in his arms, and was about to
retrace his steps to the fort, when he
thought of the promise he had made
but a few short hours before. He
found the packet, broke the ceal and
endeavored to read the superscrip.
ton on the inclosed envelope. La.
boriously spelling it out, he found it
to run as follows: .s,..,.: n
To Mrs. A. Wright,
School Teache.,
A'SsAs Nantucket, O.
/ A ray of sunlight pierced the dense
foliage and lit up his calm face for
an instant. Then a look of sullen
thought caused the lines of his face
| to harden while his limbs trembled
with emotion.
''This will not do" he muttered,
as he wiped his eyes, picked up the
corpse and started for the fort.
Pete's strange disappearance caus-
ed some excitement in Nantucket.
After the lapse Of a few weeks he was
IL. L 4