Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-10-30


the windows and loop-holes of those
dim and ghostly sentinels of plutonian
shore.
The shadow of a dream without its
silence. The never-ceasing wash Of the
waves upon the strand, the crash and
grinding of the ice foes, the signing Of
the wind in the tree-tops, and the bay
ing Of wolves in pursuit of prey, lent a
demoniac reality to the picture.
The interior of the block-house pre-
scented scene in strong contrast 10 that
without BY the light of fire Of resin
Gus pine women were knitting, children
sleeping peacefully on blankets or bear
skins, while men smoked and told
stories of adventure or speculated on
the probabilities of the future il the
royal troops should or should not come
to their relief
II wish it was Colonel Washington
and his rangers instead OF them sassy
red coats that was coming. The grass
wouldn't grow under his feet.
mind, don'tdoubt that we can whip
the Frenchmen ourselves, and then
vote that we go and hunt up the En-
glish troops and lick than for not getting
here in time" This suggestion was
favorably received, the popular belief
being that one ranger was a match for
three Englishmen-
81 served under Johnson at Crown
Point" continued tho speaker, q
weather-beaten and soldier-like man.
General Dieskan commanded the
French and Indians, and, II we had
been English troops, led by thick
headed English officers, | wouldn't be
here TO tell the story. As it was, we
fell into an ambuscade and the advance
guard was thrown into confusion. John
son said he was wounded, but he wasn't
hurt bad enough to stop him from rum
ming away. But we didn't miss him,
for Lyman was there, cool and quiet as
IL he didn't think it was much of a
shower after all The Indians were
firing under cover. and the Frenchmen
coming on in line of battle with bay
onets at the charge. 1t was ticklish
moment; but Lyman called TO the
stragglers to drop, and the front rank
fred over them 1t was the French
mans turn then. Then Charley Sell
wyn gathered up the stvagglers and
charged the Indians in the woods, driv-
ing them out and piling them ON to the
French, while our main body poured
volley after volley into the struggling
mass But Dieskan was a lion, and he
few around among his mon, and while
the Indians skulled to the rear, firing
at us as they went, he got his regulars
into order and led them to the charge
him self, shouting: En- avant, mes en-
fans! Vive le Francer The men took
up the cry, and came on shouting: 'Vive
lie FranceP
but we stood firm; our front rank
knelt, the second stopped and the
third fred over their shoulders, and
poured a storm of bullets into them at
short range Their front rank and most
of the second fell in piles. Dieskan
himself staggered, ran few PAGES,
calling to his men TO follow, and
tumbled head first on the ground, which
was wet with blood. Then the French
charge. The French tried to rescue
their leader, but our boys, firing as
they advanced, drove them back, and
George Marden captured two of their
cannon and turned them on their
owners. Then they began to break,
and although they kept up a running
fight for awhile, they finally gave it up.
We took lot of prisoners and boat
loads of arms, and Lyman said we had
gained great victory and that King
George would thank us for it,"
"But he didn't, did he, Jabe?" asked
one OF his listeners.
mo, nor Lyman either; but he made
runaway johnson baronet, as they
call it, and sent him lot of gold and
silver clothes, and called him the hero
of Crown Point" added Jabe, with
smile that proved that he appreciated
the royal sagacity, though not in way
to flatter his majesty.
Tell us, Jabe," said woman with
child in her arms which bore a strong
resemblance TO the orator and was
making silent but effective efforts to
reach him, tell us how Master Marden
got that Indian boy that follows him
about like his shadow"
"Well, you see, there was two Of
them said Jabe, transferring the in
FAINT to his own broad bosom, where it
presently fell asleep. After the bat
tie I've been telling you about, Marden
chased the Indians until 1t was too dark
to see them, and on his way back to
camp he found two young half-breeds, a
boy and girl They might DO twins,
they were so like in features, size and
every thing. The boy had been hit by
a bullet, and his sister was trying to
bandage his wound with leaves and
strips from her blanket. Our boys
haven't much love for the redskins, but
the look that the girl gave Marden cut
OF her big black eyes melted his heart
like a lump of sugar, and he gave orders
to bring the boy along. We made a
kind of stretcher with our rifles and
coats and laid him on It. the girl
walking beside him, holding his hand
and saying few words in French now
and then almost in whisper, but il
seemed TO help him to bear the pain.