The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-02-04

that they dubbed me "The- Boy Who
Stood-Fast."
In April of the next year cut my foot
while chopping and was laid up for sew
eral weeks. This was during the sugar
making season, and father and mother
were necessarily in the bush a good
share of the time. Our cabin had but
one room below, and my bed was in a
far corner. The path from the sugar
bush came up at the rear of the house.
One warm, pleasant day about the end of
the month, and about mid-afternoon,
was aroused from light sleep by hear
ing some one open the door. lay fac
ing it, and l saw strange white man
enter and look around. He was a rough,
evil-looking man, and l knew that he
was a stranger in the neighborhood. l
suppose that he believed us all in the
bush, for he leaned his rife against the
logs and walked over to a chest in which
father kept his papers and which was
the storehouse for articles of personal
wear which we never used.
A report had got abroad that father
had brought money into the country to
buy land While this was untrue, it
had found believers, and this desperate
had come to rob us. had not yet been
out of bed. Father had his rifle at the
sugar camp, while my shotgun hung on
its hooks ten feet away. | could do
nothing to drive the man away, and if l
betrayed my presence he might kill me.
l therefore lay quiet, hoping that some
thing might bring father up.
The chest had a spring lock, and the
key was hanging on the chimney. The
stranger did not even look for it, but set
about breaking open the chest with his
hunting knife. In his efforts he broke
the blade square off about two inches
back from the point. He was cursing
and growing and still at work when 1
heard mothers footsteps outside. l was
close to the logs, and in turning the
corner of the house the path led over
rocky surface. / knew she'd walk right
in on the man, and l realized that he
might kill her, but l suddenly became so
weak that l could not lift a finger nor
raise my voice.
The door was a bit ajar, and mother
pushed it open and walked in. She had
come up to dress my foot. AS she en-
tered the man rose up with curse, and
for twenty seconds the two STOOD look
ing each other in the face. rhen moth
er suspected what sort of a fellow he was
and what he was there for, and she
sprang at him. He had the broken
hunting knife in his hand, aud l saw
him lunge at her. AS he did so she
struck him with her open hand fair on
the nose-a woman's awkard blow, but a
powerful one-and he yelled right out
as he went down. She had one hand in
his hair and the other clutching his
throat in no time, and then came bumpl
bumpi bump as she knocked his head
on the puncheon floor. 1t wasn't over
three minutes from the time she entered
the door until she had him tied hand
and foot, and it was only after that op-
Grafton that she looked over to me and
asked:
''Harry, are you awake9"
Well, we had the fellow snug and fast.
The blow mother gave him almost
smashed his nose, and he bled like a
stuck hog. She choked him until he
was black in the face, and it was about
ten minutes before he fully recovered
his senses. Then how he did go on
He writhed and twisted, raved and
cursed, and mother had to threaten to
put Goals to his flesh to calm him down.
She carried me to chair, got rest for
my foot, and then left me to watch
while she went after father. l sat there
with my shotgun in my hands, and three
different times L cooked it aud made
ready to fire on the fellow, who was de-
termined not to be held. When father
came up the man changed his tactics,
and became as humble as dog. He
tried to make us believe that he thought
our cabin the home of his uncle, and
that he was aftera deed which his uncle
was illegally holding.
Every border neighborhood made its
own laws in those days. Father called
in couple of ncighbors to consult over
the case, and as result the fellow was
taken out, tied to a tree and then
switched on the bare back until his cries
for mercy could be heard a mile away.
His weapons were retained and he was
set free to take the trail for settlement
fifteen miles away. 1t was expected that
he would return some day for revenge,
but he never did.
In those early days the country was
full of game, and wolves, bears, panthers
and wild cats were numerous. The
panthers were our greatest foes, as they
sought to kill everything in the line OF
live stock, and we lost several head by
them. On one occasion when our pony
was running loose in the woods with a
bell on his neck, l went to look him up.
/ found him two miles from home.
Guided by the bell, discovered him on
the further side of glade or opening,
about ten rods across. had just come
TO the edge of the glade, and had opened
my mouth to call the pony when a
panther sprang on his back from the
limb of a tree. His spring almost
knocked the pony down, but he was a
stout little fellow, and he got his feet
and came dashing straight at me. The
panther was fairly on his back, but the
motion gave him enough to do to hang
on. The pony dashed for big beech
with low spreading Inns, and at two
Jumps he was relieved of his burden and
the panther rolled to the ground within
four feet of me, screaming out in a way
to lift my heels off the ground. l ex
pected to be attacked, and on this oc
cosion had no weapon with me. tn,