The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-02-22
LINDSlY'S RUSE.

About sunrise of crisp October morn.
ing in the. year 1855 Oliver Lindsay,
slim, sunburned lad of 10, was standing
On the platform of the Fort Hunter stock
ade looking very discontentediy at the au-
tumn landscape.
1t was more than year after Brad
docks disastrous defeat near Fort Du-
quesne, and the nlurderous Shawnees and
Delawares, in their slow and unopposed
advance with scalping knife and toma-
Z hawk, had penetrated to this part of the
province of Pennsylvania.
A dozen families were under the protec-
tion of Fort Hunter, which was garrisoned
by two sergeants and "a privates. Mr..
Lindsay, with his wife, had gone on to
Philadelphia to urge the need of more ell
Gent protection upon the assembly, leav-
ing Oliver in care of neighbors at the fort.
All through the summer he had looked
forward to the joys of October. Now, in
stead of gathering nuts for winter or
tracking deer and smaller game, he was
prisoner behind the tall stockade.
He could have better stood danger and
excitement, but there was not even that to
relieve the irksomeness of life at the fort.
No Indian atrocities had occurred within
80 miles, and the scouts who went out
daily reported no signs of savages.
"I'd like to stretch my legs on the
mountain and pick up few chestnuts,
Oliver remarked to the sentry below him.
''They're just dropping out of the burs
now. l wonder if there's any danger?"
Private Gideon Gimble, having an ex-
allied idea of his own dignity and of the
rigid duties OF his post, frowned slightly
by way of reply, but Sergeant Piper, who
CHANGED to be passing along, overheard the
latter part of divers remark.
Don't be afraid, sonny" he said reas-
suringly. Your hair amt in any danger
of bein lifted. Why, I'd make my afterda-
Wit there amt a redskin within 40 miles.
They know better than to NEEDLE with
provincial troops, an as long as you people
stay in this fort you're safe.
II didn't mean that Oliver began in
dignantly, but the sergeant had already
paced out of hearing and was negotiating
a loan of tobacco from his fellow officer.
A moment later Oliver jumped down
from the platform and thougbtfully
crossed the yard. Sergeant Piper says
thieves no danger he reflected, land he
ought to know. I'm just ravenous for
chestnuts. l needn't go far, and I can
easily get back before I'm missed"
A glance around satisfied him that the
coast was clear. He mounted the stockade
on the river side, climbed over and dropped
lightly down in the grass.
From the bluff on which the fort stood
the lad descended to the ravine of the
creek, and after following this for half a
mile he struck across the thick timber to
the first mountain.
He sorely wished that he had his gun
along for quail and turkeys constantly
started up before him, and once he caught
a distant glimpse of deer.
Beguiled by the beauty of the day and
by the intoxication of his freedom, Oliver
strayed across the valley to what was
known as Little mountain, where he filed
his bag with chestnuts in a short time. 1t
was now long past noon, and he ruefully
discovered that he was hungry and good
distance from the fort
AS he lay stretched ON the sunny slope
of rock partly up the mountain bright
idea occurred to him. Only u miles
away the sharp face of Peters mountain
dropped into the SusQuehanna, and he
could see the very clump of trees behind
which the home clearing stood.
He remembered that in the hasty prep
aration for flight he had concealed his
fowling boat under bushes at the mouth
of the run. What was to prevent his get
ting it now and padding down the river
to the fort?
The more he thought of the plan the
better he liked it. He felt strong desire
to see how the place looked after week Of
solitude. Perhaps the chickens and ducks
had not been able to scratch living for
themselves and were dying of starvation,
or Brown Bess, the COW, which his father
had driven far into the woods, had re-
turned to the empty stable and missed the
companionship of the two horses, who, by
this time, had carried Mr.. Lindsay and his
wife to Philadelphia.
AT last he broke from the shadowy oak
and chestnut timber into the ,neager clear