The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-27

entered the fort. The evening meal
over, the anxious woman stepped, out
side to listen. she thought she might
be notified of her husbands approach
by his singing or whistling, for he was
CHEEKY man, or the barking of the
dogs. She waited until it grew quite
dark, and then suddenly the cry of J
panther broke ON the still night air 1t /
seemed a long way off and plaintiNe
as the wailing Of a child. Painters
she said. Thar amt ben nary painter !
| round this settlement all summer,
| and again she listened. The cry was /
| repeated. Her trained ear, this time I
expecting the sound, told her that it |
was a counterfeit of the crying of that |
animal. The cry this time was nearer |
| too. In an instant it was repeated on |
another side Of the house, some dis |
| lance away but still nearer than the
| first. 'Injuns,' said the hardy woman |
! Il reckon l better get things ready fer !
the varmmts.'
| SO she CROPPED her way through the,i
| darkness to the woodnile in the yard
and secured her husbands axe, re-
| turned and re-entered the fort. First
she barricaded the door and set the axe
/ against the wall, to be ready for emer-
| gencies. Then she looked over her rifle
! and saw that it was well loaded. She
leaned it against the wall near a small
| aperture set at an angle to command
| a view of one side of the fort Then,
| without saying a word, she put her lit
tie ones to bed. This done, she looked,
or, rather, felt about for something else
| to do. There seemed nothing. She
listened. The false panther cry grew
very close to the fort. Peering through
the port hole of the fort, Mrs. Kennedy
| fancied she could see forms Of Indians
gathering on the edge of the clearing, a
few rods from the building. She raised
her rifle. If it We're a panther to fire
would frighten the animal away.
i If the forms she thought she saw
were real shot would warn the Indians
+ that the inmates of the fort We're
aware Of their presence and prepared
to receive them, IT, indeed, none were
hit, which she hoped might he the
case if she fired, as it would prove to
the reds that it might be safer to stay
away than TO attack. She was almost
on the point of pulling the trigger,
, when it occurred to her that, the fort
being dark-she had not lighted the tai
low dip-the Indians might conclude.
after accommodating, that no one was
81 there, and would go away again. But
/ this was not to be, for the forms drew
II nearer until she could distinguish one
n from another. She raised her rife
nj again, aimed and fired. A form leaped
into the air and there was shrek of
/ pain and hurrying of footsteps back
= to the shelter of the trees. Mrs. Ken
= nedy quickly reloaded her rifle an?
o knowing the tactics of the Indians,
G made circuit of the room and looked
out of the portholes-there were four,
t one on each side of the fort-to see It
e an approach was attempted from any
t other point. She could see nothing.
d Another contingency now presented it
n self. She no sooner thought of it than
s she emptied the mattress on her bed
of it's stuffings of geese and turkey
ell feathers into the fireplace Then, to be
g prepared for an emergency, she awak-
s ened her little ones and made them
a stand near the door ready to run for
Y the timber if it should be- necessary to
= attempt to save herself by flight. An
$ other circuit of the portfolios was made
:. but nothing was developed. After a
t few minutes shots were fired in front
$ of the fort. Mrs. Kennedy rushed to
n the portfolio on that side and raised
S her rife. But she did not fire She
e waited for one of those dark forms to
s appear, so that she might fire effective
ly. None appeared, but the ruse of the
r Indians was effective. and one or two
of their number reached the fort from
$ the rear and scaled pole to the roof.
q Hearing the clatter on the roof, Mrs.
p Kennedy understood what it meant,
anu tllG IdCl lLldJ lliG' ItQS NELG dcl ms
q enough to attempt the feat also con-
e WINGED her that they knew her husband
> was away She sprang from the port
u hole to the fireplace, flint and steel in
hand There was a flash and flames
and pungent smoke from the feathers
rolled up the chimney.
Howls of disgust and a quick clam
bering fror. chimney to roof told that
the movement had been successful
lfba I'M n hoa OF a
. chimney retreated from the heat and
: sitting smoke. Mrs. Kennedy struck a
q light 10 the tallow dip, so that if the
= Indians got into the fort she might es-
+ cape into the darkness with her little
ones, while the assailants were temper
i arily blinded by the light. She had just
n set the light on the table in the center
/ of tie room when there came batter
ing at the door of the fort. The In
dians in front of the place had taken
u advantage of the opportunity offered by
{ the ruse of the reds on the roof to Sc
: cure large timber and charge against
i the door in an attempt to batter it in.
e At the third blow the lower half of the
d plank in the center of the door gave
;, way, leaving an aperture large enough
? to permit man crawling through.
u Mrs. Kennedy sprang to one side of the
. Goor ard stood with appraised axe. A
X painted face appeared at the aperture
= wall and on one side and the children
y on the other, all keeping quiet, the lit
: tie ores obeying every sign of their
e mother and, like young partridges
9 ready to run and hide at her signal, the
i warrior saw nothing. The painted face
was thrust further into the opening, and
: seeing nothing the Indian started bold
= ly through the broken door.
: Mrs. Kennedy compressed her lips
# until blood was forced from them, and
q when the Indian had got well within
{ the room and was about to draw his
! tomahawk she brought down the axe
with crushing force on his skull, then
+ hastily pulled him aside while death
q quoted him. The Indians, thinking
v that there was no danger, their COM
I rade having uttered no sound, started
= | another Of their number through. But
\ he caught sight of his predecessor in
j death agony and started back, uttering
e wild YELL Mrs. Kennedy struck at
e but only wounded him. He ran off
!. yelling at the top of his voice. Shots
O. from another quarter at this moment
: caused q stampede of the Indians to
h the timber. moment later there was
L signal which Mrs Kennedy under
ell stood, and she gave one in return. In
d | few seconds her husband was at the
It door of the fort, which opened, and al
though several shots We're fired by the
: Indians from the edge of the clearing,
e none was effective, and the master of
n the fort entered unframed. Hastily
: barricading the door and putting the
q | children to bed husband and wife took
: station at portfolios on opposite sides
I of the fort and watched till morning,
n but the Indians did not return. Next
: day the dead Indian was taken. to the
s forest and buried. The wounded ones