The Magnolia gazette., 1899-12-13
H ERoIsM UNvARNIsHED.

its mildest form, is seldom ever
cherished in the mind as a de-
liVhtful thought, much less, the
consideration d its visitation on
the young, beautiful and lovely,
bg the hand Of cruel savages,
such as I wish to relate in this
article. Thinking il viii perhaps
be interesting to some OF the
young readers of the Gazette,
Ioff + the following.
In the early co.'s, during or
ABOUT the close OF the war between |
/ the states, young lady, Mics
/ Ann Whitney, left her native land
in one II the northern states and
made her way 10 the sparceiy |
settled frontier in Texas TO what
Is now Hamilton county What
\ led her 10 leave hcr home land TO
Hive among strangers, the writer
is not informed, unless il was a
| love Of adventure which was a
manifest characteristic Of her
short career in the far west Of the
"Lone Star State.
Miss Whitney, with her pre-
possessing loyeliness, coupled |
with a cheerful disposition and |
amiablc bearing toward those |
with whom she came in contact,
soon won for her the confidence
and esteem Of the few settlers,
who in turn resolved to employ
her as the teacher OF their chill
dren. So they built little house
on the bank, or rather steep
bluff OF a little creek, four miles
northeast from where the town Of
Hamilton. the county site, now
stands. The house was built Of
postoak and elm logs, and floored
with split slabs, and the spaces
between the logs were ceiled with
boards split Of whiteoak trees. 1t
had one door and one window,
with shutters made of boards also.
The school was progressing
nicely with not word Of com
/ plant from anyone. Miss Whit
ney boarded, or rather lived with
the family of Mr.. Ezekiel Man
ming, a well-to do farmer and
cattle man. The teacher rode
her own spirited pony named
Maud, and staked her on the
grass during school hours. The
country was an open prairie with
a few scattering post oaks with an
occasional brushy mesquite.
Mary Manning, ten years old,
was one Of the pupils and accom-
panied Miss Whitney, being very
much attached to her, which was
warmly reoiprocated by the
teacher.
One beautiful and lovely day,
when the school seemed to be OBJ
livious of everything but their
pleasant surroundings and duties,
a little girl went to the door for
water, and turned and said to her
teacher,
81 see some men coming, they
look like Indians,
"No, the teacher said, -
reckon il is some herdsmen. -
The girl looked again and said,
E 90, Miss Ann, it is Indians and
they are loosing Maud. I"
Miss Whitney went to the door
: and saw the truth Of the little
girl 8 statement, but expr 9ssed a
I hope that they would take the
horse and leaye them unmolested,
!, but a minute more she must have
!, seen that her hopes were vain,
" for the saVages made straight for
= the house. She hurriedly closed
the doos and barred it with rude
. benches OF the room. The Ichil
dren were crying, expecting to bC
y killed and scalped. The teacher
gathered them in a group ant
!, threw her arms around as many as
she could, and with tender words
tried to pacify them; but, to hei
le horror, she saw the Indians were
y ripping the boards from the wal
10 and were shooting arrows through
the openings. Grouped as sht
,e and the children We're, she saw
that they would be an easy targe
u for their enemy. She, after hav
:. ing received two or three arrow
in ner own body, lifted a part o
he the flooring and directed the chil
= dren to go under the floor, whicl
some of them did, but the major
in. ity rushed to the window tina
,e- opened over the bluff and oppo
site to where the Indians were
"a and made good their escape wit
no other injury than a spraine
ID. ankle for one boy, Little Mar
far Manning refused to leave he
pm teacher. but remained alone [