The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-04-10

mao 6pp0aEGU LEOW OouAbO VIC aOW~s
hen another and another. until now
there was a line of them eloWly but
steadily creeping upon the church,
& z4beth Crird 20 cry out, but her
tongue wcu'd not move. Il only gave
a little cl ckIng sourd that attracted
Margaret. Sue glanced up, too. and
cav Then her fsCe began to turn the
hue Of death, and her fright was such
she could not for the life Of her have
moved hand or foot. A moment meant
every thing, even life itself, TO every
soul within the church. Il was Eliza
beth who saw it, who realized it, for
by the end OF that brief space the In
dams would be at the door. They
would throw Themselves upon the
guards ere the door could be closed,
apd all would be lostl How horribly
near they. we're even them She
could sea the shadows creeping nearer,
nearer, for nov che had lost eignt OF
toe Inoians themselves, they were
hugging 30 close { the wall Of the
church. Gould she make Mi " Dot
ham or Mr.. Lowndes see or hear 10
TINT No, it was impossible. They
would look up, but iE would be toward
her. Then the In0ians would b. upon
them. There was but one thing to dc and
EI Eabeth did lt. Wi h quick young
limbs che sprang up, fret upon the
cushioned seat and then over The bCx
/ ke structure of the pew, knocking off
Margaret's bonnet as she did TO and
almost knocktng over the old Oassique,
who hau bent for ward With the aglIIty
of q young cat 4 z4beth landed full
upon her fee in the stonea iEle. From
there to the goal was but a snort space
Sac turned and spetd along 1t. She
reached tne great, iron bound door, al
most falling against Mejor DJ'ham az
she did so. She caught it With her
white, firm hands. Sue threw all the
strength IF her arms to it. The next
Instant, with a eharp clang that rang
through The chur On, the great iron bar
swung tsue and caught upon the fran
ing of the door, holding fast, and al.
most at the same ins Tan the Savages
hurled themselves against the door,
WI h q blood-curdliDg whoop that al
most stopped the beating Of every
heart within the church. They Rllre-
aliz d what had had happened.
where is the brave man who shut
that door so quickly aud saved u
Iives3" at ked The old minister, with
trembling voice as he joined the exclt-d
group Roout the door.
Then Major D1tham, reaching out.
lifted z EAOeth TO his shoulder, ere she
had the least idea of bis intent, and
strong man that he was, his own voice
trembled as he said:
Here, friends; here is tie brave
one TO whom, under God, we owe our
lives; no man, as you see, but only a
weak girl, a mere child, but where is
there the man among US who could
have done a more heroic thing that
that3"
Then, although they were in a
church, and the savages were at that
moment beating against the door
they cheered her; and the women,
croWdIng around, kissed her face, tntn
caught up their OWL little ones, kiss :
ing them, too, and crying over them,
too, but for joy, because OF this brave
thing whereby their lives had been
saved.
As for Margaret. poor, silly, thought
less Margaret! All she could do was to
clasp her young sister hysterrcaly in
her arms and cry over her, and kise
her hands, the brave hands that had
done so great a deed, and beg her for
giveness over and over again.
Bat now they had all they could do
to keep lhe Iadians at bay, for though
ii bad caught with it's iron FASTENING s,
yet the door needed guarding constanE
ly. And there were the windows and
the roof. The Indians might at any
time make the tf)r to fire the roof.
For three hours the struggle went on
Some of the Indians we're killed; eev
erBl wounded. Nor did those within
the church escape, for there was more
than one blood stain left on pew and
Fl 1Or to msrx that memora Die Easter.
But at the end of that time'a detach-
ment of troops arrived and the In
olans were oil persed. And through.
out that long and dreadful war, known
In history as the Yemassee war, that
war that tried mems souls, that laid
In ashes their homes, that caused