The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1903-11-14

"Maybe ye know Simon Kenton."
said the old man, after he and Beverley
had conversod for awhile. seeing that
you are from Kentucky-ehr
eyes, l do know him well; he's a
warm personal friend OF mine." said
Beverley with quick interest, for Il
surprised him that oncle Jazon should
know anything about Kenton. DO you
know him, NJ JazonT
Oncle Jazon winked conceitedly aud
sighted along bis rudimentary ramrod
to see n II was straight then, pucker-
Ing his lips as II on the point OF whis-
Ting. made an Affirmative noise quite
impossible to spell.
"wen I'm glad you are acquainted
with Kenton" said Beverley. where
did you aud he come togetherT'
oncle Jazcn chuckled remlnlscently
and scratched the skinless, cicatriEed
spot where his scalp had once -four
ished.
"Oh, several places" he answered.
eye see thet hair a-hangin' there ON
the WALTZ" He pointed at dry wlsp
dangling under a peg In a log barely
visible by the bad light "Well. thets
my scalp. lie, he, her He snickered
as n the fact were most enjoyable
Joke. "simon Kenton can tell ye about
thet little AFFAIR. The Indians thought
| was dead. and they took my hair; but
wasn't dead. was just a-glvin' 'em
a possum act. when they was gone
got up from where was a-layin and
trotted OF. My head was sore, and,
ventrebleu. but was madi He, he,
her
All this time he spoke In French,
and the English but poorly paraphraa-
es his odd turns OF expression. His
grimaces and grunts cannot even be
hinted.
II was a long story, as Beverley re-
celved it, told scrapplly. but with GER
tain rude art. In the end oncle Jazon
said with unctuous self satisfaction;
Accidents will happen. l got my
chance at thet Indian who skinned my
head, and jes' took a bead ON i'm with
my old rifle. l can't shoot much, never
could, but / happened 10 hit 'lm square
In the lef' eye. what l shot at, and Il
was hundred yards. Down he tum'
bles, and l runs to i'm and ands my
same old scalp a.hangin' to his belt
Well, lifted on his hair with my
knife and united mine from the belt
and then had both scalps-he. he. hel
Ye ask simon Kenton when ye see
I'm. He was along nc the same time,
and they made I'm run the ga'ntlet ana
pretty nigh beat the life out Of I'm
Ventrebleup
Twilight and moonlight were blend
Ing softly when Beverley. on his way
back 70 the fort. departing from al.
rect course, went along the rivers side
southwark to have a few moments OF
reflective strolling within reach OF the
waters pleasant murmur and the
towns indefinite evening stir Rich
sweetness, the gift OF early autumn.
was on the air blowing softly out Of a
lilac west aud singing In the willow
fringe that hung here and there over
the bank.
on the farther side OF the rivers wide
dow. swollen by recent heavy rains.
Beverley saw n plrogue, In one end OF
which a dark igure swayed 10 the
strokes OF paddle. The slender and
shallow little craft was bobbing on the.
choppy waves and taking Eigzag
course among floating logs nnd masses
pf nghlsf 'driftwood while making 6lSv
out certain headway toward the hithey
bank.
Beverley took BIT OF punk ana q
fiint and steel from his pocket, relit hia
pipe and stood watching the skilIfol
boatman conduct bis somewhat dan,
gerOus voyage diagonaily against tha
rolling currcnt II was a shifting, bide
and seek scene, its features appearing
and disappearing with the action OF the
waves and the doubtful light reflected
from fading clouds and sky. Now and
again the man stood up Ia his skittlah
piroguc, balancing himself with care. tc
use a short pole IN showing drlftwood
out Of his way. and more than once hs
looked TO beverley as II be had plunged
headlong Into the dark water.
Beverley stood AZ ease. Idly and half
drcamlly looking on. when suddenly
something caused a catastrophe, which
for moment he did not comprehend.
In fact, the man In the plronie came
10 grief as a man ln a plrogue n very
apt TO DO, and fairly aomersaulted over