Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-10-02
A FENCING BOUT.

4 VA 14NS1 TLOilSSLIlOu rSLuTuGu
 to Vincennes, and if he was
 Sorely touched in his amour propfA. by seeing his suddenly acquired military rank and title drop away he did not let it be known to his fellow citizens. He promptly called upon the new commander and made acquaint- ance with Lieutenant Fitzhugh Bever- ley, who just then was experimenting the work of cleaning up an old cannon in the fort and mending some breaks in the stockade.
 Helm formed great liking for the big Frenchman, whose breezy freedom Of manner and expansive good humor struck him favorably from the begin ming. M. Roussillon's ability to speak English with considerable ease helped the friendship along, no doubt; at all events their first interview ended with a hearty show of good fellowship, and as time passed they became almost in- Eeparable companions during NJ. Rous- @ffion's periods of rest from his trading excursions among the Indians. They played cards and brewed hot drinks over which they told marvellous stories, the latest one invariably surpassing all zts predecessors.
 Helm had an eye to business, and turned M. Roussillon's knowledge of the Indians to valuable account, so that he soon had very pleasant rela- tions with most of the tribes within xeach of his agents. This gave feel Ing of great security to the people of Vincennes. They pursued their nar- Row agricultural activities with excel lent results and redoubled those social 1 gayeties which, even in hut and cabin under all the adverse conditions of ex- freme frontier life, were dear to the volatile and genial French tempera- ment
 lieutenant Beverley found much to interest him in the quaint town, but the piece de resistance was Oncle JazOn, who proved to be both fasctnat ing and unmanageable hard nut to crack, yet possessing a kernel abso- luteIy original in flavor. Beverley wis tied him one evening in his hut-it might better be called den-a curi- ously built thing, with walls of vertical poles set in a quadrangular trench dug fn the ground, and roofed with grass. Inside and out it was plastered with clay, and the floor of dried mud was as smooth and hard as concrete paving. In one end there was a wide fireplace grimy with soot, in the other mere peephole for window; a wooden bench, a bed of skins and two or three stools were barely visible in the gloom. Tn the doorway Oncle 'Jazon sat whit ting slender billet of hickory into ramrod for his long fintlock American rife
 Maybe ye know Simon Kenton," said the old man, after he and Beverley mad conversed for awhile, seeing that you are from Kentucky eh?"
 Yes, I do know him well; he's a warm personal friend of mine," said Beverley with quick interest, for it surprised him that Oncle Jazon should know anything about Kenton. Do you know him, M. Jazon?"
 Oncle Jazon winked conceitedly and sighted along his rudimentary ramrod tO see if it was straight, then, pucker- ing his lips as if on the point of whis- ting, made an affirmative noise quite Impossible to spell,
 .'Well, I'm glad you are acquainted with Kenton," said Beverley. Where did you and he come togetherT
 Oncle Jazon chuckled reminiscentiy and scratched the skinless, cicatrized spot where his scalp had once four ished
 "Oh, several places" he answered. ssYe see thet hair a-hangin' there on the walI7'' He pointed at dry wisp dangling under peg in log barely visible by the bad light. "Well, thet's I~, EIn hn hnV ETn {ntrp as if the fact were a most enjoyable joke "Simcn Kenton can tell ye about fhet little affair The Indians thought was dead, and they took my hair; but I wasn't dead. I was just a-givin 'em possum act When they was gone got mp from where was a-layin' and trotted off. My head was sore, and, ventrebleu, but I was madi He, he, her'
 All this time he spoke in French, and the English but poorly paraphras- es his odd turns of expression His. grimaces and grunts cannot even be hinted.
 It was a long story, as Beverley re eeived 1t, told scrappily, but with cer- tain rude art Tn the end Oncle Jazon said with unctuous self satisfaction:
 Accidents will happen. I got my chance at thet Indian who skinned my head, and jes took a bead on i'm with my old rifle. I can't shoot much, never could, but happened to hit i'm square in the lef' eye, what shot at, and it was a hundred yards. Down he tum- bles, and runs to i'm and finds my same old scalp a-hangin' to his belt. We'll, I lifted off his hair with my knife and united mine from the belt and then had both scalps-he, he, he! sYe ask Simon Kenton when ye see 'im He was along at the same time, and they made i'm run the ga'ntlet and pretty nigh beat the life out of i'm. VentrebleuF'
 Twilight and moonlight were blend ing softly when Beverley, on his way back to the fort, departing from a di-