Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1911-02-24

to commence operations
Meanwhile the Indians had changed
| their tactics. Thcy were conccntrat.
| ing on their center preparatory to
! charging the wagon 1t was plain to
| the whites that they were lost. In n
| quick dash of the Indians some of
! them might bc killed or disabled, but
there would he plenty left to toma-
/ hawk their enemies. The fathers
voice trcmblcd as he said:
let us a. hard"
| But at that moment n surprise oc-
! CURED to both whites and redskins.
The former heard a crack behind
them and the latter saw a puff of
smoke on the crest One of the In
dians fell dead. Fuckers instead OF
firing again from the same spot scram-
hlcd to point few yards to his
right and from there sent another bul.
let Without waiting to see what dam.
age he had done he moved and fired
again.
The Indians paused in their advance.
Fuckers had produced already the i'm
preston that there were at least scv-
eral persons on the crest, aud since he
kept up fire from different points it
was impossible for the sayaCcs to tell
how many there were in this re-en-
, forCCmcnt.
Equally Interested in Fuckers were
the party directly beneath him They
were casting quick clanccs over their
shoulders, hoping to see party Of
armed whites come over the crest to
their assistance. But when Fuckers
called to them to keep up their fire,
that he was alone there was disap-
pointment. But there was hope. The
father seeing the advantage of Ruck-
ers' strategy, encouraged his family, Mt
the same time admOnishing them not
to fire except at an especial rcdskin.
But by this time the Indians had be
taken themselves behind slight rise
in the ground where they remained
out of sight They had evidently
withdrawn for consultation or with
view to getting the strength of their
new enemy. Fuckers and the whites
below also ceased to fire since they
could do no damage. Fuckers called
to their commander. suggesting that II
might be we'll to direct one of the
party to crawl through the cactus to
the crest: that by firing from different
points at the same time the two above
might further make it appear that
there were not more than one person
there.
1t appeared to the father that who
ever succeeded in separating himself
from the party might have a better
chance for his life, and, desiring to
give this advantage to his daughter,
he directed her to do as Fuckers had
suggested The redskins detected her
| and sent a shot at her which raised the
dust only a foot from her, but she sue
cecded in her attempt.
When Fuckers saw an attractive girl
who had come to fight with him for
her life and the lives Of all concerned
a new resolve came to him that they
should win. There was an eager light
in the girls eye as she asked what she
should do. Fuckers, who since she
had been fired at in joining him had
| lost confidence in his ruse, told her to
| lie fiat beside him and wait for orders.
The Indians appeared again, scatter
! ing at first in order to distract the
whites, then suddenly making on con-
verging lines for the wagon. Fuckers
called to those behind it to aim at the
savages nearest the center told the
girl beside him to fire at those on the
Indians right, while he would cover
the left and any such individuals as
he thought it an advantage to put out
of the fight
This dividing up the enemy between
them proved to be very effective. The
savages had not covered half the dis
tance between their starting point and
the wagon when a dozen of their war
riors had been dropped. They hesitat-
| ed, broke and Scurried for cover.
There was a shout, and dozen COW
boys came galloping toward the
| wagon.
Fuckers turned and looked at the
| girl beside him; she turned and looked
at him. There are moments when our
emotions sweep away conventionality.
| These two had met for the first time
half an hour before. Death had then
stared them in the face. Now all were
| safe. Yielding TO an impulse that
selEcu upon botu dI OLIe, theS 'hiS"
their arms about each others neck,
and the man covered the girls face
| with kisses.
Fuckers had not been on the crest
an hour, but he had been there long
enough to save the lives of the family.
| When his first shot cracked the saw
| ages were about to make n charge that
would have been succeSful. He had
stood them off just long enough for
the cowboys to come in and make the
safety of their intended victims GER
tain.
Night was coming on, and the cow
boys threw up an earthwOrk in a circle
about the wagon and the stock, and
pickets We're put out for the night, but
morning dawned without an attack,