Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1913-10-23
AT THE TREE OF DEATH,
Ry A. |. mEsEHvs.


noon as the sun was going down. They
were nearly of the same age. and in
the very prime of life.
Each was armed with long rifle
and a knife
Upon their faces was mingled look
Of sorrow, and stern determination.
which plainly showed that some Ill for
tune had come to them, and that their
minds were made up to avenge 1t IL
possible.
And, indeed. Ill luck had come to one
OF them. All that he possessed in this
world which was dear to him had fall
en- beneath the hand of the red de-
stroyer.
His wife and children had that very
morning been slain by the savages.
and the cabin which had been their
happy home given to the flames.
He had been absent hunting in the
forest at the time, and knew nothing
of the terrible misfortune which had
befallen him until he stood upon the
edge of his clearing, and saw the work
of devastation which the red fiends
had done.
Simon Hart looked upon the scene,
and his brain turned as though his rea-
son was about to forsake him.
Dick White, his friend, stood by and
cheered him as well as he could in
this, his hour of need He seemed to
divine what was passing in Harris
mind, and he said:
I'VE cannot help them. They are
past our aid now. But there Is one
thing, Simon, that we can do. We can
live and work for vengeance. Let us
follow the murderers. and not give
over the search until they are wiped
from the earth, or we have fired our
last shot"
You are right. Dick, answered the
settler. grasping him by the hand. Il
will live for vengeance.
For the space Of minute he gave
way to his anguish, then he exclaimed,
suddenly:
Come, the trail is plain before us.
Let us take ii and follow on at once.
never before thirsted for the blood
of a redskin Now | would wipe out
the whole accursea race at one blow
II ] but had the power to do It,"
They lost no more time about the
ruins Of the cabin, but started off at
once. The trail was easy to follow,
and they had gone on until they had
reached the point where we see them
standing in the heart of the great ST.
lent forest. with the sun going down
before them.
For few moments they had been
standing motionless, without word
passing between them; but now Dick
White broke the silence by exclaim-
ing:
Simon, we are almost upon them
What makes you think SO, Dick2"
Look. DO you not sec how fresh
the trail is? II cannot have been made
a half hour ago. There! Did you see
that twig spring up there? 1t would
not have done so had ii not just beer
pressed down. They are not mile
away now, and I'll bet they're going to
camp about the Hollow Oak"
Il hope that you may be right.
long TO be dealing blows OF vengeance
upon them IT does seem as though
could not content myself much longer"
Swiftly. yet cautiously, they glided
along the trail, while the sun went
down behind the western tree tops
and the shadows of evening began to
gather thickly about them.
Growing an eminence, they could
see through the twilight the hollow
oak. beneath the branches Of which
they felt sure of finding the savages,
The night was come when at length
they stood close TO 1t, and saw shin
ing through the trees the light OF
camp fire.
Silently they crept nearer and near
er. until at last they stood 30 close to
the tree that they could count the saw
ages clustering about the fire. They
were seven In number.
AS motionless as statues they stood
there, with their eyes fixed upon their
enemies Slowly the minutes went by.
1t seemed that the time for them to
strike would never come.
The light Of the camp fire grew paler
and paler, and at last only faint glow
remained. The savages huddled about
1t. and to all appearance each and
every one was buried in slumber.,
The hour of vengeance had arrived.
Noiselessly the two hunters crept to-
ward their victims. In one hand they
held their rifles and in the other their
knives. A few steps brought them to
the side of the nearest savages.
For my wife, my, chiidrenl" ex-
claimed Simon Hart, in a whisper as
he buried his knife to the hilt in the
heart of savage.
The blow of Dick White was no less
strong and sure, and two Of the saw
ages lay weltering in their gore, their
career ended forever.
So silently and surely had the
blows been struck that neither had ut
tered SO much as groan. Their com
rades still slept on, unsuspicious of
the doom impending.
Again the knives OF the avengers
were raised, and true to their aim they
did the work assigned to them.
But three of the savages now re-
NAMED.
Another blow for my murdered
ones" shouted Simon Hart, in tone
of triumph which rang out like a
trumpet through the stiffness OF the
night.
The remaining savages sprang to
their feet, but before they could raise
an arm In their defense couple of
bullets ended the career of two of them
forever. The remaining savage turned