The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-03-19

ne STlIHSu, SuO" HIS tettl, anu
my eyes noted how firmly he held his
gun.
"A pledge is a pledge, Master Hay
ward" he answered, insolently. Il am
called Simon Girty"
| involuntarily took a step back
| ward, staring into the mans face. +
| That he was a renegade of some sort,
| | had realized from the first, yet it /
| had never once occurred to me that he .
! could be that bloody scoundrel Girty. /
| There flashed across my mind the
! stories | had heard Of his atrocities:
| his leadership Of Indians in midnight
! forays; his malignant cruelty; the
! heartlessness with which he watched
| victims burning at the stake; his out
RACES on helpless women and children;
| the fiendiSh acts of savagery with
which his brutal name was connected
! along the border. And this was the
man-this cowardly-eyed bastard, who
stood there grinning into my face, evil
| IDENTIFY amused at my undisguised ex-
| preston of horror. Protect, and guide
him! My first inclination was to strike
the man down in his tracks, kill him
as I would a venomous snake. He
read all this in my eyes, in the stiffen-
ing Of my muscles.
mo, no, Master Hayward" he sheer
ed, bringing his rife forward, don't
let the name brighten you. The half
you've heard of me are lies. I'm not
so bad when all is told, and there is
more than one borderman who can re-
call my mercy. Kenton escaped the
stake through me, and there are white
women and children awaiting ransom
in Detroit because l interceded for
them. Now play fair, above board
see?" and he dropped his gun On the
grass, and held out his empty hands.
1T is easy to kill me, yet you will not
you are a soldier"
I stood irresolute, hesitating, half
tempted still to come to blows, yet his
act disarmed me. Beast though he
might be l could not kill him in cold
blood; | was no murderer, yet it was
, a struggle to resist.
Now listen, Simon Girty," l man
, aged to say, at last. There is no
/; friendship between US, now nor at any
/; time. | hold you a murderous rene
gade, white savage, to be shown less
mercy than an Indian dog. But l leave
others to deal with you as you de-
! serve. AS you say, | am a soldier, and
will act like one. l have pledged you
my word of guidance to Fort Harmar.
, | will keep the pledge to the letter, but
no more. Beyond the gate you pro-
, coed at your own risk. for l lift no
, hand to protect you from just ven
geance. | despise you too much to
~
. all: now we will break our fast, and
' 60"
Convinced as | was that Girty actu-
: ally desired to reach the fort, although
a somewhat skeptical as to his purpose,
| felt no fear of treachery. | was of too
great value to the fellow to warrant
: an attack; so, without hesitation, 1
led the way, permitting him to follow
! or not, as he pleased. l had it in my
: mind to question him, but refrained.
a What would be the use? The fellow
, would only lie, in all probability, and
q one word would lead to another. He
4 would have to be explicit enough once
t he confronted Harmar, and my duty
merely consisted in delivering him
a safely at the gates of the fort.
4 1t was noon when we came to the
+ clearings, Uttered with stumps. but
q yielding view Of the distant river, and
). the scattered log houses of Marietta
4 Men were at work in the fields, but
avoided these as much as possible, al
though they paused in their labor and
- stared suspiciously at us as we ad-
u vanced However l was we'll known,
h my size making me notable, and as
:, our course was toward the town, no
one objected to our progress. There
n was no recognition of the man, who
= chung close to my heels, and l wasted
, no time in getting past, eager to be
Y we'll rid Of him.
; In truth felt little hope of getting
:, through thus easily. The fellow was
= too widely known not to be recognized
> by some one. These men Of the fields
G were settlers, newly arrived mostly,
=. and slightly acquainted as yet with
border history, but there would be idle
=, hunters in the village, backWoodsmen
from across the river, men who had
: ranged the northern forests, and to
whom the name of Girty meant much
Let one of these look upon the man
" and his life would scarce be worth
q the snap Ol d uuSeI. -NOl mat L CdItu,
o. except as his safe passage involved my
own word.
Come along" l said harshly. Il
would be done with you
G We advanced up the road to where
q the fort gates stood open, a single
sentry standing motionless between
the posts. AS we drew near. a group
>, of hunters-a half dozen maybe-sud-
b denly emerged, their long rifles trail
ing, on their way to the valley.
, recognized the man in advance as the
r Kentuckian Brady, frontiersman and
g Indian fighter, and recognizing me he
q stopped.