Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-04-17

spoken by the Delawares. You were
at Chillicothe last spring?"
Il attended the council"
THE very man, and now you can
serve me well. If l may journey with
your"
Il am not overly fond of white men
who turn Indian" said coldly. How
, ever I'll see you safe to the fort gates
| if you play no forest tricks on the
way And now you might tell me who
| it is l am to companion with
| He grinned, showing his teeth, and
my eyes noted how firmly he held his
gun.
"a pledge is pledge, Master Hay
ward" he answered, insolently. Il am
called Simon Girty."
l 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 l would a venomous snake. He
read all this in my eyes, in the stiffen-
ing Of my muscles.
i No, no, Master Hayward he sneer-
/ ed, bringing his rifle forward, don't
let the name frighten you The half
i 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-
CELL my mercy. Kenton escaped the
/ stake through me, and there are white
women and children awaiting ransom
i in Detroit because / interceded for
them. Now play fair, above board
see?" and he dropped his gun on the
grass, and held out his empty hands.
st is easy to kill me, yet you will not
\. you are soldier"
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
struggle to resist.
T
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 leave
, others to deal with you as you de-
serve. AS you say am soldier, and
will act like one. 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-
ceed at your own risk, for / lift no
hand to protect you from just ven
geance. I despise you too much to
fear you. Pick UP your rifle. That is
all: now we will break our fast, and
CO."
Convinced as was that Girty actu-
ally desired to reach the fort, although
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,
led the way, permitting him to follow
or not, as he pleased. had it In my
mind to question him, but refrained
What would be the use? The fellow
would only lie, in all probability, and
one word would lead to another. He
would have to be explicit enough once
he confronted Harmar, and my duty
merely consisted in delivering him
safely at the gates of the fort.
1t was noon when we came to the
! clearings, Uttered with stumps, but
yielding view of the distant river, and
the scattered log houses of Marietta
Men were at work In the fields, but
avoided these as much as possible, al
] though they paused in their labor an6
stared suspiciously at us as we ad
7anced However / was well known
= ny size making me notable. and as
J our course was toward the town, nc
9 one objected to our progress. There
s was no recognition of the man, who
I clung close to my heels, and wasted
/ no time in getting past, eager to be
J. well rid of him.
Il In truth / felt little hope of getting
! through thus easily. The fellow was
9 too widely known not to be recognized
}. by some one. These men of the fields
Q were settlers, newly arrived mostly
ell int xxri+L
t border history, but there would be idle
hunters in the village, backwoodsmeI
e from across the river, men who hat
d ranged the northern forests, and tt
It whom the name of Girty meant much
9 Let one of these look upon the mar
), and his life would scarce be wortl
d the snap of a finger Not that cared
/, except as his safe passage involved my
own word.
:" Come along" said harshly. :"
II would be done with you"
b We advanced up the road to where
u the fort gates stood open, single
sentry standing motionless between
p the posts. AS we drew near, groul
: Of hunters-a half dozen maybe-sud
It denly emerged, their long rifles trail
y ing, on their way to the valley.
t, recognized the man In advance as thu
y Kentuckian Brady frontiersman AM
r Indian fighter, and recognizing me HI
C. stopped
IS "Ah, back again, Master Hayward.
!; he exclaimed good humoredly. Blu
t. what is it you have here? No settle
n of this valley. to my remembrance"
He stared at my companion, shading
a. his eyes with one hand, his face losing
its look of cheerfulness.
Indian trappings-hey" he ex
:. claimed. Some northwest renegade
e Stop! I've seen that face before!
g His rife came forward swiftly, as tn
truth burst upon him. Curse you
you're Simon Girty!"