Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-12-12

DtdCh I1dWh, IuOSl Ike uS WuS q ~-
hlsself. After the KILN wus all over,
he wus the one whut got 'em ter go Off
thar to the south, the whole kit an
kaboodle."
81 don't doubt that. There have al
ways been white renegades among the
Sacs and plenty of half-breeds. Ii
Black Hawk, and this other fellow are
leading this band, they are after big
game somewhere, and we had better
keep out of their way. / favor sad
ding up Immediately, and travelling all
night"
$50 do l." and Tim flung half-flled
bag from his shoulder to the ground.
But vote we eat furst. "Tain't much,
only a few scraps / found out thar;
but it's a way better then nuthin'.
Here you, Hall, give me hand, an
then Wen go out, an round up them
hosses."
If the party of raiding Indians,
whose foul deed we had discovered,
had departed in a southerly direction,
as their trail would plainly seem to In
dicate, then our safest course would
seemingly be directed eastward up the
valley. This would give us the pro-
lection of the bluffs, and take us more
and more out Of the territory they
would be likely to cover. Within
twenty minutes we were in saddle, de-
scending the steep hillside through the
darkness, Tim walking ahead with the
lad, his horse trailing behind, and the
long rifle across his shoulder.
/ do not recall feeling any special
fear. In the first place was convinced
that we must already be at the ex-
treme limit of Black Hawks radius,
and that, travelling as we were east
ward, must before morning be well be-
yond any possible danger of falling
into the hands of his warriors. The
other pursuers l had practically dis
missed from thought. Shortly after
midnight my horse strained a tendon,
and could no longer uphold my weight.
On foot, with the poor beast limping
painfully behind me, pressed on be-
side Eloise, both of us silent, too ut
terry wearied with the strain for any
attempt at speech.
The rising sun topped the summit
of the bluff, its red rays seeming to
bridge with spans of gossamer the lit
tie valley up which we toiled. l had
lost my interest, and was walking dog
gedly on, with eyes bent upon the
ground, when the girl beside me cried
out suddenly, a new excitement In her
voice.
"Oh, there is a cabin Seei Over
yonder; just beyond that big oak,
where the bluff turns"
Her eager face was aglow, her out
stretched hand pointing eagerly.
The logs of which the little building
had been constructed, still in their ma.
tive bark, blended so perfectly with
the drab hillside beyond. that for the
moment none of us caught the distant
outlines. Tim possessed the keenesi
sight, and his voice was first to speak
"Sure, miss, thet's cabin, all right,
he said grimly. "One room, an new
built; likely 'nough sum settler just
COM In yere. / don't see no move
ment, ner smoke"
FILED to the nearest fort probably
I replied, able myself by this time tC
decipher the spot. BE too risky tC
stay out here alone. Well look Il
over; there might be food left behind
even IL the people have gone"
We must have been half an hour IL
/ oo-,o~fr~ 4ho d4Otopoa The oohf,, .4oo.
well up above the stream, within tn,
shade of the great oak, and we wer,
confirmed, long before we reached ii
In our former judgment that it wa
uninhabited. No sign of life was visi
BILE about the place; it had the ap
pearance Of desertion, no smoke ever
curling from out the chimney. A fain
trail, evidently little used, led dow
toward the creek, and we followed thi
as 1t wound around the base of tn
big tree. Then It was that the trut
dawned suddenly upon us-there t
our right lay dead mule, harnesse
for work, but with throat cut; Will
directly In front of the cabin door wa
a dog, an ugly, massive brute, hi
mouth open, prone on his back, wit
stiffened legs pointing to the sky.
dropped my rein, and strobe forward
"Wait where you are" called bacl
There have been savages here: |,
me see first what has happened ii
side"
The dog had been shot, stricken /
two bullets, and was obliged to drs
his huge body to one side before
! could press my way In through IL
door. The open doorway and windo
afforded ample light, and a sing
glance was sufficient to reveal mo
| of the story. The table had be,
smashed as by the blow of an ak, al
pewter dishes were everywhere, II
bed in one corner had been stripped
its coverlets, many of them slash
by a knife, and the straw tick h,
been ripped open in a dozen plac,
Goals from the fireplace lay wiz
spread, some of them having eat
deeply into the hard wood before tn
ceased smoldering.
l saw all this, yet my eyes rest
| upOu oOhhCluihS eiSc. n man lay, be
double across an overturned bench.
lie a posture which hid his face frc
w view. His body was there alone.
In though a child's shoe lay on
floor, and a woman's linsey DIR,
or dangled from hook against the wt
al l crept forward, my heart poundi
III madly, until could gain sight of
en- face. He was big fellow, not mc
W. than thirty, with sandy hair and bea
ed and a pugnacious jaw, his Goa
ty hickory shirt slashed into ribbons
IN bullet wound in the center of his 70
OIL head, and one arm broken by a vicit
In blow. His calloused hands vet gripr
the haft Of an az, just as he had d
ut, fighting.
alf Tins voice spoke from the do
way.
be "InJuns, reckon?"
Yes, they have been here: the n
th Is dead. But there must have b,
est others, a woman and child also
l that shoe on the floor, and the DIR
an hanging over there. The poor d.
an fought hard"
he KQnnodu cfoD,aS