Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1919-02-20

still further from his friends,
perfectly tractable, so far as his
body was concerned, but con.
stantly busy in his mini with
schemes of csc pc. He bidded
his time, and at length the wish
ed for m ment arrived.
AS the distance from the white
settlements increased, the vigil
ance of the Indians relaxed. and
his hopes increased. As the par
ty passed along near a precip ce
some twenty feet high, at the
foot of which ran a mountain
torrent, he by powerful effort,
broke the cords that bound his
arms and made the leap.
The Indians whose aim it was
to take him alive. followed him
and then commenced a race for
life and liberty, which was rem
dered the more exciting by the
fact that his pursuers were close
upon him. and could nave at any
moment dispatched MIN; but such
was not their desire, and on he
sped, now buoyed up by hope. as
his recent captors were lost to
sight. and anon despairing of
success az he crossed an open
space which showed them almost
at his heels.
At length, taking advant sge of
a thicket through which he pass
ed, and which hid him from their
sight for a moment. he darIed
aside and ess ,yed to leap f len
tree which lay across his path.
The tangled underbrush and
reeds which graw thickly around
and almost covered the decaying
trunk, tripped him as he Ieaped,
and he fell with considerable
force on the opposite side.
FIR al instant he u an so stun
ned by the fall as to lose his con-
sciousness, but soon recovered 1t
to find that the Indians were ac
lively searching every nook in
his immetiate vicinity, and that
h. had fallen almost directly up
on a lar. e rattlesnake. which had
throw itself into the deadly coil
so near his face that its fangs
we're within few inches of his
nose.
Is it possible for the most vivid
imagination to imagine a more
horribly and terrifying si' uation?
The pursuit of his now highly e2-
sperated and wage enemies,
who thirsted for mis- recapture,
that they might wreck a fearful
revenge, which of itself was a
fearful danger, calculated to
thrill the nerves of the stoutest
system, had now become secon-
Diary fear, for death in one of its
most terrifying and soul sicken-
ing forus was vibrating on the
tongue and darting firm the eye
Of the fearful reptile before him;
50 near, too, that the vibratory
motion of the rattle, as it waved
to and fro, caused it to strike
his ear.
The slightest movement of a
muscle, a convulsiv- shudder
aim the winking of an eyelid
would have been the signal for
his death; yet in the midst of
this terrible danger his presence
of mind did not leave him. but
like faithful friend did him
good service in his hour of trial.
Knowing the awful nature f
his impending frte, and conscious
that the slightest quivering of a
nerve would precipitate it,. he I
scarcely breathed, and the blood
flowed feebly thru his veins, as
he lay looking death in the eye.
Surrounded. thus by the most
appalling danger, he was con-
scious that three of the Indians
had passed over the log behind
which he lay without observing
him, snd disappeared in the dark |
recesses Of the forest.
Several minutes which to him
were as many hours. passed in
this truly terrifying situation,
until the snake, apparently satis-