The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-08-01
Copyright By Charles sczibneris SONS
CHAPTER XIV
Dawned 1871.

The war was coming into Virginia at
last Virginia falling would thrust
great wedge through the center of the
confederacy, feed the British armies
and end the fight CORVALLIS was to
drive the wedge, and never had the
opening seemed easier. Virginia was
drained Of her fighting men, and south
of the mountains was protected only
by militia, for the most part, of
old men and boys. North and south
ran despair The soldiers had no pay.
little food, and only. old WORKOUT coats,
tartered linen overalls, and one blan-
ket between three men, to protect
them from drifting snow and icy wind.
Even the great Washington was near
despair, and in foreign help his sole
hope lay. Already the traitor, Arnold,
had taken Richmond, burned ware
houses, and returned, but little har-
assed, to Portsmouth.
CORVALLIS was coming on. Tarle-
toms white rangers were bedeviling
the land, and it was at this time that
Erskine Dale once more rode Firefy
to the river James.
The boy had been two years In the
wilds. When he left the Shawnee
camp winter was setting In, that ter
rfble winter of '79-of, deep snow and
hunger and cold When he reached
Kaskaskia, Captain Clark had gone to
Kentucky, and Erskine found bad
news. Hamilton and Hay had taken
Vincennes. There Captain Helms Gre
oles, as soon as they saw the red
coats, slipped away from him to sur
render their arms to the British, and
thus deserted by all, he and the two
or three Americans with him had to
give up the fort. The French reswore
allegiance to Britain. Hamilton con-
fiscated their liquor and broke up their
billiard tables. He let his Indians
scatter to their villages, and with his
regulars, volunteers, white Indian
leaders and red auxiliaries went into
winter quarters. One band Of Shaw
nees he sent to Ohio to scout and
spring he would sweep Kentucky and
destroy all the settlements west Of
the Alleghanies. So Erskine and Dave
went for Clark; and that trip neither
ever forgot Storms had followed each
other SINCE late November and the
snow lay Deep Cattle and horses
persisted, deer and elk were found dead
In the woods, and buffalo came at
nightfall to old Jerome Sanders fort
for food and companionship with his
starving herd. There was no salt or
vegetable food; nothing but the flesh
of lean wild game. Yet, while the
frontiersmen remained crowded in
the stockades and the men hunted and
the women made clothes of tanned
deer hides, buffalo-wool cloth, and net
tle-bark linen, and both followed ''nog-
gins out Of the knot Of tree, Clark
made his amazing march to Vim
cennes, recaptured it by the end Of
February, and sent Hamilton to VIII
hamsburg prisoner. Erskine pleaded
to be allowed to take him there, but
Clark would not let him go. Perma-
nent garrisons were placed at Vim
cennes and Cahokia, and at Kaskaskia.
Erskine stayed to help make peace
with the Indians, punish marauders
and hunting bands, SO that by the
end of the year Clark might sit at
the falls of the Ohio as q shield for
the West and a sure guarantee that
the whites would never be forced to
abandon wild Kentucky.
The two years in the wilderness
had left their mark on Erskine. He
was tall. lean, swarthy. gaunt. and