Year: 1864

most, flying over the ground with ,


velocity that was tremendous. HI


kept his distance, however, until h'
reached a sort of platform covered
with pine trees, whore he believed h,
was safe, for, on the opposite side o


this, long, low level valley stretched
for miles, and here he felt certain tha


his horse would soon leave the swift
est of his pursners behind Painting
and foaming his steed plunged il
among the trees, passed on. upon the
plain, when TO the horror of Ovoton
he recoiled suddenly upon his haunch.
es, on the very brink of a chasm
twenty feet in breadth and two hun.
dred in depth.


Maddened TO desperation at this un.
expected obstacle. Ovoton plunged
his spurs into the sides of his horse
but the exhausted animal refused tc
make such terrible leap. The yell.
ing indians were dashing onward, and
hardly conscious of what he did, the
frightened fugitive sprang from his
horse and struck him with the point
Of his knife. Goaded to madness the
noble steed plunged out over the
abyss, struck the opposite side with
his fore feet, rebounded backward aud
went plunging from crag to crag down
the chasm!


On the very edge Of the precipice
there lay hollow log which appar-
emily had been dragged ther, some
years before, for the purpose of bridS-
ing the chasm. Oyoton had crawled
in beneath this, trusting that his pur-
suers would think he had gone over
the precipice, and fail to search fur
ther for him. But they had seen him
drive his horse over, and noticed him
as he sank down beside the log. But
in order to prolong his agony, they
came up and commenced conversing
about it. One remarked that he
would give his horse and rifle for his
scalp, another that he would put him
to the slow torture, and third spoke
Of remaining to search for him.


"At any rate he is gone" said the
instigator of the ruse, "and we will
return, but before doing so, let us
build a fire by the log and warm our
selves"


Ovoton sdw at once that they knew
of his situation and that he was lost ;
but, true to the Indian blood of his
nature, he resolved to disappoint them
in obtaining his scalp, by remaining
beneath the log and burning to death.
Leaves and sticks were heaped around
him, and in a moment he was envel-
oped in smoke and fame. But his
endurance was not equal to the tor
ture; he bore it until his clothes were
on fire, when with yell of agony he
rolled through the burning embers,
and ran three times around his tor
mentors who stood with drawn bows
ready to transfix him at the proper
moment. Not one stirred or spoke u
word, when with another despairing
cry he burst toward the chasm, and
he took the terrible leap! His amaz-
ed tormentors saw his blazing form
crouched and balancing for an instant
in mid air over the frightful abyss,
and then, incredible as it may seem,
he struck upon the opposite side sew
eral feet from the edge Of the preci-
picc, where, had he possessed amy re-
naming strength, he could have easily
sustained himself, and whore he would
have been safe, as the Indians would
have scorned to harm him after such
a wonderful feat. But at the moment
of alghting he had tainted, and now
commenced slowly slipping backward
into the chasm. Transfxed with hor-
ror, the savagcs approached the edge
of the cliff and gazed over. Down
that awful abyss they saw a human
form, wrapped in fire. spinning from
crag to cfag until at length it lay
shapeless mass at the bottom