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BOKDEE TALES 
 
 AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, IN THE 
 ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAPLAIN TUTTLE 
 
 (U.S. ARMY), 
 
 AUTHOK OF "THE BOl'S BOOK ABOUT INDIANS.' 
 
 IWO ILLUSTRATIONS BY PHIZ. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 E. P. BUTTON AND CO. 
 
 LONDON : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MAESTON, SEARLE & RIYINGTON. 
 
 1878. 
 
I! I I'AI- 1 I IhKAKY 
 
 i-o^t 
 
 |o (^oiT ' ' T 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 WILLIAM WELSH, 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPIST 
 
 WHOSE GENEROUS BENEFICENCE AND USEFUL LABOURS 
 
 IN BEHALF OF THE INDIANS 
 
 HAS MADE HIS NAME DEAR TO THEM, 
 
 AND HONOURED AMONG MEN EVERYWHERE, 
 
 Efjts Uolume 
 
 IS REVERENTIALLY DEDICATED 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
V^lA^^'i,' 1 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Boys and girls, as soon as they begin to under- 
 stand the dangers which surround the early 
 settlers in a new country, are never more diverted 
 than when they can prevail upon some one of 
 the family to read the stories of wild Indian life 
 as told by American travellers. The story of 
 Robinson Crusoe has had more readers, it is 
 thought, than any other adventures, and it has 
 stimulated many a lad to leave a comfortable 
 home in search of the marvellous. 
 
 The lives of the Puritans who sailed from 
 England in the Mayflower, and landed on the 
 bleak coast of New England, have a lively interest 
 for all English-speaking children, because they 
 found, upon landing at Providence, the whole 
 seacoast swarming with native Indians, who 
 were under the control of a great warrior, named 
 King Philip, of Pokomoket. Besides, there were 
 
Vlll INTRODUOTION. 
 
 neighbouring tribes north and west, living as 
 far as New Amsterdam (now New York) and 
 Buffalo, on Lake Erie. The most noted chiefs 
 were Red Jacket, of the Chippeways ; Thay-an- 
 da-na-ga, or, as the English named him, John 
 Brandt ; Tecumseh, Logan, and others of various 
 tribes. 
 
 The writer was born in Auburn, N.Y., in 
 1815, where the Cayugas once roamed at large 
 on the lake of that name — the Owasco and the 
 Chippeway tribes. Besides, there were other 
 tribes, such as the Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas, 
 Mohawks, Tuscaroras, which constituted the 
 Iroquois, or Six Nations. 
 
 The story begins at the time when the French 
 had possession of nearly all Upper and Lower 
 Canada, and all along the St. Laurence river. 
 
 Before entering upon the romantic history of 
 the young people with whom the writer desires 
 to interest his readers, he should here explain 
 his purpose — to preserve, in a connected form, 
 some matters which came under his own obser- 
 vation, after travelling several hundred miles 
 to obtain an interview with such noted chiefs as 
 Eed Cloud, Spotted Tail, and Sitting Bull, before 
 the Custer massacre ; and to weave in such anec- 
 dotes of the experience of himself and others in 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 the U.S. army, as will give a good account of 
 life in America, apart from civilization — just as 
 one may string a necklace with pearls and 
 diamonds, and still not detract from its beauty, 
 but only add variety to the ornament. 
 
 *' How came yon by this knowledge ? 
 By my penny of observation." — Old Song. 
 
 In the year 1700 the American army was 
 composed of raw militia. No regularly drilled 
 soldiers were to be found on the continent, 
 except such as belonged to the British Govern- 
 ment, and these were sent over to garrison forts 
 before the war of the revolution. When the 
 colonies rebelled, and war was declared, the 
 followers of General Washington came from the 
 farms and workshops, mainly to fight against 
 what they believed to be acts of tyranny in 
 imposing heavy taxation. At night these rough 
 and poorly armed soldiers would gather round 
 their camp fires, and while the black servants 
 were cooking the simple fare of salt pork and 
 corn bread, the soldiers passed the time away in 
 relating their experience in felling great forest 
 trees, with which they had built their log cabins ; 
 and how, while cultivating their newly cleared 
 fields for the ripening grain, they had to keep an 
 
X INTRODUCTION, 
 
 eye always on bears and wolves prowling along, 
 and to have a loaded rifle at hand to defend 
 themselves. Nor only so; for these hardy 
 pioneers in the forest were subject to attacks 
 from the Indians, who could easily spring out 
 from behind a beech or an oak tree, and plant 
 an arrow or a tomahawk into the white man 
 before he could say " Jack Robinson ! " 
 
 Who was most to blame in the strife which 
 early began between the first New England 
 settlers and the Indians, there is little doubt. 
 The Indians brought presents to the pale-faces 
 when they landed, of parched corn, wampum, 
 beads, and venison; but they soon found that 
 they were obliged to give up mile after mile 
 of their native lands, to satisfy the greed of 
 men who said they were anxious to make 
 Christians of the poor pagans. How different 
 William Penn acted with the red men on the 
 borders of the Delaware river, we all know. 
 But, then, he was only a Quaker ! 
 
 Peter Parley has told us, in his histories, how 
 cruel wars were waged upon these simple red 
 men, and how they were slain all along the Provi- 
 dence and Merrimac rivers to the seacoast on 
 Massachusetts Bay, until most of those who re- 
 mained were at length driven north and west, to 
 
INTRODUCTION, XI 
 
 the Mohawk river and to the St. Lawrence, and 
 far back into Canada ; and it is remarkable that 
 since peace was made between Great Britain and 
 the United States, little or no trouble has arisen 
 to the Canadian Government, while every foot 
 of land the United States have acquired from 
 the Indian tribes, from Massachusetts Bay to 
 the waters westward on Lake Huron, has been 
 stained with the blood of the slain. 
 
 In 1789 a treaty was made with the Iroquois, 
 or Six Nations, on the shores of the Cayuga 
 Lake, by which the whites, on certain conditions, 
 should be allowed to cultivate certain lands not 
 included in their " reservation." 
 
 An American poet, Mr. P. Hamilton Myers, 
 was requested to write a poem to be read at the 
 centennial celebration in Auburn, in sight of 
 " Logan's Monument," the chief most celebrated 
 in American history : — 
 
 ** What of the red men, our precursors here ? 
 Is there no word for them ? no pitying tear ? 
 These were their homes ; they trod this very soil. 
 Here was their chase, their pastimes, and their toil ; 
 This their Arcadia, ere the invading foe 
 Into their world brought care and ceaseless woe. 
 Who mourns for Logan and his vanished race ? — 
 Auburn, at least, this stigma may efface. 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 We've built a tower for them, of recent date ; 
 Lo ! in onr sight, its shafts of sober grey, 
 High in the air uplifts its granite head ; 
 Its shadow, dial-like, moves o'er our dead." 
 
 As the narrative in Part II. contains several 
 incidents of the writer s personal experience, in 
 which a Frenchman, a Dutchman, an African, and 
 a few native-born Americans figure, and, above 
 aU, a lovely young lady, together with Indians 
 born on the soil, he will let each tell their 
 stories as well as himself This is the age of 
 romance, as well as reality; and we are living 
 in times when, never as before, " Men shall run 
 to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased in 
 the earth," as prophesied by Isaiah. Therefore, 
 what the author desires is to bring before the 
 minds of his readers a part of the history of 
 the great State of New York, and to show that 
 the aborigines, or native Indians, have been 
 "more sinned against than sinning." 
 
 Now, as to who was killed, who got married 
 and lived many years to tell their children and 
 grandchildren the story here related, time and 
 and a little patience will tell. 
 
 It is proper here to mention that all those 
 who figure in the narrative of Part I. had served 
 in the civil war in America for the breaking up 
 
INTRODUCTION, XIU 
 
 of slavery : and the first gun that was fired in the 
 civil war was against Fort Sumpter, South Caro- 
 lina, in Charleston Harbour, by the Confederates. 
 Our stories begin really with the surveying 
 party, who were authorized by the Government 
 to find the best route to California. Accordingly, 
 they began their labours at Omaha, on the Mis- 
 souri river, five hundred miles west of Chicago. 
 The civil engineers, who were to find the best 
 route, had to go through the Indian country, 
 inhabited mostly by the Sioux (pronounced 800) 
 tribe of Indians, the Arapahoes, and Cheyennes. 
 These were hostile to the whites, because they 
 knew that the railroad would frighten and drive 
 away the game ; and if all the buffalo, deer, and 
 antelope were driven off, they must starve and 
 perish. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Toiling over the Plains— Prairie Dogs and Rattlesnakes— A 
 Bad Indian — A Buzzard and a Turkey — Prairie Schooners — 
 Scalp-Dance — Taming a Mule — A Bear in a Ranche — Habits 
 of the Elk and the Deer — A Dog Story — Superstitious Indians 
 — The Death of Bishop Lee of Iowa. 
 
 PART II 
 
 Scene on the Hudson River — A Lovely Maiden and her 
 Adventures in the Forests of Western New York — Logan's 
 Monument in Auburn, New York — What became of the 
 Maiden Estelle and her Lover. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Paul Jones's Great Victory — Davy Crockett — Fall of the 
 Alamo, in Texas. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wigwam in the Forest .., 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 Praikie-Dog Town ... 
 
 4 
 
 Indian Tege, or Tent 
 
 13 
 
 Prairie Schooners 
 
 15 
 
 Indian War-Dance 
 
 To face 17 
 
 Taming a Mule 
 
 » 35 
 
 A Bear in a Kanche 
 
 „ 51 
 
 Settlers Encamped 
 
 90 
 
 Attacked by Indians 
 
 ... To face 128 
 
PART I. 
 
BORDER TALES 
 
 AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, IN THE 
 ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 It would be very interesting were I to describe 
 what is called " an outfit " for a body of travellers 
 across the plains; so much of "hard tack" 
 (biscuit such as one finds on a long sea voyage), 
 cofiee, bacon, beans, sugar, condensed milk, and 
 other articles of food, besides camp-kettles, lariats 
 to tether horses and mules, also guns and 
 ammunition, surveying instruments, etc., etc. ; but 
 these must be imagined, if never seen, and our 
 story would never be begun if everything had 
 to be described as needed to travel in comfort far 
 away from civilized life. 
 
 B 
 
2 BORDER TALES 
 
 Our first day's march brought us thirty miles 
 west of the Missouri river, following due west, 
 and quite near the Platte river, which has its 
 origin in the E,ocky Mountains, emptying finally 
 into the Missouri at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. 
 
 As soon as a halt was ordered, each company 
 of six persons proceeded to open their mess- 
 chest and spread a cloth for supper, the cover 
 serving for a table. Besides, each party of six 
 had a tent and a camp bed, which could be rolled 
 up in the morning and be packed away in the 
 covered waggon, drawn by a mule team. The 
 cooks — two jolly Africans, who were formerly 
 slaves in the South — at once proceeded to build 
 a fire and prepare our evening meal. Both had 
 an eye to their comfort, for they took good care 
 to provide themselves with a bag of corn-meal,* 
 with which to make what they called "a hoe- 
 cake," nicely browned in the ashes. The meal 
 despatched, with generous cups of savoury coffee, 
 all lighted their pipes ; and as we sat around the 
 camp fire, I had the honour of telling, or rather 
 of beginning to tell, my first story about prairie- 
 dogs. 
 
 * Maize. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 We had traversed a dreary alkaline plain, where 
 scarcely anything grew but wild sagebush and 
 prickly cactus. Here were surely to be found two 
 kinds of animal life, besides the little marmot, 
 new to our experience : sage-hens, as they are 
 called, and plenty of rattlesnakes. 
 
 The sage-hens are shot as large as a barnyard 
 cock, and we had promised ourselves a nice meal 
 for mid-day dinner. " The boys," as we ^^always 
 call the soldiers, had bagged a dozen or more. 
 But when we sat down to our roast, we were 
 sadly disappointed. They were so strongly im- 
 pregnated with sage flavour, that the strongest 
 stomach could not abide them. 
 
 As to the snakes, we soon found that they 
 would not harm us if we let them alone. Nature 
 has provided them with rattles on the end of 
 their tails, to warn of danger in meddling with 
 them, and also armed them with a single tooth, 
 containing a small bag of poison at the root of it. 
 In order to protect our horses at night from 
 being bitten, while grazing near camp, they were 
 
4 BORDER TALES 
 
 tied to a stake, with a lariat about fifteen feet 
 in length, made of braided horse-hair, because 
 snakes will not crawl across one or upon a 
 buffalo robe, on which we lay at night. 
 
 Here we were close by a regular prairie-dog 
 town, or settlement, as it is called. 
 
 PRAIRIE-DOG TOWN. 
 
 These animals are so named, not for a resem- 
 blance to a dog so much as a squirrel, but because 
 of a habit of barking on appearance of danger. 
 They are yellow in colour, and have a short tail. 
 When surprised, they will scamper off by dozens 
 to their holes, and, sitting up on the top of the 
 little mound which surrounds their earthy 
 dwellings, set up a sharp bark, and then pitch 
 head-foremost into their holes, where it is hard to 
 get at them. They are a species of rodent, and, 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 5 
 
 the soldiers say, make very good eating. So, too, 
 some think of frog s legs, snails, and mule-meat. 
 But as a friend said, " The line must be drawn 
 somewhere ; " so we will pass the little dogs and 
 the other articles of food for those who fancy 
 them. One of the Arapahoe chiefs told us that 
 the Indians use the oil tried out from the dogs 
 to cure rheumatism. 
 
 These dog towns are a great curiosity in several 
 respects. It was said that rattlesnakes and small 
 owls make their homes underground with the 
 dogs. The dogs dig the holes, and the other two 
 are interlopers. Some doubted the truth of this 
 story, but we proved it. We shot at several of 
 the owls, which alighted on the tops of the little 
 mounds, and down they went into the holes as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 Again, to prove the snake story, a soldier 
 captured a prairie-dog, and placed it in a cage, 
 with some straw to make his nest with. Next 
 morning he found a good-sized rattlesnake coiled 
 up under his pet dog, and both seemed to belong 
 to what Barnum called " the happy family.'' 
 
 Nor were we less fortunate in finding other 
 game. The little gophers abounded in large 
 numbers, being much smaller than the dogs, re- 
 sembling a chipmuck, with black stripes running 
 
6 BORDER TALES 
 
 along their backs. The antelopes were plentiful, 
 but very wild, and it required a long-ranged rifle 
 to shoot them at a distance. Though they are 
 quite as fleet on foot as the deer, they can be 
 imposed upon much easier. They have an un- 
 bounded curiosity, which the Indians take ad- 
 vantage of, and which is thus described: — To draw 
 them within range of their bows and arrows, all 
 they had to do, to impose upon the poor animals, 
 was to tie a white cloth to a pole and wave it to 
 and fro, lying down in the grass, and that at 
 once attracted their notice, so as to induce them 
 to approach within a few rods, and then down 
 they fell, wounded to the death. The meat is 
 quite tender, rather sweet, and tasting like lamb 
 if young, and like mutton if old. 
 
 It was a pretty sight to see them run away, 
 as they followed a trail or path through the tall 
 grass, marching in single file. We drew a sketch 
 of them one morning, as we came near a drove of 
 antelopes at sunrise. Some deer were grazing 
 near by, but we had passed on beyond the alkali 
 desert at this time, and had reached water 
 springs, without which we should have famished. 
 
 Before the sun had set, we were destined to 
 fall in with some Indians, as well as with some 
 wild bufialo and also grizzly bears. The In- 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 7 
 
 dians were few in number and quite friendly. 
 This we learned by a few signs which all the 
 Indians of the plains understand. As they ap- 
 proach any persons who may be travelling within 
 nearly fifty rods, the headman raises his hand, 
 palm in front, towards the company approaching. 
 This means, " I want to speak with you." If they 
 want to pass by and hold " no talk," then they 
 make a circular motion with one hand, meaning, 
 " I wish to pass by, let me alone." As we met 
 half a dozen Indians, the headman rode forward 
 and put out his hand to us to shake, and uttered 
 the common word of all tribes, "How?" This 
 means, " How do you do .^ " and is the same as 
 the French salutation, " Comment vous portez- 
 vous ? " If the Indian is desirous of impressing 
 you with his being very friendly, he says, " How, 
 how?" 
 
 But somehow or other the leader did not look 
 very civil. He had a bad eye, and though he 
 had only two of his tribe with him, besides his 
 two squaws, all of whom were mounted on ponies, 
 we kept a sharp look-out on their movements. 
 Without getting ofi* his pony, the one-eyed In- 
 dian drew from his bosom a dirty piece of paper 
 in a large envelope, on the corner of which was 
 printed the official stamp of an army quarter- 
 
8 BORDER TALES 
 
 master. Handing it to us, with a proud look, he 
 said, " Me big heap Indian, heap good 1 '' Open- 
 ing his credentials with thumb and finger, we 
 read as follows : — 
 
 "This Cheyenne Indian wants a pass and 
 recommendation to whites he may meet. He 
 says he's a good Indian, and never takes any 
 white scalps. I don't believe a word he says, 
 and do not doubt he's a cussed rascal. Give him 
 a wide berth ! 
 
 "John Smith, 
 
 " Quartermaster, 
 
 " Colorado." 
 
 I handed it back to him, and merely remarked 
 it wasn't quite as good as it might be; and giving 
 the old chap some tobacco, and the squaws some 
 beads and a cheap looking-glass, they rode away 
 on their ponies behind the blufis, much to our 
 satisfaction, as the Indian is an inveterate beggar 
 and won't move on, unless sugar, coffee, flour, and 
 tobacco are given by the pale-faces. 
 
 We were destined to meet with a startling 
 adventure toward sunset. Strict orders were 
 given to prevent the soldiers from separating in 
 a less number than six at a time, and never, on 
 
AROUND THE GAMP FIRE, 9 
 
 any account, to wander off out of sight of the 
 command and the forage waggons ; by no means 
 to fire on any Indians, or waste their ammunition 
 on worthless objects. The sun had just begun to 
 sink behind Laramie Peak as we entered into a 
 gorge, or canyon, and several soldiers had gone 
 ahead, having struck a trail, in the wet sand, of a 
 large bear, which might prove the biggest game 
 they had yet found. Passing out of the canyon, 
 we had to ascend a steep hill in sight of the 
 Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Suddenly, a loud, sharp crack of a rifle, then 
 another and another, rang out on the air. Black 
 Pompey, one of the cooks, came running back, 
 with his eyes distended through fear, and yelling 
 at the top of his voice, " Oh, massa, massa 1 big 
 bear, black as de debbil — old grizzly ! " 
 
 We rushed forward, eager to have a shot at his 
 savage highness; but soon we had to halt, as 
 the old fellow, wounded in the shoulder, had 
 turned to give battle, and, bounding with rage, 
 had seized one of the soldiers, and was rolling 
 over and over directly towards the Apaphagie 
 Creek. 
 
 What to do we hardly knew at first, for to 
 
 . shoot at the old beast while he was tumbling 
 
 around would be to endanger the life of the 
 
10 BORDER TALES 
 
 soldier ; but a big log stopped their career, and 
 one of the brave boys jumped forward, and 
 with a sharp knife inflicted deadly wounds in the 
 neck of the big animal. 
 
 This compelled him to release his hold on the 
 soldier, but not until he had made an ugly wound 
 in the soldier's thigh, and which, we feared, 
 would cripple him for life. He gave a growl, 
 and showing his savage teeth in rage, rolled over 
 and gave up the ghost. He weighed over eight 
 hundred pounds, and measured, from his nose to 
 his tail, nine feet. 
 
 We feasted that night on bear meat, all the 
 party having " rump steaks" and plenty of them; 
 and he was so fat that Pompey declared he could 
 make a fortune, if he only had the rich grease 
 that was wasted. He could sell it to the per- 
 fumers and barbers in New York city for a 
 dollar a pound. 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 11 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The first Indian chief I had ever seen in my 
 native town, Auburn, N. Y., was Red Jacket, chief 
 of the Tuscaroras, a tribe of the Algonquins, 
 settled down on a reservation along the shores 
 of Lake Erie, above the Falls of Niagara. 
 
 Red Jacket was a noble specimen of his race, 
 and having suffered many wrongs from his white 
 neighbours, would never use the English tongue, 
 but always spoke to the whites through an in- 
 terpreter. He visited our town one day, and 
 was invited to dine at an hotel. Roast beef, 
 turkey, chicken, and venison were served up 
 at table. Opposite sat a white man, who used 
 some mustard on his beef, and then pushed it 
 over to the two Indians, who had never seen 
 any before. Being an imitative animal. Red 
 Jacket took a good half-teaspoonful with a piece 
 of meat into his mouth, but said nothing as the 
 tears came into his eyes. The other took a little 
 of it, and then asked what made him cry. 
 "WeU," said he, "I was thinking of an old 
 Indian who died the other day." Then he 
 asked the other why he cried also. "I was 
 
12 BOBDER TALES 
 
 sorry you didn't die when yonr friend did," was 
 the reply. 
 
 I soon found that most of the party had im- 
 bibed a prejudice against the Indian race ; few 
 having ever seen specimens of them, except such 
 as are found near eastern towns and have become 
 demoralized by imbibing most of the vices and 
 few of the virtues of the whites. 
 
 As an illustration of the way Indians were 
 generally treated, I related the following anec- 
 dote : — An Indian and a white man concluded to 
 go hunting squirrels, wild turkeys, etc. As night 
 drew on, they had only secured one turkey and 
 a buzzard. As they sat on a log in the wood, 
 it was agreed to divide the game. " Now," said 
 the white man, " 111 take the turkey and you 
 take the buzzard ; or you take the buzzard and 
 III take the turkey." The Indian scratched his 
 pate, and thus remarked, " Seems to me, you no 
 talk turkey to me at all ! " 
 
 Logan, a Mingo chief, many have said, "was 
 believed to be a myth." But this is not so. 
 He was, at an early day, a chief of the 
 Cayugas ; and when they wandered forth into 
 Virginia, they left behind them a regular fort, 
 on a hill which overlooks the beautiful city of 
 Auburn (where to-day, as I am writing, rest the 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 13 
 
 remains of Governor William Henry Seward), 
 and over the Indian graves there we used to 
 hunt squirrels, chipmucks, wild pigeons, and 
 quail. The whole circuit of the hill was (and 
 still is) surmounted with a rampart, thrown up 
 in a rude but enduring manner, to ward off the 
 attacks of an enemy. And many a battle must 
 have been fought there, as I have seen various 
 implements of warfare used by the rude savages, 
 such as tomahawks and stone arrow-heads, dug 
 out of the trenches. 
 
 INDIAN TEPE, OR TENT. 
 
 There, on the summit, stands a large monu- 
 ment, erected to the memory of Logan, with this 
 inscription chiselled on its front — 
 
 "WHO MOUKNS FOR LOGAN!" 
 
14 BORDER TALES 
 
 He was the true friend of the white man, for 
 history records this speech of his, made to Lord 
 Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, in 1774 : — 
 
 " I appeal to any white man to say if he ever 
 entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him 
 no meat ; if ever he came cold and naked, and he 
 gave him no deerskin to cover him and make 
 him warm ! 
 
 " All the time of the last long and bloody war 
 Logan remained idle in his cabin, advocating 
 peace. Such was my love for the whites, that 
 my countrymen pointed their finger as they 
 passed, and said, * Logan is the friend of the 
 white man/ 
 
 " I had even have thought to have lived with 
 you, but for the injuries of one man. 
 
 " Colonel Cresap, last spring, in cold blood and 
 unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, 
 not even sparing my women and children. There 
 runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any 
 living creature. This called on me for revenge. 
 I have sought it : I have killed many ; I have 
 fully glutted my vengeance. 
 
 "For my country I rejoice at the beams of 
 peace, but do not harbour a thought that mine is 
 the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will 
 not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is 
 there to mourn for Logan ? Not one.'' 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIBE, 
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Next morning, we saw a party of gold-seekers 
 on their way to the Rocky Mountains, following 
 
 PRAIRIE SCHOONERS. 
 
 their waggons, covered with canvas, and drawn 
 by mule teams. These waggons were called 
 '' prairie schooners.'* 
 
16 BORDER TALES 
 
 The illustration shows our waggons and the 
 company of soldiers belonging to our surveying 
 party. 
 
 The next evening, after a day's journey with 
 these gold-hunters, brought us forty miles from 
 our last encampment, and when we pitched our 
 tents for the night, all joined in singing songs 
 and telling stories; and in order to make our 
 journey more interesting, it was agreed that 
 the lieutenant's story of the " Twin Brothers," in 
 Part IL, should be told on alternate nights, and 
 the other evenings should be given to others of 
 the party who had had much experience in life 
 on the plains. 
 
 Major Smith, of the — th Dragoons, volunteered 
 to give us what he had seen among the Ute tribe, 
 near Denver, Colorado ; and his story was about 
 
 THE SCALP-DANCE. 
 
 In 18 — I was among the first troops sent out 
 to Pike's Peak, which is about fourteen thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea, to protect the 
 miners. It was there I met Colonel Kit Carson, 
 the great Indian scout and fighter, who was living 
 among the Utes and Pi-ute Indians. He invited 
 myself and others to visit a camp of Indians, four 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 17 
 
 miles from Denver, to witness a "war-dance/' 
 and although to us these barbarous customs seem 
 unaccountable, they had, probably, their origin 
 in the rites and ceremonies of ancient Israel, 
 of which people the Indians believe they are 
 the lineal descendants. 
 
 Already preparations had commenced for the 
 grand scalp glorification, one of the redskins 
 having manufactured a drum by stretching a 
 deerskin over the rim of a cheese-box. Three 
 other drums were soon manufactured ; a frying- 
 pan, a tin lard-can, and a brass kettle being used 
 for the bodies of the drums. Having covered his 
 face with paint, the fellow with the tin drum 
 lay down in his tent and commenced practising 
 the weird music of the scalp-dance. He was 
 soon joined by others, when the scalps taken 
 from the Sioux were brought to the front of the 
 tent, and poles to which they were attached 
 stuck in the ground, while the scalps swayed to 
 and fro in the breeze. One by one the braves 
 gathered around, decorated with their best trap- 
 pings, covered with beads, and painted with red, 
 yellow, green, brown, and white. About an 
 hour before sundown, and before many chiefs 
 had returned from Denver, the scalp-poles were 
 pulled up, and the dusky warriors selected a 
 
 c 
 
18 BORDER TALES 
 
 portion of the prairie remote from any wigwam, 
 where they again fixed the poles about four feet 
 from each other. Then they sat down in a line 
 on the ground, with their backs to the setting 
 sun and their faces to the blood-stained swaying 
 scalps, and commenced a strange chant, beating 
 time upon the drums with sticks, which had for 
 heads leaves secured to one end with pliant 
 twigs. About half an hour they thus sat chant- 
 ing, when the squaws began to collect, equally as 
 extravagantly attired and painted. 
 
 About thirty had gathered around, when the 
 squaw of the brave who had killed one of the 
 Sioux stepped in front, took one of the scalp- 
 poles, and commenced to march in a circle in 
 front of the musicians, adding at the same time 
 the shrillness of her voice to make the din un- 
 earthly. One by one the squaws fell in behind 
 the scalp-bearer, until about a dozen were making 
 the magic circle. 
 
 Then up comes another squaw and takes 
 another pole, and starts a procession, moving in 
 a reverse direction to that taken by the first. 
 Upon the arrival of Washington, one of the 
 chiefs, who seemed to know just how the thing 
 should be done, three of the oldest squaws in the 
 tribe formed a third procession, moving inside 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 19 
 
 the others, and in the same direction as the out- 
 side circle. And now drops into line with the 
 outside circle the third scalp-bearer and the 
 followers. Korakantie, seemingly the oldest 
 chief in the collection, advances in front of the 
 braves — who rose to their feet upon the advent 
 of the women — and proceeds to dance. A crier 
 also advances to the front, and commences to 
 harangue the braves. 
 
 On the open prairie, just as the sun is sinking 
 behind the mountains, half a hundred Indian 
 warriors, with faces rendered savagely fierce with 
 paint, and garments of flaming colours, are stand- 
 ing in a line which sways to and fro in time to 
 beating of drums and the change in tone of the 
 fiendish music of the scalp-chant. In front of 
 these the veteran grey-haired warrior of the 
 tribe dances with strange antics, and the stalwart 
 form of a huge brave is bent in all conceivable 
 shapes, as he in loud and excited words recounts 
 the circumstances of the capture and exhorts the 
 men. In front of all, the magic circles of squaws 
 move round, the scalps streaming above their 
 heads, being beaten in the dust with revengeful 
 fury or held in their teeth, when the savage grin 
 is most intense and the chant most uproarious. 
 Their march is of a limping nature, each proces- 
 
20 BORDER TALES 
 
 sion giving way with the same leg, in strange 
 unison to the swaying of the braves. These 
 things, together with the weird music only known 
 among savages, when at regular intervals the 
 shrill voices of the women rise above those of the 
 men, and occasionally the startling war-whoop 
 rings loud over all, render the scene one never to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 About fifteen hundred persons must have 
 visited the camp and witnessed the scalp- 
 dance, which continued for many hours, and to 
 which Washington, in the name of the tribe, 
 welcomed all white folks, "both braves and 
 squaws," as he expressed it. 
 
 CHAPTEH V. 
 
 The next morning, at four o'clock, the bugle 
 call sounded a reveille just as the big cart-wheel 
 of bright sun was climbing up the bluffs which 
 surrounded our encampment. Exchanging hearty 
 greetings with our " Pike's Peckers/' as they called 
 themselves, and wishing them all good luck, they 
 were soon out of sight journeying to the gold and 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 21 
 
 silver mines of Colorado. The day passed with 
 us with little of incident, except those which 
 always attend travellers in shooting game along 
 the Platte river. We came in sight of old Phil 
 Kearney Fort, where we concluded to pass the 
 night. As the fort was abandoned, the only 
 object of interest was the grave, which had a 
 monument in honour of the brave Indians who 
 fell there in a celebrated Indian fight. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JULESBURG, A FRENCH SETTLEMENT. 
 
 On our arriving next morning at Julesburg ranche, 
 a place owned by an old Frenchman named Jules, 
 and where the stage-horses were always changed 
 on the overland express to California, we met 
 a party of returning miners from Montana, 
 having large leathern belts and sacks containing 
 from five to twenty thousand dollars; one or 
 two having dug out larger quantities of the 
 dust, but of which they did not boast, as it is not 
 safe to let every one know how much valuable 
 property one has in hand in a wild country. 
 
22 BORDER TALES 
 
 As they carried large navy revolvers and had 
 big knives stuck in their belts, it was easy to be 
 seen they meant to protect themselves from rob- 
 bers. At night they laid their sacks down for a 
 pillow, while a couple of warm blankets and 
 a wolfs skin sufficed for a bed on the floor. 
 Among the passengers whom we met and spent 
 an evening with, was a Dr. Ben Miller, of Chicago, 
 who had served in the civil war as a surgeon 
 in the 14th Indiana Battery. His experience 
 was mostly in Kansas. To him the writer is 
 indebted for the following anecdote : — 
 
 A SOLDIER BOY OF THE 14th INDIANA BATTERY. 
 
 When the war broke out between the North 
 and the South {first begun in the South, at Fort 
 Sumpter, South Carolina, where the Secessionists 
 fired upon the American flag), it was found that 
 the regular army was too small to put down 
 the rebellion. President Lincoln issued a pro- 
 clamation calling for several thousand volunteers. 
 In the State of Indiana a battery was recruited, 
 and a boy named Tommy O'Reilley was enlisted 
 as a drummer-boy, or in some other capacity — 
 " stable-boy," perhaps. However it was, he was 
 ambitious to become a soldier, and he soon showed 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 23 
 
 his smartness in various ways, attracting the 
 captain's attention; and he was intrusted with 
 riding horseback on the leader of the advanced 
 battery of several guns called "six-pounders." 
 Now, this is always a most responsible situation ; 
 for when an attack is made upon the enemy, 
 a wrong move in one direction or another in a 
 charge, may bring disaster upon the whole com- 
 mand. 
 
 One day a severe fight was begun at Cedar 
 Creek, and the little fellow left his horse (the 
 leader) in charge of a soldier, while he ran forth 
 to carry some shells from the caisson to the guns, 
 which were bellowing out fire and smoke at the 
 enemy. Presently, a shell from the other side 
 burst upon the Union ranks, near the gun which 
 little Tommy served, and it knocked little 
 Tommy's horse down. Dropping his shells, he 
 ran to the poor horse just at the moment the 
 animal fell dead and expired without a groan. 
 
 Poor boy ! He burst into tears, and cried out, 
 " Oh, my poor horse ! Captain, captain, they 
 have killed my poor horse ! " Then, suddenly 
 throwing his arms around the horse's neck and 
 kissing him, he sobbed as if his heart would 
 break, saying, " Poor Tom ! poor Tom ! they 
 have killed my horse ! " 
 
24 BOEDER TALES 
 
 He had seen soldier after soldier slain in the 
 battle-field, but he remained unmoved until his 
 horse — poor horse, for whom he had such affec- 
 tion, as for a pet child — was struck down and 
 died before his eyes ! 
 
 Those who heard the doctor's story could not 
 refrain from tears at this recital of the little 
 soldier boy*s sorrow for the pet horse he would 
 ride no more. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A FEW MOKE STOKIES BY THE CAMP FIRE ON 
 THE PLATTE RIVER. 
 
 Our chief engineer, before we had settled down 
 to our pipes and tobacco and savoury tin cups 
 of cofiee, begged to relate a discovery he had 
 made once near Denver, in Colorado. He had 
 made a halt for dinner one day, and saw two 
 springs of water bubbling up, side by side. 
 He mixed his coffee in the pot from the first, 
 a clear and cool one, and then turned to the 
 other, a hot spring, distant only three or four 
 feet, and put the pot in to boil, without any fire 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 25 
 
 whatever. This is an undoubted fact, and shows 
 how singularly Nature sometimes gives us wonders 
 beyond our experience. 
 
 The story of the evening was that of the doctor, 
 or surgeon, of the battery. He witnessed the 
 facts while serving in the army in Kansas, among 
 Kickapoo Indians. 
 
 During the War of the Rebellion, the rebels, 
 as well as the northern soldiers, sought to enlist 
 the services of the Indians, although, it is said, 
 the Government did not wish to have the Indians 
 take any part in the strife, knowing the cruelties 
 they always practise on their enemies when 
 captured. But there were Indians engaged on 
 the Confederate side; and if not enlisted in 
 Government service, they would be sure to be 
 employed on the other side. 
 
 The doctor s story we may well call — 
 
 THE DEAD INDIAN IN AN ARMY WAGGON. 
 
 Boys and girls who have seen pictures of 
 Indians, and especially coloured portraits, must 
 have noticed that the warriors always paint their 
 faces in a very hideous manner when about to go 
 upon the war-path. They believe from tradition 
 that if they are slain without any war-paint on 
 
26 BORDER TALES 
 
 their faces, their spirits will wander to and fro 
 over the earth, until they find a resting-place in 
 the bodies of other persons; and this is the 
 reason why they daub their faces with red ochre, 
 and then with black stripes running from ear to 
 ear. But the whole subject of savages painting 
 their faces before going to battle, and of some of 
 them scalping their enemies, is one which is well 
 worth investigating. Perhaps Mr. Darwin can 
 assist us in the matter ? 
 
 Now, a regiment of the Plain Indians, or 
 " blanket Indians," as they are called to distin- 
 guish them from civilized Indians, had enlisted 
 for three months under Colonel Tompkins, and 
 he had strictly forbidden them to paint their 
 faces in the usual ugly manner, making them 
 look like fiends. But, as they held the above 
 traditional belief, they evaded the colonel's order, 
 and, whenever they had a chance to get near a 
 mud-puddle, would quietly take some of the wet 
 mud and smear their faces with it. 
 
 One day, after a severe fight between the 
 Kickapoos and General Albert Pike's regiment 
 of rebel soldiers, the Federals had one of their 
 Indians wounded during a battle on the re- 
 publican river. The Indian was badly wounded, 
 and on recovering his body it was placed in the 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, Ti 
 
 forage waggon, on top of some bags containing 
 " hard tack " (English, biscuit or crackers), and 
 there it was left till nightfall, when a halt was 
 ordered. 
 
 But when the Indians began to light their 
 camp fires, they surrounded the commissary- 
 waggon to draw their rations. Suddenly a great 
 outcry was heard among them. One of the 
 Indians had' discovered that a comrade was dead 
 and lying on the cracker-bags ! 
 
 Then a regular stampede was made, which, 
 added to howls and shrieks, frightened the com- 
 missary nearly to death. A dozen or more rushed 
 off to a mud-hole near by, and began to plaster 
 on the mud as fast as possible, in hopes of avert- 
 ing the sad fate they had incurred by touching a 
 dead Indian with no paint on his face, and none 
 of it on theirs, thus shutting them put of their 
 happy hunting grounds when they should die; 
 and, moreover, they expected the spirit of the 
 dead Indian would take possession of one of 
 them and haunt him all his days on earth. 
 
28 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTEH Yin. 
 
 We continued our journeyings along the Platte 
 as far as Fort Laramie, six hundred miles from 
 Omaha, on the Missouri river, in the Black Hills, 
 and not far from the Powder river country, where 
 the Sioux Indians have their splendid hunting 
 grounds, among the antelopes, the elk, deer, 
 and buffaloes. 
 
 Most of the way west of the Missouri river is 
 all level plain, with occasional bluffs, and but 
 one tree for five hundred miles on the Platte 
 river. The survey was over this expanse, run- 
 ning from twenty to thirty miles in width. 
 We were obliged to accept the hospitalities of 
 the ofiicers in camp, and we found among them 
 several who had served all over the country, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and who, at 
 times, were often absent from civilized life for 
 five long years or more at a time. Sometimes 
 no mail would reach them in two or three months 
 of deep winter snows ; and one poor fellow went 
 deranged from leading a pent-up life of monotony 
 and isolation. 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 29 
 
 One of the oflScers' wives related a bitter 
 experience of herself, husband, and little ones, 
 in Montana. A continuous snowstorm of a week 
 had piled the snow in banks, in some places 
 twenty feet high, and all egress or ingress was 
 cut off. Food began to grow scarce ; and, alas ! 
 forage for the poor horses and mules, by-and-by, 
 there was none. One night, so desperate had the 
 horses become, they broke loose from the stable, 
 and began gnawing the storm doors in front of 
 the officers' quarters. Next morning, they had to 
 shoot quite a number, to put them out of their 
 misery. 
 
 The mule is a queer animal. Thousands are 
 employed in the army transportation of stores. 
 Pack mules, in particular, are indispensable, as 
 thus only can an army transport baggage over 
 high mountains and through gorges where no 
 waggons can pass. The mule is stronger and 
 tougher than a horse, and requires less corn 
 and hay. Sometimes five and often six to ten 
 mules are hitched to an army waggon, and 
 thus as many as ten tons of stores can be 
 hauled thirty miles a day. While journeying 
 across the plains, so keen is their scent, they 
 can sniff the fires of an Indian encampment for 
 more than a mile away, and they begin to snort 
 
30 BOBDLR TALES 
 
 and show signs of turning away from the road 
 leading to them. 
 
 One day some soldiers were sent out to punish 
 some Indians. On ascending the bluff, they 
 discovered the bad fellows down in the valley 
 below, along the side of the Chug water. Fearing 
 the Indians would run away before they could 
 catch them, the soldiers began discharging a 
 mountain howitzer which was strapped on the 
 back of a mule. They had not time to unload 
 it and mount it on wheels. But the charge was 
 too heavy, and the gun kicked, upsetting the 
 mule, and both went rolling and tumbling down 
 the declivity towards the Indians, who ran away 
 for dear life. One Indian was taken prisoner, 
 and they asked him why they ran off without 
 giving battle. 
 
 "The big Indian take good heap scalps, and 
 ain't afraid of guns ; but when white man load up 
 and fire a whole jackass, we get mighty 'fraid, and 
 run fast as we could ! " 
 
 The mule-driver is as ingenious in managing 
 his team as the keeper of an elephant is in 
 taming the powerful animal, who could crush 
 his keeper in a moment. But brute force must 
 always give way to superior intelligence. For 
 example, the mule-driver thinks the refractory 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 31 
 
 animal can only be tamed into submission by 
 swearing tremendous oaths at him, and beating 
 him on the head. There is as little reason for 
 such an idea as there is for a captain of a vessel 
 at sea to swear at the sailors in a storm, to 
 enable them to work the ship out of danger. 
 The mule-driver is not always the meekest of 
 men, and passes for a mere cypher when not 
 positively and originally profane. Often, too, 
 there is a sarcasm in his conversation with the 
 poor animals in his charge. But even the modest 
 mule will take a scolding and a bite, rather than 
 go hungry and unrebuked on its toilsome and 
 weary journey. At all hours, when you happen 
 to be in his neighbourhood, you hear the voice of 
 the irritated mule-driver arguing with or cursing 
 his mules. 
 
 "You're at it again, are you, curse your 
 heart ? " cries the angry driver to a gaunt mule, 
 which is trying to bite a hole in a big sack 
 of corn. " Look here, if you don't leave that 
 there sack alone, I'll take a hammer and knock 
 every darned tooth out of your head ! What the 
 deuce do I feed you for ? " 
 
 Another having a team to manage, breaks out 
 in this jeering style: — "Your name is Humpy 
 Dumpy, and you're a cursed mule. Confound 
 
32 BORDER TALES 
 
 your skin, do you know why you are named 
 Humpy ? " Then cracking his whip at him, says, 
 " Do you know, you re nothing but a mule ? " 
 
 Toiling on through a blinding storm, another 
 time you can't avoid hearing a " mule skinner," 
 and you are astonished at his inventions and the 
 singularity of his combinations in the matter of 
 swearing. But these terrible threats and com- 
 pound, hyphenated "swears" fall unheeded on 
 the weary mule ; and as a final resort the driver 
 appeals to the jaded animal's self-respect, and, with 
 teeth firmly set, cries out, " Git up, Kitty, git up ! 
 Won't you git out of this most inhospitable region 
 of the American continent ? " 
 
 Doubtless, there is a good deal of provocation 
 for all this profanity, as men are educated ; but 
 oh ! what a flood of tears a sympathetic recording 
 angel would require to blot out half the records 
 made against the mule- drivers of the Powder 
 river expedition ! 
 
 One of the officers at Fort Laramie, who had 
 been travelling in California, Texas, and North 
 Mexico, said it had been tried to fire a howitzer 
 on a mule, somewhere on the Rio Grande. The 
 officer, after strapping the little gun on a big 
 mule, invited the colonel and staff* to meet him 
 on the bank of the river, just opposite Piedras 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 33 
 
 Neigras. The charge was one pound of powder 
 and a good-sized cannon ball. After fixing the 
 priming, and attaching 'a fuse to it, he said, 
 " All is ready." All eyes were intent on seeing 
 how it would work. 
 
 The fuze was lighted, and it began to spit 
 and fizzle away just like a Chinese fire-cracker. 
 The mule heard it, and as he was not used to 
 Fourth of July fireworks, got uneasy, as he 
 smelled the burning powder flashing. All at 
 once, he began drawing his forelegs together, 
 and to turn round and round in a circle. This 
 was unlooked for, and if the gun went off*, there 
 was no telling which way the shot would go. 
 A panic set in among the ofiicers, and off they 
 rushed pell-mell down the hill, head over heels ; 
 while the most timid dropped on the ground, or 
 ran into the chapperell to hide away, if possible, 
 from the dreaded disaster. 
 
 When the gun did go ofi*, the poor mule ran 
 frightened to the river, and the last seen of him 
 was that he was swimming the stream and 
 making tracks for some ranche over in Mexico. 
 
34 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE MULE AND 
 WHAT HE CAN DO. 
 
 They seem to know that their vacation is over ; 
 for, even in the confined and crowded corral — a 
 square, strong enclosure or adobe wall and slab 
 fence — it required the best efforts of experienced 
 men and not a little adroit lasso-throwing to 
 reduce to the slavery of the halter animals that, 
 under ordinary circumstances, would come at call 
 and eat bread or salt out of your hand. But 
 after much running and jumping, kicking and 
 snorting, the seventy-two mules were all caught, 
 led down to camp, and tied to a rope fastened by 
 pins close to the ground, where they busied 
 themselves in all sorts of mulish mischief calcu- 
 lated to make the packers swear. 
 
 But the circus began when one by one they 
 were led out to have the pack-saddles put on for 
 the first time — ^first for this season for many, for 
 some the first time in their lives. The pack- 
 saddle in use by the Survey is not the Mexican 
 "sawbuck," which has been generally discarded in 
 
TAMING A MULE. 
 
 IPage 35. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 35 
 
 the West, but a contrivance introduced from, or 
 at least through, California, called the aparejo. 
 These pack-saddles are flat bags of firm leather, 
 joined in the middle and strengthened at the 
 edges so as to hold their shape perfectly. They 
 are stuffed moderately full of hay, and when 
 properly balanced on the mule's back, blankets 
 having been placed underneath, arch above his 
 spine and flare out from his sides, the weight of 
 the load falling equally upon the swelling upper 
 portion of the ribs, but leaving the ridges of the 
 backbone untouched. The whole is fastened by 
 a broad " belly-band," termed a sinch, which, by 
 a method of drawing up loops of rope practised 
 everywhere through the mountains, known as 
 sinching, is tightened until a load of three hundred 
 pounds may be piled high on top and the aparejo 
 not slip an inch from one day's end to the other. 
 The mule understands very well that it is not 
 a pleasant thing to have two strong men brace 
 their feet against his ribs and pull upon a girth 
 until the contour line of his stomach closely 
 resembles the outside of Cupid's bow ; and some- 
 times he never does submit, but day after day 
 and season after season will resist by every 
 device of obstinacy and agility which a healthy 
 mule knows how to employ. All soon learn to 
 
36 BORDER TALES 
 
 swell themselves out when being sinched, and 
 render their muscles so rigid that it is always 
 necessary, after the first mile or so of marching 
 in the morning, to stop and tighten the girths. 
 
 FUN FOR THE MULETEERS. 
 
 These facts and habits being understood, you 
 can imagine the fun — for those not handling the 
 beasts — likely to ensue from the introduction to 
 it of a green mule, strong in his youth, and fresh 
 from a winter's untrammelled ranging over the 
 prairies. He is led out into an open space, 
 stepping timidly, but; not seeing any cause for 
 alarm, quietly, and before he understands what it 
 all means, he finds that a noose of the lariat 
 about his neck has been slipped over his nose, 
 and discovers that his foes have secured an ad- 
 vantage. He pulls and shakes his head, and 
 stands upright on each end, but all to no avail. 
 The harder he pulls the tighter the noose 
 pinches his nose ; so he comes down and stands 
 still. Score one for the packers. Then a man 
 approaches slowly and circumspectly, holding 
 behind him a feather " blind," which he seeks to 
 slip over the mule's head and cover his eyes, so 
 that he shall not see what is being prepared for 
 
& 
 
 ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 37 
 
 his delectation. But two long ears stand in the 
 way, and the first touch of the leather is a signal 
 for a jump — for two jumps, indeed ; for packers 
 are wise enough in their day and generation to 
 fight shy of the business end of a mule 1 The 
 next trial is less a matter of caution and more 
 of strength, and here the animal has the ad- 
 vantage and sometimes must be thrown to the 
 ground. It is fine to see the indignation of 
 such a fellow ! He falls heavily, yet holds 
 his head high, and essays to rise. But his 
 fore feet are manacled with ropes in the hands 
 of two strong men, and his head is held by a 
 third. Yet he will get up on his hind feet, stand 
 straight up, and dash down with all his weight 
 in futile efforts to get free. Secured with more 
 rope, blinded with leather, allowed only three 
 legs to stand upon, and cursed frightfully, he 
 must submit, though never with good grace. 
 
 It is not very often, however, that it is needful 
 to proceed to this extremity, and a mule blinded 
 and held by a firm halter will often aUow, with- 
 out serious resistance, the strange thing to be 
 put upon his back and the straps adjusted — all 
 but one. When that institution called the 
 crupper is to be placed under a young mule's 
 narrative, non-conbatants better leave the coun- 
 
38 BORDER TALES 
 
 try. Language fails to express the magnificence 
 of the kicking ! The light heels describe an arc 
 from the ground to ten feet above it, and then 
 strike out at a tangent. They cut through the 
 air like whip-lashes, and would penetrate what 
 they struck like a bullet. But pretty soon the 
 mule tires. Strategy wins, the crupper is gained, 
 and the first hard pull is made upon the sinch, 
 which holds firmly every hair's breadth gained. 
 Score another one for the packers, while the 
 mule springs again and again, with arched back 
 and head between his forelegs, landing on stiff 
 legs to jar his burden off", or falling full weight 
 upon his side and rolling over to scrape it free. 
 He will stand on his haunches and roll over 
 backward ; he will stand on his head and almost 
 turn a somersault. Finally, he will rise up, 
 shake himself, depress his ears, and stand still 
 while you tighten the girth and lead him away. 
 He is conquered. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The first night after our arrival at Fort Laramie 
 found us surrounding, not a camp fire, but a com- 
 fortable set of quarters. Major Brent, an old 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIBE. 39 
 
 Indian pioneer from St. Louis, was there. General 
 Harney, the greatest Indian fighter of the early- 
 day in the plains, was a visitor also. He was full 
 of anecdote, and at the time over seventy years 
 old ; his hair white as snow, and his cheeks red 
 as cherries. His heart was warm toward the 
 red men, who, he said, were the injured party in 
 almost all the quarrels we have had with them. 
 "I never knew,'' said he, "as a general thing, 
 of any fights in which the white men were not 
 the aggressors." He added, "/ never knew an 
 Indian to break his word" 
 
 The black boy who cleaned my accoutrements 
 and blacked my boots when near civilization, 
 threw some fresh pine-knots on the fire, and each 
 one of the party having formed a circle round it, 
 our friend the lieutenant went on with his story. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The great scarcity of fuel for miles upon miles 
 away from civilization has led California miners 
 and emigrants to devise means of various kinds 
 to enable them to cook their food and boil cofiee 
 
40 BORDER TALES 
 
 for breakfast, dinner, and supper. Of course, ham 
 and bacon, or salt pork, fried, with plenty of 
 hard tack, or flour biscuits, made up in a hurry, 
 and quite light with "baking powder" or soda, 
 are the usual stand-by at each meal. Sometimes, 
 indeed quite often, game of some kind is easily 
 found : ducks, sage-hens, wild geese, antelope, or 
 venison. 
 
 Now, to cook food, there must be fire. The 
 Mormon emigrants used "buftalo chips" {i.e., 
 the drippings of wild buffalo), and very good 
 fuel it makes. Sage-brush is used, and some 
 freighters and emigrants sling a big log under 
 their waggons, from which to chip off enough to 
 make a fire as they want it. 
 
 The encampment for this night was on the 
 Ohug water, in sight of " Eed Butte " and " Chim- 
 ney Rock." The appearance a good way off 
 reminds one of a large castle or fortress, and 
 these ''buttes'' are about a hundred feet high, 
 composed of red sandstone. 
 
 Our coloured boy had gathered a lot of sage- 
 brush and made a rousing fire to cook the supper, 
 when all hands sat down to watch the move- 
 ments of the sable cook, whose face was shining 
 in the light of the bright blaze, while he danced 
 about quite lively, to keep the coffee boiling, the 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 41 
 
 bacon frying, and the biscuit from getting 
 scorched. 
 
 We were all anxious to have supper ready and 
 despatched as soon as possible, as our appetites 
 were sharp (as all know who visit the plains) ; 
 and, besides, we had a new story-teller for the 
 evening in the person of " Texas Jack," who had 
 come across the 
 
 " STAKE PLAINS " 
 
 in Texas, and accidentally^ fallen in with us, 
 on his return journey to "the States'' from 
 the Sweetwater country and mines. He pro- 
 mised to tell us how elk and black-tailed deer 
 are killed; where he had come from; of the 
 sorrows of the old buck elk ; bears, " and their 
 cunning little ways;" and his own views how 
 to settle the " Indian question." 
 
 " Well," said he, " what shall I tell you about ? " 
 He was a complete picture of a Western scout, 
 with a tall, sinewy form, bronzed face, flowing 
 locks, and head covered with a Mexican som- 
 brero. 
 
 Taking a seat in our midst on a camp chest, 
 and a light for his meerschaum, we asked him 
 to tell us about his late hunt with some charm- 
 ing English fellows, who had come over on pur- 
 
42 BOEDER TALES 
 
 pose to hunt buffalo on the plains, and other 
 " small deer," such as can be found nowhere else 
 as in this latitude, and which abound for thou- 
 sands of miles into and beyond the Rocky 
 Mountains. 
 
 After a few whiffs of his pipe, to see if it was 
 lighted, he began : — 
 
 " Well, there isn't very much to say about that 
 hunt. You see, Sir John Reid and his cousin, 
 Mr. Eaton, were about the most sensible men 
 and best hunters I ever piloted over the plains. 
 They were 
 
 HUNTING FOR TROPHIES 
 
 more than anything else, and didn't kill any 
 game and leave it to rot on the ground. Pro- 
 bably you would like to have me tell you just 
 how we occupied ourselves during a day, for the 
 days were pretty much alike, though we were 
 out about three months, in the Sweetwater 
 country, Wyoming Territory. There were seven 
 of us in the party : the two Englishmen, myself, 
 my assistant hunter — Tom Sun, better known as 
 ' Indian Tom,' a Frenchman, and a 
 
 GREAT INDIAN FIGHTER — 
 
 a servant for the Englishmen, a waggon-driver, 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 43 
 
 and a cook. We didn't take much provisions 
 with us, as we killed all our fresh meat. In the 
 morning, I always made it my first business to 
 hustle out Sir John and his cousin. They always 
 seemed in a hurry, but they were always late in 
 getting to the hunt, and liked their blankets 
 in the morning. After breakfast we would get 
 in the ponies — ^little Indian ponies called hron- 
 chos, and I tell you they are rascals. I always 
 rode one called Snort, that could kick the hat 
 off your head while you were on his back. 
 Here's a letter I just got from Tom Sun, telling 
 about Robert, the English servant, trying to ride 
 him since I left the plains. Snort threw him 
 three times in as many minutes, and Robert said 
 he was 
 
 'A BLOODY BEAT.' 
 
 Robert rode in the English style, but found it 
 wouldn't work with mustangs. Well, the game 
 we were after was elk, black-tail deer, antelope, 
 and mountain sheep. The bears were all holed 
 up for the winter, as we started out late in the 
 season. The elk we'd find on the flats, away 
 from the mountains, browsing. Sometimes there 
 would be two or three thousand head in a band, 
 most of them being does and fawns, with a few 
 
44 BOBDEB TALES 
 
 bucks scattered around. In a band of three 
 thousand head there would not be more than 
 thirty or forty bucks, for these elk have 
 
 MOKE WIVES THAN BKIGHAM YOUNG. 
 
 When we would sight a band a long way off, 
 the first thing would be to dispute whether they 
 were Indians or elk, for the critters, with their 
 antlers, look at a distance like men on horseback. 
 We didn't see any Indians, though, all the time 
 we were out, and I wasn't a bit sorry for that. 
 After we got near enough to see plainly, we 
 would look for such antlers as we wanted, and 
 would go for those. The best antlers are on the 
 old, lone bucks, who get driven away from the 
 bands generally, but sometimes we Avould find 
 them in the bands. Elk are about the 
 
 STUPIDEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD, 
 
 and you can get all you want by either sneak- 
 hunting or stalking. When they first see you, 
 they are so silly they will walk right toward 
 you, but at a shot they start off, always in the 
 face of the wind, so that they can smell ahead 
 and see behind. Their 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE. 45 
 
 NATUKAL GAIT IS A TROT. 
 
 When they are hurried and frightened, they some- 
 times break into a clumsy run, but they can't 
 travel near as fast that way. I have timed elk 
 trotting eight miles in twenty-four minutes, over 
 rough ground. When you get a band started, 
 you charge into them, ride your ponies into the 
 midst of the animals, press aside those you don't 
 want, by pushing their flanks with your hand, 
 and make for those with fine antlers. They 
 never show fight to men, but are the timidest 
 beasts in the world. The only danger you are 
 in is, that your horse might stumble, and then 
 you would be 
 
 TRAMPLED TO DEATH BY THEIR SHARP HOOFS. 
 
 Often you can ride around a band of them, and 
 as they will stop for the young ones and wounded 
 ones to come up, you can get ahead of them, 
 and take another shot. This was the way our 
 party hunted, for we were after big horns, and 
 not a lot of meat. By sneak-hunting, one man 
 can kill a whole band of elk. He must first get 
 a good stand, in easy range, to leeward of the 
 
46 BORDER TALES 
 
 game, so that he is completely hid, and must kill 
 one with his first shot. They then stand for a 
 short time, with their backs humped up and 
 their hair raised, looking around to see in which 
 direction to run. Finally, the leader will make 
 a break in one direction or another. Now is the 
 important moment. If the hunter makes a good 
 shot, and kills the leader, the whole band are at 
 his mercy. Having made one break, and found 
 danger in that direction, their wits are exhausted, 
 and they just stand huddled together, and one 
 man, if he had ammunition enough, could 
 
 KILL A THOUSAND OF THEM. 
 
 Black-tail deer are just the same, but white-tail 
 deer will run from the soimd of the gun. This 
 style of shooting is called getting a stand on the 
 game. You can get a stand on buffalo, and they 
 will act the same as the elk. I have killed 
 thirty-five buffalo out of a herd in this way, and 
 only stopped because I was tired." 
 
 " Hasn't there been some complaint of parties 
 of hunters from abroad slaughtering game need- 
 lessly ? " 
 
 "Oh yes; but I don't think there has been 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 47 
 
 much of that sort of thing done lately. I know 
 our party killed nothing but what they wanted, 
 and these Englishmen were good shots, and 
 brought down a buck when they drew a bead on 
 him. There is a fine of filty dollars for leaving 
 any game on the ground. Captain Shaw, an 
 Englishman who was hunting to the north of 
 us, did kill forty or fifty old buck elk, which he 
 left, but that was really a service to the country. 
 Their meat is no good, and they only worry the 
 young bucks. You see, these elk are mighty 
 queer beasts. A buck is 
 
 NO ACCOUNT IN THE HEED 
 
 after he is three years old ; and the young bucks 
 have antlers with a single prong, while these big 
 antlers belong to the old played-out fellows. 
 These antlers are full grown about September 
 every year, and are shed every February, and an 
 old buck has to devote about three-quarters of 
 the year to getting rid of his old set and putting 
 on his new. They have pretty bad times over 
 it. The elk seeks a lonely place, where he can 
 lie down and reach water by sticking his nose 
 out, and can get grass without scarcely moving. 
 Likely he 
 
48 BORDEB TALES 
 
 WON'T STIR A QUARTER OF MILE 
 
 during an entire winter. When the new antlers 
 begin to come, they are very tender at first, with 
 blood at the points, and covered with a kind of 
 skin. If he happens to touch them against any- 
 thing, it hurts like pulling a tooth. So he passes 
 week after week, with his nose in a stream and 
 his rump against a rock, doing nothing but nurse 
 his horns, until it gets to be August, when they 
 have nearly got their growth. Then some fine 
 day he takes a scrape on something, and off 
 comes the covering from his antlers, and then he 
 sharpens the points on the trees or rocks, and 
 
 BEGINS TO FEEL HIS OATS. 
 
 He gives himself a big shake, and starts on the 
 rampage, trumpeting as he goes. About this 
 time of the year the plains are full of these cries. 
 I tell you, it's a good thing to kill these old 
 pestilences, for they are of no use to themselves 
 or anybody else. It isn't hunters that are making 
 game scarce out West, by any means. It's the 
 ignorant emigrants, who 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 49 
 
 SCAKE THE GAME, AND DON'T KILL IT. 
 
 These people keep popping away, without hit- 
 ting anything, and frighten the animals so that 
 they go into country that is strange to them, 
 where they don't know how to find grass and 
 water, and they starve ; and that is why so 
 many skeletons bleach in the prairies of the West. 
 Your hunter, if he doesn't want a deer, leaves 
 him, and can kill one without disturbing those 
 grazing in the next canyon ; but bunglers manage, 
 without slaughtering much, to drive the game 
 into an unfit country. You see, the elk and the 
 deer and the buffalo can't stand civilization, and 
 are perishing fast; but the antelopes seem to 
 like a little human society, and are increasing 
 in numbers." 
 
 " You say that elk are so timid ; is that the 
 case with most of the game in the West ? " 
 
 "Yes, all but the bear. He is the most con- 
 trary chap in the world. Elk, buffalo, deer, 
 wolves, you do anything to frighten them, fire a 
 gun, or come upon them suddenly, and they will 
 run away, but a bear 
 
 WILL GO FOR YOU. 
 
 Old hunters don't want to have any truck with 
 
 E 
 
50 BOBDER TALES 
 
 bears. They are always spoiling for a fight, 
 and are so strong and cunning, and swift, and 
 hard to kill, that a man is pretty sure to get the 
 worst of it if he tackles one of then. It was just 
 true what California Joe said, that 'the best 
 place to hunt bears was where there wasn't any.' 
 A grizzly will stand in the middle of the road, 
 growling and getting his mad up, when there 
 isn't a live creature within forty miles of him. If 
 you meet one and turn out for him, he will pro- 
 bably leave you alone ; but if you say a word, 
 look out for him. Many a time I have just made 
 some such remark to a bear as, ' Where are you 
 going, Tommy ? ' when in an instant his arms 
 would be up and ready to tear me to pieces. 
 
 " No, sir, we don't go bear-hunting very much, 
 and are willing to cry quits with those fellows. 
 You see, they can run as fast as a horse, and you 
 have to put a bullet into just such a place to kill 
 them, and until they are dead they are danger- 
 ous. Tom Sun got treed on a rock by a grizzly 
 once, and the old loafer just waited there at the 
 foot of the rock for twenty-four hours before he 
 made up his mind to walk off. Tom didn't dare 
 shoot, because his rifle was a light one, and he 
 was afraid he might fail to kill the bear, who 
 would then have quietly wiped him off the rock 
 
A BEAR IN A KANCHE. 
 
 IPage 5L 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 51 
 
 and clawed him to bits. They are the most im- 
 pudent beggars, and presume on their privileges. 
 Often a big grizzly will walk into camp, as un- 
 concerned as you please, stroll up to a tree where 
 the game is hanging, help himself to what he 
 wants, and go away. Nobody interferes with 
 him. If he is satisfied to go off with the meat, 
 the hunters are satisfied to let him. I have seen 
 a bear walking along, with an entire elk carcase, 
 with the antlers on, weighing as much as eight 
 hundred pounds, tucked under his arm. 
 
 A BEAK IN A KANCHE. 
 
 " Sometimes one of these fellows visits a ranche 
 when a party is out hunting, and then, I tell 
 you, he makes a mess. They are as mischievous 
 as monkeys, and have no end of curiosity. Likely 
 the first thing he tackles is a cask of syrup. He 
 gets a little of the dripping from the spigot on his 
 paw, tastes it, says, ' That's good,' whacks in the 
 head of the cask, and pulls it over on his head 
 and shoulders, sticking himself all up, but most 
 of the syrup gets into his stomach. Then he 
 finds some tobacco, tastes it, says, 'No good,' and 
 scatters it over the floor. Next comes a sack of 
 flour. He bursts through the cloth with his paw. 
 
52 BORDER TALES 
 
 tastes it, says, ' Pretty good/ but he don't like it 
 much, so he spreads that all around amongst the 
 tobacco, and he adds to the mess blankets, clothes, 
 everything there is in the hut. By-and-by his 
 stomach gets uneasy from too much molasses, and 
 he lies down and takes a roll, and gets himself all 
 plastered over with flour and tobacco. About 
 the time the hunters come home, perhaps, he has 
 got ready to go, and they meet him in the road, 
 the most comical-looking beast you can imagine. 
 He knows he looks queer, but he walks along as 
 much as to say, ' No matter what I look like, I'm 
 a bear, and you had better leave me alone ; I've 
 got my belly full of sorghum, and don't want any 
 meat, but clear the road for me, or there'll be 
 trouble.' When you get inside, you find there is 
 no comfort there, and likely have to travel fifty 
 miles to get something to eat. He has ransacked 
 everything, and spoiled everything. 
 
 LASSOOING A CINNAMON. 
 
 "I was once out with a party in Texas, and 
 we came across a big cinnamon bear. We pro- 
 posed to leave him alone, but there was one 
 fellow, who didn't know as much bear as the rest, 
 who proposed to capture him with his lasso. We 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 53 
 
 told him he had better let out the job, but he was 
 determined ; and, sure enough, he made a good 
 throw, and got the loop around the bear s neck. 
 When old Cinnamon felt it get tight, what do 
 you think he did ? He just sat up on his 
 haunches, felt of the rope with one paw, and then 
 began pulling it in, hand over hand. There was a 
 horse and a man fast to the other end of the rope, 
 but 
 
 THEY HAD TO COME, 
 
 both of them. As for the hunter, he jumped off 
 and got away ; but the bear drew the pony right 
 up to him, and let his bowels out with one blow 
 of his paw. We killed him afterwards, but that 
 chap never tried lassooing any more cinnamons. 
 No, they're poor hunting, are bears. There are 
 about twenty varieties of them, and the hog- 
 backed grizzly is the worst, but they're all cross." 
 
 TEXAS JACK ON THE INDIAN QUESTION. 
 
 " How is it about the Indians ? '' 
 
 " Well, they all seem to have gone north, and 
 I reckon are up to the Canada line. We didn't 
 see any Indian signs all the time we were out. 
 You see, the buffalo have all been driven north, 
 
54 BORDER TALES 
 
 and the Indians have to follow them, for they 
 can't be on the war-path without buffalo. They 
 don't like elk, and deer, and small game well 
 enough to live on it, but give them plenty of 
 buffalo meat and they are happy. You know 
 they consider them as their own property. A 
 redskin will speak of buffalo as ' my cattle,' and 
 as long as they can swell around, on horseback, 
 in paint and feathers, and kill one of their cattle 
 whenever they want food, they're all right ; but 
 cut them off from this, and they'll soon come into 
 the agencies, get beef and beans, and be good 
 Indians. The wild Indian and the buffalo are 
 pards, and when one dies the other must. If the 
 Government had put all its soldiers to killing 
 buffalo, instead of trying to kill redskins, and 
 getting butchered themselves, the Indian question 
 would have been settled long ago. As it is, 
 Canada people have been wiser than we. They 
 have fed the Indians, given them blankets and 
 seed corn to plant, regular annuities of money 
 and tobacco, and have sent missionaries among 
 them long before we did ; and the consequence is, 
 they have never had much serious trouble with 
 them." 
 
 The bugle call of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry escort 
 sounded just as Texas Jack had concluded his 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 55 
 
 narrative, and we turned into our tents to sleep 
 as sound as roaches, and to rise early with the 
 sun and bid our new friend adieu, as he once 
 more resumed his journey to the city of New 
 York, whither he and his companions were 
 tending. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Our next night's bivouac was far away up in 
 the Yellowstone country. No sooner were our 
 camp fires lighted, than all our party were eager 
 for the stories to begin. 
 
 Now, at the expense of being considered 
 tedious and wandering from the subject of our 
 story, I may be permitted to indulge in a short 
 description of this wonderful region where we 
 had encamped. For, next to the Falls of 
 Niagara, the '' geysers " are described by Pro- 
 fessor Hayden, United States geologist, as '"one 
 of the Seven Wonders of the world." 
 
 They are located upon the head waters of 
 the Yellowstone river and upper forks of the 
 Missouri river, and comprise portions of the 
 territories of Idaho and Montana. 
 
56 BORDER TALES 
 
 The wonders of Iceland or New Zealand are 
 dwarfed into nothingness by the stupendous 
 phenomena of "voleanism" (to adopt the lan- 
 guage of this noted geologist) which crowd the 
 oasis of the Yellowstone. 
 
 He says, " Many of those springs are no longer 
 active, their igneous vents forming shapes the 
 most fantastic, like the 'Dead Chimney' on 
 Gardner s river, the ' Devil's Den,' ' Tower 
 Creek,' formed most likely near the pleiocene 
 period." Elsewhere abound groups and single 
 varieties of true geysers, not less strange and 
 weird-like in form, like the "Mud Cauldron," 
 the " Great Mud Geyser," and the " Giant's 
 Cauldron," forty feet in diameter, intermittent 
 in its flow, having been observed by Professor 
 Hayden, and also by General Sherman, to rise 
 and fall eight times in twenty-four hours, to a 
 range of thirty feet. 
 
 In Firehole Yalley a vast basin of one hun- 
 dred and fifty feet in diameter, with a central 
 orifice of twenty-five feet, throws up a mass of 
 water to a height of sixty feet. At a short dis- 
 tance, a series of mud pufis spurt up with a sup- 
 pressed thud into the air, spreading around their 
 deposits of fine silicious clay, in every hue, from 
 the purest white to a bright rich pink. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 57 
 
 Above all, the giant geyser projects volumes 
 of boiling water upwards of two hundred feet in 
 height, the stream mounting a thousand feet or 
 more: the watery pillar sustaining itself un- 
 broken for twenty minutes at a time. 
 
 This, a twin geyser of scarcely less grandeur 
 and transcendent feathery column, rivalling in 
 elegance and purity the triumph of Versailles or 
 Sydenham, was measured to rise two hundred 
 and nineteen feet, glittering like a shower of 
 diamonds in the sun. 
 
 In the centre of this region, the Yellowstone 
 Lake is described as carrying off the palm of 
 beauty of the whole scenery of the world. The 
 great canyon and lower falls of the Yellowstone 
 river, if less grand than Niagara, would seem to 
 excel those well-known falls in beauty. 
 
 The Yosemite itself (pronounced Yo-sem-e-te), 
 the recent pride of the American continent, 
 would seem in many respects here outdone. 
 The great American park will be the object of 
 tourists ere long, as now travellers go to see the 
 Alps in Switzerland. 
 
 Now, coming to our story for the night, in full 
 view of this river, we resume our narrative. 
 
 Much to our agreeable surprise, a scout, having 
 a Scotch name, but a full-blood Indian of the 
 
58 BOEDER TALES 
 
 tribe called "Warm-Spring Indians," named 
 Donald McKay, came into our camp from the 
 Modoc country in Oregon; and he gave us his 
 experience of Indian traits and character in the 
 Pacific scope. He had clear views of Indian 
 superstition, and of the phenomena they claim to 
 grow out of their belief. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE ANIMAL INSTINCT. 
 
 Some one had led Mr. McKay to speak of animal 
 instinct, and thereby hung several tales that 
 led by insensible degrees up to what is commonly 
 called the supernatural. 
 
 "I know," said he, "that animals have some 
 means of communicating ideas to each other, for 
 I have seen instances of such communication that 
 I couldn't doubt. A dog, for instance, will talk 
 with another dog, and has a perfect knowledge 
 of whatever his master says to him. We were in 
 an hotel in the east, last week, the proprietor of 
 which had 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE. 59 
 
 A VEKY HANDSOME SETTER 
 
 that knew as much as some men I have seen. I 
 saw the hotel man tell this animal to go upstairs 
 to a certain room and come down again in a few 
 minutes. The dog went straight where he was 
 told, and while he was gone his master hid a 
 potato in one of the spittoons. When the dog 
 came back, he was told what had been done, and 
 directed to find the potato. There was a wains- 
 coting about the room, with a ledge on the top of 
 it. The first thing Mr. Dog did was to raise 
 himself up and to travel all about the room, 
 nosing that ledge to see if that potato was laid 
 upon it. Then he went to the spittoons and 
 nosed among them until he found what had been 
 hidden." 
 
 " Shrewd !" said another, — a theatrical manager, 
 who was present, — " but I saw a sharper thing 
 than that not long ago in Toledo. The manager 
 of the opera-house there has several 
 
 VERY FINE IMPORTED BIRD DOGS 
 
 that he keeps about the theatre. They got upon 
 the stage one night while the performance was 
 going on, and created a considerable stir. In 
 
60 BOBBER TALES 
 
 order that such a thing shouldn't happen again, 
 we took them down the next night and shut 
 them in the box office. That evening, when I 
 came to count up, I found the cash seventeen 
 dollars short. I called the manager down and 
 he tried to straighten out the deficiency. We 
 couldn't make it out at all. It came out just 
 seventeen dollars short every time we counted. 
 At last he happened to notice one of the dogs in 
 the corner, with a sort of sneaking expression in 
 his face. ' I'm hanged,' said he, ' if I don't believe 
 these dogs have got that money.' He went over, 
 and there, sure enough, was a five-dollar note and 
 a two-dollar note wadded up under that dog's 
 paw, and the paw was stretched out so as to 
 cover the bills up from our sight. In another 
 corner sat another dog, looking out of the corners 
 of his eyes, with his nose pointed down, and his 
 tongue running out once in a while in a very 
 quiet way. He went over and found a ten-dollar 
 note under him. Now, what do you suppose 
 inclined those animals to sneak up and steal that 
 money, as they must have done while I wasn't 
 looking ? " 
 
 No one offered any theory. 
 
 "I'll tell you how the manager explained it. 
 You see, he had been in the habit of taking them 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 61 
 
 with him to market, and giving one or other of 
 them a twenty-five cent scrip to give to the 
 butcher for meat. He believed the dogs knew 
 money when they saw it, and understood that it 
 was good for meat at the market, and that they 
 just cribbed those bills to buy meat with." 
 
 This explanation was greeted with a general 
 roar by all but the narrator and Donald McKay, 
 the latter of whom seemed to take it as perfectly 
 reasonable. 
 
 ANOTHEK DOG STOEY. 
 
 " I tell you, gentlemen," said he, " I've faith in 
 animal reason. I had a dog, once — or, rather, 
 my father had — that was enough smarter than 
 we to save our lives upon a certain night in the 
 mountains of California. We had been down to 
 Sacramento, my father and I — I was nothing 
 but a boy ; it was in the early times, as long ago 
 as 1850, 1 think — and my father who was a well- 
 known man in that country, had been entertained 
 by a Mexican gentleman who was very wealthy. 
 They got up a bull and bear fight for him, and 
 there were great times. When we were coming 
 away this Mexican gave my father a great dog, 
 as big as a donkey almost, and very savage. We 
 
62 BORDER TALES 
 
 had a good deal of trouble, I remember, in getting 
 him reconciled to us at all, but after a while he 
 became very much attached to us. 
 
 "We went off with a party that my father 
 organized, into the hills to dig for gold. Those 
 were the times when miners felt as though they 
 were throwing their time away for forty or fifty 
 dollars' worth of gold in a day. We wanted five 
 or six hundred or more. The diggings didn't 
 suit us, so my father and I and Bute — that was 
 the dog's name — struck out to prospect a creek 
 about thirty miles off. We were up on the 
 mountains all day, climbing and prospecting 
 around, so that when it came night we were 
 tired enough. We were going to lie down in a 
 nice open place under a tree to sleep, when my 
 father happened to see Indians watching us. We 
 crawled under some brushes about fifty feet, and 
 took Bute in with us and lay down there, and 
 in a few minutes we were both sound asleep. 
 
 " I don't know how long we had lain there when 
 I felt my father nudge me. ' Wake up, Donald,' 
 said he, ' there's something crawling through the 
 brush.' Then I felt something, tap — tap — tap, 
 falling across my legs. I tell you, I was scared — 
 I was nothing but a boy then — and I put my 
 hand down and caught hold of the thing that was 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 63 
 
 tapping me. It was Bute's tail. I called father's 
 attention to it, and he said that was what had 
 waked him up. Then we listened, and I could 
 hear a rustling in the brush every minute or two. 
 All at once the dog got up and made a rush in 
 the direction of the rustling. In about half a 
 minute we heard the most awful noise I have 
 ever listened to. It wasn't a bark, nor a growl, 
 nor a roar, but all three together ; and then there 
 was a most terrific rumpus. My father said, ' Get 
 up and run.' We didn't wait to see what the 
 trouble was, but we got away from there without 
 loss of time, and ran for about five minutes, 
 when my father stopped himself by throwing his 
 arm around a tree ; and we both laid down on 
 the ground. In a little while the dog came back, 
 and I noticed that his head looked black and 
 queer. 
 
 "When daylight broke we found out two 
 things that surprised us more than a little. The 
 first was, that if we had run three feet further 
 than the tree we would have run over a sheer 
 precipice of a thousand feet ; and the other, that 
 Bute's head was covered with blood. We went 
 back to the place where we were the night 
 before, and some thirty feet from it we found a 
 dead Indian, on his back, with his throat all torn 
 
64 BORDER TALES 
 
 away. The dog knew what the danger was, and 
 first woke us up with his tail and then went 
 and killed the Indian." 
 
 This story, and the dramatic manner in which 
 it was told, rather deadened the spirits of the 
 party for a moment, until another member of it 
 related 
 
 ANOTHEE INSTANCE OF DOG SENSE, 
 
 in which a little terrier had frightened a great 
 Newfoundland out of possession of a piece of 
 meat. 
 
 "The Indians all believe that animals have 
 spirits," said Mr. McKay. " They certainly have 
 intelligence, and some means of communicating 
 their ideas from one to another. What it is I 
 don't profess to know; but there are Indians 
 what do. That is to say, there are Indians who 
 claim to possess the secret of the language of 
 animals. One old woman of my tribe — the 
 Cayeuse tribe — I know very well, who has done 
 some very strange things in that way. Mind, I 
 don't believe in such things myself, but there is 
 something in it, more than any of us can find out. 
 
 "For example, I will tell you of one message 
 this woman brought to me from one of my horses. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 65 
 
 I have about five thousand head of horses and 
 cattle, and some of them are of fine breeds. I 
 had one very handsome bay horse that was a 
 runner. You know the Indians are very fond of 
 running races. This horse had beaten every- 
 thing in all that country, and I had agreed to let 
 him run against a horse that an Indian had 
 brought up from the South somewhere. The day 
 before the race this old woman I speak of came 
 riding along past my place, where the horse was 
 picketed in an enclosure. When she came near, 
 the horse * nickered' and ran up to the fence, 
 and whinnered for a minute or so. The old 
 woman came to me and said, 'You mustn't let 
 that horse run to-morrow.' I asked her why 
 not. ' Because,' said she, ' he is not in condition to 
 run. He's not well, and he'll be beaten and come 
 out lame.' Well, of course, I paid no attention 
 to that, and the next day the race was run. It 
 came out just as the old woman said. The horse 
 was the worst-beaten horse I ever saw, and he 
 went lame in one of his forelegs for months 
 afterward. 
 
 " Well, you might say, ' it happened so.' That 
 was what we said. But there was to be an- 
 other race shortly afterward, between the horse 
 that beat mine and another. The horse that 
 
 F 
 
66 BORDER TALES 
 
 beat mine was tethered and awaiting for the 
 race when this same old woman came along. 
 He was cavorting and jumping around very un- 
 easily, and any one would have supposed he was 
 full of fire and life. But as soon as she came 
 near he ran up to her and began to nicker. She 
 came to where we were standing, and said to his 
 proprietor, ' That horse says if he runs to-day he 
 will win the race, but he'll die within three days.' 
 The man laughed and paid no attention to her. 
 The race came off* and the next day the horse 
 lay down and died. Now, perhaps some of you 
 gentlemen who read a good deal can explain 
 these things. I cant. There's something in 
 them that I don't pretend to understand. 
 
 " There was another old woman in my tribe, 
 with whom I have talked myself, several times, 
 who once died, and was dead three days and 
 came back to life, and told of seeing the 
 
 SPIKITS OF ANIMALS IN THE OTHER WORLD 
 
 — what we call the happy hunting ground." 
 " Tell us about it," chimed in three or four. 
 " Well, I don't know whether you would say 
 she died or not. I believe there are phases of 
 catalepsy that produce trances like that. But 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 67 
 
 there was a strange circumstance connected with 
 the trance that makes it somewhat different from 
 other cases I have heard of among you white 
 men. When a Cayeuse dies, it is a custom to 
 wait until all the relatives see the body before 
 the burial takes place. When this old woman 
 died — or seemed to die — one of her sons was 
 about a hundred miles or so away, and he had to 
 be sent for to come home. It was the third day 
 after when he came ; and they were just about 
 to bury the body, when 
 
 LIFE CAME BACK AGAIN. 
 
 The old woman sat up, and began to sing a song 
 that was strange to the ears of the people. All 
 our Indian songs have meanings; and though 
 they sound all alike to you white men, there is a 
 great difference between them. When an Indian 
 comes to hear one of your violin or piano players, 
 the music seems to him just what our music 
 seems to you — nothing but a bum-bum, any way. 
 Well, this song was very strange ; and when the 
 old woman had finished singing it, she explained 
 that she had learned it from the spirits. She 
 said she had really died ; and that the first she 
 knew she was lying on the grass in a beautiful 
 
68 BORDER TALES 
 
 country, and the spirits of animals and birds 
 were moving about, and everything was happy 
 and pleasant. Then she wandered about awhile, 
 and came to the spirits of 
 
 THE OLD CHIEF, KOOM, 
 
 and his warriors. Koom was an old chief that 
 had died a great, great many years before. He 
 had been a tyrant and a wicked man while he 
 was alive, and had a band of followers who were 
 as hard as he. These spirits were black, and 
 they seemed very downhearted and gloomy. 
 There seemed to be a line in that country, and 
 on one side of it everything was beautiful and 
 pleasant, and on the other side everything was 
 barren and ugly. Koom and his warriors were 
 on the bad side. On the other side she saw 
 Towanka and his people, among whom were 
 many that she knew; and they were enjoying 
 themselves and having a good time of it. 
 Towanka was also an old Cayeuse chief, dead 
 many years, who in his life had been 
 
 A GOOD AND JUST MAN. 
 
 She went over to them, and they told her she 
 had died before her time ; that she was not pre- 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 69 
 
 pared for that happy land, and must go back 
 again for three years to her people. Before they 
 sent her back they taught her this song and told 
 her that her people should sing it at burials, be- 
 cause it would help the spirit of the dead person 
 on its way to the happy hunting grounds. And 
 to this day that song is sung at Indian funerals. 
 I saw her many a time afterward, before she 
 died — and, by the way, she died in just three 
 years from that trance." 
 
 " She was what a white spiritualist would 
 call 
 
 A TRANCE MEDIUM, 
 
 wasn't she ? " asked one who had given consider- 
 able study to spiritual phenomena. 
 
 " I suppose so. I didn't know anything about 
 what you call spiritualism until I came east," 
 replied McKay. " But the same thing has been 
 known and recognized among the Indians, at least 
 of Oregon and Washington, these hundreds of 
 years. We have what we call our medicine men, 
 who practise it. The Indians are great believers 
 in spirits and dreams. I suppose it is natural 
 for men who are alone with nature most of their 
 lives to be superstitious. I have heard that your 
 
70 BORDER TALES 
 
 white sailors become superstitious from being so 
 much in the solitudes of the sea. Why shouldn't 
 the Indians, from being in the solitudes of the 
 mountains and the forests ? A brave lies down to 
 sleep, and wakes up and says, ' To-day I will be 
 killed,' or ' To-day I will kill some one,' or ' To-day 
 such and such a thing will happen to me/ They 
 dream it, and they believe what they dream. 
 
 THE MEDICINE MEN 
 
 go to sleep, and the spirits of birds or beasts or 
 snakes come and tell them what will happen. 
 Each medicine man has what he calls his great 
 medicine — the spirit of an eagle or a buffalo, 
 or a rattlesnake or some other animal. The 
 rattlesnake is the greatest medicine. It used to 
 be so that a medicine man's life was not safe for 
 a moment. You understand, the people hire 
 them when there is sickness. Suppose you had 
 a sick child, and I am a medicine man, and you 
 call me to see it. I go, and when I have seen it 
 and you pay me, I go away, and the child grows 
 no better — perhaps worse. You call in another 
 medicine man, who has a spite against me. He 
 looks at your child, and says, ' I can't do any- 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE. 71 
 
 thing for it ; the other medicine man has a spite 
 against you for something, and he has put his 
 strong medicine in her ' (that is, what your white 
 medicine men call magnetism), ' and mine is not 
 strong enough to overcome it. She will die/ 
 Then, you say nothing, but you go and kill me, 
 and that ends it. Nothing is done to you. So it 
 was that medicine men were not safe. Lately 
 the people have some new religion that I don't 
 understand, but it must be better than the old, 
 for the medicine men are no longer in peril of 
 their lives." 
 
 "Do the medicine men have to go through 
 some preparation for their profession ? " some one 
 asked. 
 
 " Oh yes, of course. For instance, suppose you 
 were a chief, and you had a son you thought had 
 some fitness for being a medicine man ; you send 
 for the medicine men, and they come and hold a 
 council about it, and find out if the boy has any 
 medicine " 
 
 " Any familiar spirit ? " 
 
 " Yes. And if they find he has, they teach him 
 a little at a time. He has to commence small. 
 His medicine at first is probably some small bird 
 or little animal. Then he gets along farther, 
 until maybe he reaches the owl " (pointing to a 
 
72 BORDER TALE 8 
 
 large stuffed specimen of the owl kind that stood 
 near), " and when he comes that far, he is wise. 
 If I was a medicine man and understood what 
 that bird knew when it was alive, I would be 
 wise, for I could see farther than other men, and 
 see in the dark, as the owl can. The big poison 
 or 
 
 BIG MEDICINE IS THE RATTLESNAKE. 
 
 That is the greatest and the wisest of them all. 
 If it is a girl that wishes to become a medicine 
 woman, she is taken when she is thirteen or 
 fourteen, and put in a dark tepee and kept there 
 five days. No one can see her. Food is pat 
 into the tepee for her, and she is left quite alone 
 with the spirits. Then, on the fifth day, the big 
 medicine man goes in and mesmerizes her, and 
 she becomes stiff and hard as a figure of stone, 
 and remains so until the big medicine man re- 
 leases her. When she comes to again, she has 
 medicine. She is a medicine woman. Sometimes 
 they have 
 
 MEDICINE DANCES, 
 
 to see who is the greatest. Maybe it is the big 
 medicine men that give it ; maybe it is a chief, 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 73 
 
 who says, ' Gome, now, let us see who is the most 
 skilful among you.' Whoever it is pays all the 
 expenses and feeds the people while it lasts — 
 probably five days. The Indians come in from 
 great distances. A platform is built on pieces of 
 wood that spring up and down, and over the 
 platform is thrown a buffalo skin. Then the 
 chief or whoever it is that gives the feast says, 
 ' Now, who is the medicine man ? Come, let us 
 see.' The medicine men always allow the oldest 
 to go first. He mounts up on the platform, and 
 begins to spring it up and down and sing ; and 
 all the people follow his motions with their 
 hands, and sing too. By-and-by his medicine 
 comes, and he speaks wisdom. Then he goes 
 down, and the chief repeats the invitation. Sup- 
 pose there is some young fellow in the crowd who 
 can do some little tricks, and has some medicine, 
 and he wants to show what he can do, he sings 
 out, ' Well, I can do these things like him ; ' and 
 he jumps upon the platform and begins to spring 
 it up and down and sing, while the people keep 
 time and sing as before. The older medicine 
 men don't like this. They say among them- 
 selves, ' Who is this young fellow that puts him- 
 self forward before the medicine men ? We will 
 teach him a lesson.' So they close their eyes, and 
 they say they 
 
74 BORDER TALES 
 
 SEE HIS MEDICINE COMING. 
 
 They tell what it is — maybe a buffalo. They 
 tell what divide it is coming down, and what it 
 is like, and when it is coming nearer and nearer, 
 until one cries out, ' Here it is,' and catches at 
 it, and all the medicine men pitch upon it, and 
 throw it down. Then the young fellow cannot 
 have his medicine. They hold it, and he knows 
 they have been too smart for him. He falls 
 down upon the platform, and begs, ' Here, I have 
 so many horses and so many cattle, and so on. 
 Take it all, only let me live.' That is enough. 
 The medicine men have got his property, and 
 they let him go." 
 
 '' These proceedings are not unlike some that 
 the media go through — I mean in general, not 
 with regard to the fleecing of an aspirant," sug- 
 gested the spirit student. " And I dare say the 
 white spiritualist would indorse them, so far as 
 they go, with the explanation that as the Indians 
 are controlled by the lower animals, the mani- 
 festations are necessarily base and of an inferior 
 order." 
 
 " My brother, Dr. McKay, who was educated 
 and practises medicine in a New England city," 
 pursued Mr. McKay, " was out to visit us a year 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 75 
 
 or two ago, and I remember his making a speech 
 to our people, which I interpreted, in which he 
 
 CALLED THEM FOOLS 
 
 for listening to, much less believing in, such non- 
 sense. We called to see him a few weeks ago, 
 and while we were at his house there came a 
 very nice-looking lady, who said she wanted to 
 see the Indians. We were shown to her; and 
 then she said she was a medium, and that she 
 had received a communication from her control- 
 ling spirit, directing her to call upon us and 
 transmit a message. The Indians, when I ex- 
 plained it to them, at once formed about her as 
 they do about their medicine men at home, and 
 began to sing. In a moment she went into a 
 trance, and began to speak in the Indian tongue. 
 I paid little attention to it, for, as I told you, I 
 don't understand such things, and don't like to 
 meddle with them ; but the Indians told me that 
 she gave them a message from an old chief who 
 long since passed away. I had a laugh at my 
 brother about it. ' You called us ignorant fools 
 for believing in such things out in the west,' 
 said I, 'and yet when I come east among the 
 enlightened white folks I find them going on 
 just the same.' He hadn't a word to say." 
 
76 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 A CONTINUATION OF THE SUPEENATURAL. 
 
 As an instance of some strange coincidences we 
 cannot explain, with our limited knowledge, we 
 have a remarkable event to narrate in the acci- 
 dent and death of 
 
 BISHOP HENRY W. LEE, OF IOWA. 
 
 Bishop Lee, well known, and for years the per- 
 sonal friend of the writer, resided in Davenport, 
 Iowa, in 1874. One night in September (we 
 think it was), he rose from his bed to get a glass 
 of water. The room was dark, and he mistook 
 his way into another room, and feU upon the 
 stairs, thereby dislocating one of his wrists, which 
 was very painful, but not supposed alarming. 
 He had, at that time, a son living in Kansas, with 
 his wife. At two o'clock the son awoke out of 
 sleep, and addressed his wife, saying, "I have 
 had a bad dream ; something has happened to 
 father." He looked at his watch, and saw it was 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 77 
 
 just two o'clock. This corresponded with the 
 exact time the accident had occurred ! 
 
 The bishop's physician had been obliged to 
 amputate the hand in the morning, but gangrene 
 set in, and in a few days he died. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The next day an order came from the War De- 
 partment to go into '' winter quarters," and the 
 soldiers went to work in building suitable bar- 
 racks for the officers and themselves, at Fort 
 David Russell, three miles from Cheyenne. But 
 I know my young friends are becoming very 
 anxious to commence the romance in Part II., 
 therefore I will not detain them by enumerating 
 the many difficulties connected with building 
 a " post," sometimes called a fort, far away from 
 civilization. I will merely say that during the 
 long winter evenings, after the barracks were 
 completed, the lieutenant enlivened our stay by 
 telling us the remainder of his story of "The 
 Twin Brothers." I hope my readers may find it 
 as interesting to them as it was to us. 
 
PART IL 
 
 'the twin beothers. 
 
 A KOMANCE OF THE FOREST. 
 A Tale of Indian Life among the Cayuga Indians. 
 
 ' Owasco's waters sweetly slept, 
 
 Owasco's banks were bright and green ; 
 The willow on her margin wept, 
 
 The wild-fowl on her wave were seen : 
 And nature's golden charms were shed 
 As richly round her quiet bed. 
 From flowered mead to mountain brow, 
 A century since, as they are now ; 
 The same pure pui-ple light was flung 
 
 At morn across the water's breast ; 
 The same rich crimson curtains hung 
 
 At eve around the glowing west." 
 
In 1856, in my youth, I contributed to the Auburn 
 Miscellany some of my early productions. The late Mr. 
 Frederick Prince was publisher and printer. It is due to his 
 memory to say that the following story is the joint work of 
 him and myself. It is hoped, in its new dress, that it will 
 lose nothing of the interest which attended its first intro- 
 duction, especially among my early friends in Western New 
 York. 
 
 The Author. 
 
THE TWIN BEOTHEES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 It was during the early day, the day-dawn, of 
 American history, that the stirring scenes of our 
 main story begin, when history tells of the fear- 
 less march of General Sullivan through New York 
 State, along the Mohawk river to Lake Erie, 
 followed by his band of dauntless continental 
 heroes, traversing the woods and swamps, and 
 fording rivers, meeting with opposition from the 
 Indians, who felt that no white man had the right 
 to trespass on their hunting grounds, or fish in 
 their streams, which the Great Spirit had made 
 for His favourite children, the red men of the 
 forest. 
 
 On the 1st of September, 1779, two Dutchmen, 
 born in New Amsterdam (now New York), were 
 standing on the shore of the river Hudson, about 
 half-way between Yonkers and Dobb's Ferry, near 
 a small cluster of log houses. 
 
 "Do you see that craft sailing up the river 
 
 G 
 
82 BORDER TALES 
 
 from New Amsterdam ?" said one of them, named 
 Dick Van Buren, a stalwart-built young man of 
 nineteen, to his cousin and companion, young 
 Diedrich Knickerbocker. " There are guilders, 
 bright and shining, stored away on that craft ; " 
 and, shading his eyes with his hand from the sun, 
 he took a good look at the cutter, as she tossed 
 the spray from her prow while beating up against 
 wind and tide. 
 
 " Gold, did you say, cousin Dick ? " 
 
 " Yaw, yaw, mein himmel; dere is dat same ting 
 in heaps, bagsful.'' 
 
 " Maybe too," replied the other. 
 
 " I knows it; yes, I knows all about it. — 
 What youb say to yonder sail, Mister Le Fort ? " 
 turning to a tall figure with a French aspect, 
 visible as he approached the two Dutchmen. 
 
 " What do I say about that clipper, down in 
 the turn of the river ? " replied Le Fort. 
 
 '' Oh, yaw, yaw, I think she's got a precious 
 cargo," said Van Buren. 
 
 "No. She's an American cruiser, a sort of 
 phantom ship, that never comes and goes, never 
 lands a cargo. Her skipper always sleeps with 
 one eye open ; knows all the pirates of the sea ; 
 and all the land-sharks also, who swarm here, he 
 knows better than you or I." 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 83 
 
 " Well, what do I know, do you think ? " said 
 the Dutchman, colouring in the face. 
 
 " You know quite enough to enable the king's 
 customs to buy a halter for your neck for ' lift- 
 ing' some of the plunder from vessels trading 
 here/' said Le Fort. 
 
 "Now, you stop such insinuations," said the 
 other young fellow, " against Van Buren." 
 
 "No, no," said Van Buren; " nor shall you accuse 
 me of plunder, when you are hand and glove, 
 cahoot, with all the outlaws between the East and 
 North rivers, and on Long Island." 
 
 " It's a downright lie ; and he who utters such 
 words shall eat them, and sink or float in the 
 stream!" loudly spoke Le Fort, as his angry 
 tones almost choked him with rage, while his 
 eyes flashed defiance to both of them. 
 
 "I may eat my own words, but you can't 
 choke me down with yours," said Van Buren, 
 giving his duck trousers a hoist, and twirling a 
 chew of pigtail tobacco in his cheek. 
 
 " Then take that to chew first," said Le Fort, 
 as he raised his stalwart arm, and giving Van 
 Buren a blow which was enough to fell an ox. 
 
 '' And so I spit at you," said Van Buren, as he 
 planted a settler between the eyes of Le Fort. 
 
 " You'll swallow yet, or choke," said the latter. 
 
84 BORDER TALES 
 
 as he recovered himself, and threw his whole 
 weight forward, grappling his adversary by the 
 throat with a power that soon made the com- 
 plexion of Van Buren turn a dark hue, his eyes 
 to shoot out, and his tongue to come out of his 
 mouth, forced by the tight grip of his enemy. 
 
 " Enough ! hold ! " cried Diedrich. " Oh, mine 
 Got ! I'll tear you limb from limb." 
 
 Le Fort knew the almost superhuman strength 
 of the lad who spoke, but his French blood was 
 roused, and he still held fast his victim. 
 " Will you let go ? " called out the youth. 
 " No," replied Le Fort ; " I will not." 
 "Then you'll hold no pipe in one hand this 
 night," answered Diedrich, as he seized the hand 
 still clutching the throat of his cousin, and with 
 a sudden twist, crushed the bones of Le Fort's 
 arm, causing him to loose his hold; when Van 
 Buren, almost strangled, fell down half dead. 
 '' See that, you rascal ! " said the youth, as with 
 a powerful push he thrust Le Fort from him, 
 and giving another twist on his arm, he let go, 
 and Le Fort suddenly found himself sprawling 
 several feet away. " Didn't I tell you to let go ? " 
 The breathless Van Buren began to recover- 
 slowly on the ground, but could not utter a 
 word; while Le Fort, writhing in deep pain, 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 85 
 
 rushed away toward the settlement, vowing in- 
 wardly a dire revenge for the insult he had 
 
 received. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 As soon as Van Buren had renewed his speech, 
 he cursed his foe, and uttered all sorts of epithets 
 against Le Fort. 
 
 " Cursed traitor ! " exclaimed he, " to turn in- 
 former and betray his neighbours! Does he, 
 think you, cousin, imagine that he can put a 
 stop to a Van Buren s trade ? Look here, 
 Diedrich " (raising himself up) — " you hear what 
 I say ? — that sneaking, praying tell-tale shall die 
 for this." 
 
 " No, Hans ; you mustn't take from any one 
 what you can't restore. Blood for blood is the 
 law, and we must let him bide his time." 
 
 '' Ah, yes ; but his days are short if he dares to 
 cross my path again. But, Diedrich, look at that 
 craft. As I live, I believe she's making for the 
 shore." 
 
 "True enough," replied the other. "But can 
 you see the shining sovereigns, Van Buren ? " — 
 as he smiled at his cousin. 
 
 " You bet your dollar, I will see them " — as he 
 bent his eyes on the skipper, sailing her way 
 along the stream like a duck in the river. 
 
86 BORDER TALES 
 
 " Honest, of course ? " said Diedrieh. 
 
 " Oh, yaw, yaw," playfully said the other. 
 
 " But look ! yonder comes Le Fort back again, 
 mit four of his comrades." 
 
 "Yes, so it is," muttered the youth, as he 
 pressed his teeth tightly together. "Diedrieh, 
 if they mean fight, stand still, and I will meet 
 them, if I die for it ! " 
 
 Young Van Buren, afraid of nothing, stood 
 eyeing the vessel and the coming party. The 
 long, low, black schooner, so different from any 
 he had ever seen before, puzzled him. But his 
 attention was recalled to Le Fort and his party 
 of four, drawing near. 
 
 Slowly Le Fort and his party came toward the 
 bank, while he held his injured arm and hand 
 with the other. Soon they halted a little way 
 off, and began to consult what they would do. 
 But by-and-by they drew near, and Le Fort 
 said, " There they are, and you see they were two 
 upon one. I had a poor show for my life." 
 
 Van Buren went forward a few steps to meet 
 them, when Le Fort, becoming almost mad with 
 anger, and excited with pain of his injured limb, 
 seized his long knife from behind, and rushed 
 upon his enemy, bidding the rest to follow. 
 
 Le Fort's blow, aimed at Van Buren, was parried 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 87 
 
 by the latter, and they immediately closed in, the 
 former being thrown to the ground. 
 
 " Do you take me for a mad dog, by attacking 
 me in this way ? " 
 
 Le Fort's companions hesitated, and gazed 
 upon the stalwart young Dutchman. His eyes 
 flashed fire, but he was cool enough to stop with 
 out further damage. Standing on the defensive, 
 he felt his superior strength to his enemy. Le 
 Fort lay still, stunned by his fall, and Diedrich, 
 on seeing the struggle of Van Buren with Le 
 Fort, rushed forward madly to his aid. 
 
 " Stop, Van ! " cried the youth. " Leave him 
 to me ; I'll soon finish him if his comrades 
 interfere." 
 
 But they did not. 
 
 It was at this time that Diedrich espied that 
 the schooner had port-holes, and was armed with 
 long six-pounders. No such vessel cruised the 
 Hudson, and to his surprise he saw, among the 
 large crowd on the deck, one clad in bright red 
 uniform, in his Majesty's service. 
 
 Much as they would have been glad to row off 
 from the shore in a boat, to explore the strange 
 craft, they could only stand and gaze with won- 
 der till the night closed in, while the vessel rode 
 safely at anchor in the stream. 
 
88 BORDER TALES 
 
 At day-dawn the whole neighbourhood had 
 gathered on the bank, watching closely the 
 movements on board ; and, strange to say, they 
 soon spied the form of the tall half-breed, Le Fort, 
 talking with the officer, as they paced the deck. 
 
 '* What do you suppose that means ? " asked 
 Diedrich of his cousin. 
 
 *' I'm sure I can't tell," was the reply. 
 
 But very soon a skiff containing a dozen per- 
 sons, a young lady among them, was seen to push 
 off from the craft, pulling up stream toward the 
 shore, and was soon lost in the bend of the river. 
 
 " That chap Le Fort has humbugged us fairly," 
 said Van to Diedrich. 
 
 " Oh, yaw, yaw," said he, looking sad and dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 Nothing more passed between them; and 
 before the sun had set, it was seen that Diedrich 
 Knickerbocker had gone off, no one knew 
 whither. 
 
 ***** 
 
 You remember that Le Fort was left the day 
 before prone to the earth, and after they left him 
 he picked himself up with an effort, and wended 
 his way to his log cabin, which stood quite hid in 
 a beech grove. As soon as it became dark, he set 
 out to find the spot where the vessel rode at 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 89 
 
 anchor. As he came near in a small skiff, he 
 was challenged from on deck by a sentinel — 
 '' Who goes there ? " After a few words, he was 
 helped up the side on board, and at once went 
 down into the cabin. The next morning, persons 
 on shore saw him talking eagerly with a crowd 
 on deck. 
 
 Toward evening, the boat which had been 
 rowed up the river was seen coming back, 
 with Le Fort and two others. Soon after he 
 landed, the schooner was seen to upheave her 
 anchor and sail away down stream towards 
 Mannahatta. 
 
 All sorts of surmises arose on shore after the 
 vessel had gotten out of sight, and their curiosity 
 was heightened more the next day at finding Le 
 Fort missing, as well as Knickerbocker. The 
 reason of the absence of Diedrich could not be 
 guessed, as he was nearly always at home ; while 
 the other was so often away as to excite no 
 suspicion. 
 
 Day and week followed each other, but no 
 tidings had come from either. The party of Le 
 Fort, who went up the Hudson in the boat, no- 
 body could learn anything of; but feeling as 
 though some clue could be had, the settlers made 
 up a hunting party, and went the same way as 
 
90 
 
 BOEDER TALES 
 
 they had seen the boat rowed. However, a week's 
 prowling along the banks as far up as Haver- 
 straw gave no satisfaction, and they set their 
 faces toward home again, with lots of game, such 
 as squirrels, partridges, pigeons, and wild ducks. 
 
 SETTLEKS ENCAMPED. 
 
 Then they went up again on the other side of 
 the river, to where the Mohawk empties into 
 the Hudson. But the French and Canadian 
 Indians were constantly skirmishing, and their 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 91 
 
 scalps were in danger of being taken. "While 
 they are brooding over their disappointment, we 
 must leave them for a while, to pass on to the 
 scene where our story has the most interest — 
 
 FORT HILL. 
 
 It was just one of those lovely moonlight 
 nights during the Indian summer, when the 
 Indians, while at peace, assemble, with other 
 neighbouring tribes, to play their annual game of 
 ball, just before the corn harvest, that along the 
 shores of the beautiful Owasco Lake, before ever 
 John Hardenberg or William Bostwick had 
 made the first white settlement in the creek 
 which flowed out, and on which the former 
 erected his log hut and built a mill, a party 
 came up to the fort, where Logan s monument 
 now is. 
 
 Of these, one was a fine-looking young man, 
 with rather a feminine cast of countenance, but 
 still quite strongly built. His attire was a red 
 coat with navy gilt buttons, trousers of buck- 
 skin, and he wore the top-boots such as the 
 Cavaliers had brought to Virginia from Old Eng- 
 land. For some reason he moved apart from his 
 companions, and anxiously gazed around in 
 
92 BOBBER TALES 
 
 search of something not known to the others. 
 Another stood close by, clad as a sailor, and a 
 coal-black negro also, called Sambo Caesar, 
 usually " Sam " for short ; and when he opened 
 his mouth, which he often did with a broad grin, 
 he displayed a splendid set of white teeth like 
 ivory. Both were devoted to the young officer, 
 whom they called "captain." Another was a 
 soldier, carrying a large sword by his side ; while 
 the most noticeable of all was a lovely young girl 
 of nineteen or twenty years, attired in an old- 
 fashioned dress suited to travelling through the 
 forest, and on her head was a fur cap, with a 
 single eagle's feather for a plume. 
 
 The guide, who had once been a trapper, was 
 clad in a homespun suit of grey, and for some 
 reason took especial care of the young lady, 
 named Estelle. Besides these, William Bostwick, 
 an early emigrant, came among these adventurers 
 in an hour of danger. A fine English mastiff, 
 with an Indian pony from Mexico, comprised the 
 party. 
 
 " Oh," exclaimed Allen, the leader, '' see what 
 a rampart we have here. Let us halt awhile, 
 for the redskins or Old Scratch himself couldn't 
 reach us, so long as our powder holds out." 
 
 Having taken up a position in the centre of 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 93 
 
 the fort, they gathered some dry sticks and leaves 
 with which to cook their food. 
 
 Sambo was delighted with the situation, and 
 was quite amused at the hickory nuts falling on 
 his thick skull, as the limbs swayed to and fro 
 with the breeze and sent them down, ripe and 
 sweet, to be cracked with his teeth. But soon 
 they heard the growls of wild wolves taking 
 alarm at the fire, and they were not long in 
 fleeing away to a safe abode; for a faggot 
 lighted, especially if it is pine-knot, is a sure 
 protection from an attack of any wild animal, 
 even the largest beasts of the forest. Spite of 
 the masters caution, Sambo seized a burning 
 brand, and ran after a large wolf down the hill- 
 side, but could not get near enough to seize his 
 tail. " He run like de debbil," said the darkey. 
 
 As they gathered round the fire, the captain 
 deemed it only an act of prudence to reconnoitre 
 before retiring for the night. 
 
94 BOBBER TALES 
 
 CHAPTEH 11. 
 
 The party, having lighted their pitch-pine knots, 
 began to make a circuit of the hill on which the 
 fort stood, but as yet only the cry of the wolves 
 was heard. The old trapper, used to all the 
 sounds of various animals in those regions, was 
 quite sure he heard the cry of a panther (or 
 wild cat), one of the most dangerous animals to 
 encounter. It resembled a loud cry of a cat in 
 distress, or that of a child in such a case. How- 
 ever, they marched on bravely for a while, all 
 contented but the old seaman, who declared 
 that, blast his eyes! he would sooner serve in 
 a hand-to-hand fight on a man-of-war, than 
 tackle a grizzly bear or overhaul a catamount ; 
 but if they came in his way, and it was a fair 
 fight, he'd go into it. 
 
 "Look sharp there, Allen," cried the strong 
 man who carried the sword, and who was called 
 Bond; "if you are not careful, one of the 
 varmints of cats will pounce down on ye from 
 the limb of a tree." 
 
 " Let me alone for sharp," replied Allen the 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 95 
 
 sailor ; and he asked the trapper if it was true 
 that a bear can hug one so tightly as to squeeze 
 the breath out of one's body — sure ? 
 
 Scarcely had these words passed, when a sullen 
 growl, just above his head, saluted his ears, and 
 looking up, they espied a huge black Bruin, 
 weighing at least six hundred pounds. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the sailor, " walk up and introduce 
 yourself ? Just look at his big paw 1 " 
 
 " He wants to shake hands with some of us," 
 said Bond to the old sailor. 
 
 Allen shook his firebrand at him, and at once 
 the bear ran up a tree, and turning round on 
 a large beech limb, gave a tremendous growl. 
 Allen was soon after him, and grabbing the 
 beast by the tail to pull him down — a most 
 hazardous experiment. At this the bear began 
 to climb up higher. " I say, old fellow, how's 
 it up aloft ? " Allen held on tightly ; but not 
 wishing to get up among the small twigs, where 
 the bear would have the best of it, he let go 
 his hold, and dropped on his back. On picking 
 himself up, he saw the rest had gone on, and 
 he soon felt great pain in one of his legs, for the 
 bear had bitten him just before he fell. 
 
 On coming up with the party. Bond, laughing 
 at the sailor's attempted bearback ride, said, 
 
96 BOEDER TALES 
 
 " Well, why did you leave your affectionate friend 
 so suddenly ? " 
 
 "Well" replied the other, "we had just 
 scratched an acquaintance which might have led 
 us to too great an intimacy, and so we parted 
 company." 
 
 " I reckon massa nebber see a bear afore," said 
 Sam. 
 
 "Why not, Sam?" 
 
 " 'Cause he grab him on his stern, behind the 
 fokesail, instead of by the how. Yaw, yaw !" 
 
 " Well, Sam," said the hero, " I wasn't brought 
 up in the woods to be scared by owls." 
 " Just you 'splain yourself," said Sam. 
 "Yes, yes," all said, "Don't be too hard on 
 Sam. He's certainly no coward." 
 
 Allen said that Sam had been at one time 
 " chief cook and bottle-washer " for an American 
 officer ; and while fighting among the everglades 
 of Florida, and while taking a stroll at night- 
 fall among the pine trees near the camp, he pre- 
 sently heard a call out of the bushes, in these 
 words : " Who cooks for you f who cooks for you V 
 Taking off his cap politely, he replied, " I cooks 
 for General Taylor, sare ; nobody cooks for me ! " 
 It was only a big white owl hooting, but Sam 
 always said he believed it was a bogey. 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 97 
 
 The party had now reached the top of the 
 hill, and climbing over the rampart which had 
 been thrown up, leaving a deep trench sur- 
 rounding the hill for half a mile in circumference, 
 they entered a clump of trees, and soon began 
 to arrange for a night's rest. The air had grown 
 cool and the dew was falling. 
 
 '' I am sure," said the captain, " that the 
 Indians could not have built this fort without 
 the aid of some white man; for they always 
 fight dodging behind trees, and it is contrary 
 to my experience to see any earthworks con- 
 structed by the red men." 
 
 "No," said Allen; "the whites I have met 
 never could tell me anything about it. Their 
 only weapons are arrowheads of flint and toma- 
 hawks. These tomahawks have a hole in the 
 handle, with a hollow at the back, about the size 
 of a large thimble, in which they put tobacco, 
 and serve as pipes for smoking the weed which 
 Sir Walter Ealeigh first introduced from America 
 to England." 
 
 " It must be very old," said the captain, " and 
 it is plain that various tribes have assembled 
 here to hold their war councils and to smoke 
 the peace-pipe." 
 
 The blankets, spread on some dry leaves, m- 
 
 H 
 
98 BOEDER TALES 
 
 vited to repose. A tent made of deerskins 
 was the bedroom of Estelle, and a large fire, in 
 front of which were piled some pine-knots and 
 hickory branches, made it quite comfortable. 
 
 The others, with one exception, were glad to 
 wrap their blankets and overcoats around them, 
 and soon sunk into a slumber which fatigue 
 always makes sweet and sound. "After labour 
 comes rest." 
 
 It was while the moon was brightly shining 
 in the west, and the stars keeping company, 
 that the captain had withdrawn to the edge of 
 the fort, and seemed only intent on viewing the 
 heavens. This awoke the rest of the men, who 
 were easily aroused at anything. 
 
 '' Your captain," said Bond to Allen, pointing 
 to the captain, " must be setting the watch for the 
 night, or taking an observation off the coast." 
 
 "Reckon boss am looking out for pirates," 
 said Sam ; " ain't he ? " 
 
 "You be quiet," said the old sailor, "or I'll 
 stop your grog in the morning." 
 
 That was enough to shut up Sam's mouth, for he 
 had seen enough of sailor's life to value a glass 
 of liquor and a plug of tobacco (or pigtail, as he 
 called it), as quite necessary to his happiness. 
 
 Bond was puzzled to know what the real 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 99 
 
 character of the young naval captain could be, 
 and could not shut his eyes, nor indeed his 
 mouth, for that matter, till he had put the 
 query to Allen : " Do tell me, if you know, who 
 he really is ? " 
 
 " Know him ? Why, I know him ' like a book/ 
 Knew him when he was only 'knee-high to a 
 hop-toad,' when he began as a cabin-boy." 
 
 " All right, my hearty ; but depend on it, 
 there's something mysterious, something in the 
 wind, by the way he's watching." 
 
 " By-the-by," said Allen, " don't you wish we 
 were safe at home again ? It's now nigh to six 
 years since I have heard a word from any of our 
 folks, and we may be catawampously chawed 
 up, as they say in Arkansaw, by some of these 
 wild varmints, one of these days." 
 
 " Yes," said Sam. " You had a bear all ter yer- 
 self to-night ; why didn't you cut off one of his 
 hams for supper ? " 
 
 "You shut up, blackamoor, or I'll put a 
 hornet's nest in your blanket before morning." 
 
 But they got tired of quizzing and joking, and 
 soon they were snoring loud enough to awaken 
 any wild birds that might be roosting in the 
 branches of the trees that overshadowed them. 
 
 This scene lay within about two miles of the 
 
100 BORDER TALES 
 
 Owasco Lake, a lovely sheet of water, thus 
 described by one of our native poets (who has 
 written of " Ensenore/' a waterfall emptying into 
 the lake about ten miles above the outlet) : — 
 
 " One of 
 The seven fair lakes that lie 
 Like mirrors *neath the sky, 
 Upon the shore of that fair lake. 
 Whose waters are the clearest, brightest ; 
 Whose silver surges ever break 
 Upon her pebbled margin lightest ; 
 Where dips the lark her sportive wings, 
 And where the robin-redbreast sings, 
 And where in many a shaded dell 
 The viewless echoes love to dwell." 
 
 The stillness of the forest was just suited to 
 the captain, for he it was who listened to the 
 gurgling creek, which formed an outlet from the 
 lake, as he paced back and forth, looking out for 
 some definite object. 
 
 "Yes," said he to himself, ''the spot where 
 Estelle s father was buried is here, or I am 
 deceived. I am sure it must be near this spot." 
 
 A deep gorge in some rocks, near a huge chest- 
 nut tree, was one of the signs to find out the 
 exact spot, and just as he neared it the moon 
 went down and the stars grew dim, and nothing 
 was bright enough to conduct him any further 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE, ' 101 
 
 in his search. Pressing his repeater watch, he 
 found it was past the midnight hour. 
 
 Turning his face towards the flickering pine- 
 knots of the camp fire, he retraced his steps ; and 
 throwing some fresh limbs on the fire, he turned 
 down his blanket to rest, just as Sambo, woke out 
 of a sound sleep, started up to see who had come 
 and was about to seize a gun . and ward off 
 danger, but, being reassured, turned his woolly 
 head to the fire, and soon fell fast asleep again, 
 dreaming of old life among his companions on the 
 plantation. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The fort never contained more precious lives 
 in the world, than those few who were resting in 
 peace and quietness that night, perhaps dreaming 
 of home and friends, all fast asleep save the 
 young captain, who could not lose consciousness 
 with the thoughts that came crowding in upon 
 his brain. 
 
 "And, by the way," said the lieutenant, stopping 
 in his narrative, " did you ever think of it, that 
 
102 BORDER TALES 
 
 there are human beings knit together in body and 
 soul, which time nor eternity can ever sever ? 
 
 " We call it fate, that persons are thrown to- 
 gether, whose interests soon become identical, 
 and yet we cannot tell the reason why. 
 
 " For instance, why is this ? A stranger comes 
 into your presence, and at once you feel an 
 antipathy towards him, or you feel yourself in- 
 voluntarily drawn towards him. There's a destiny, 
 call it what we will, that draws one soul to an- 
 other in spite of ourselves, either for weal or woe, 
 and over which we can exercise little control as 
 to our own wills. Those who were slumbering in 
 perfect security on Fort Hill were totally unlike 
 in many things, yet there was a something which 
 bound them together. There seemed no common 
 bond or interest which united them, and particu- 
 larly the navy officer, the old sailor, and Sambo ; 
 and the two subordinates always yielded them- 
 selves in implicit confidence and obedience to 
 their superior." 
 
 The young officer, somehow, hung his head, 
 being quite disheartened, perhaps because he had 
 not found the place where Estelle's father had been 
 buried, or because of the lonely forest surround- 
 ing him, as he heard the wolfs bark, and the 
 screech-owl crying out '' Too-hoo! too-hooT The 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 103 
 
 night air was cool and chilly, and he sat with his 
 head leaning on his knees, thinking what next 
 he should do. 
 
 The black man, Sam, woke up and diverted his 
 attention. " Ah, massa captain, you lie down and 
 have a good sleep; me stay up and watch all 
 danger." 
 
 " No, Sam, you lie down. I am all right. No 
 danger at all ; lie down and sleep till morning." 
 
 "Massa, you ain't agwine to. Dis child — I'll 
 watch ; you sleep till day breaks." 
 
 " Well, Sam, I'll do as you say." He then 
 threw himself down beside the others, and, like 
 an infant, slept away the remaining hours. 
 * * * * * 
 
 The next morning they were early on the alert, 
 and after their usual morning repast, each one set 
 to work to construct a log hut, to protect them 
 from a rainy spell, which usually set in about 
 the 22nd of September, and was called the equi- 
 noctial storm ; and this would also serve as a pro- 
 tection from wild beasts or a surprise by the 
 wily Indians. They had not travelled all the 
 way through an almost trackless desert, through 
 swamps, over morasses, and through huge forests, 
 from the Mohawk river to the Owasco, without 
 learning the dangers which beset travellers from 
 
104 BOBDEB TALES 
 
 the Atlantic Coast. Wild savages, which beset 
 and dog travellers, when once upon their trail, 
 might give them a sudden surprise ; the prowling 
 wolf, wild cats, and beasts of huge size, black 
 as ebony; and, added to their fears, violent 
 thunder-storms, succeeded by a downpour of rain, 
 were always to be looked for, and to come when 
 least expected. 
 
 In surveying the surroundings a black mass 
 of leaves was discovered up in the crotch of 
 a cypress tree, and Sambo, who could climb a 
 mast, soon found it contained an eagle's nest, with 
 half a dozen young ones in it. Mistaking the 
 darkey for the mother bird, which had flown 
 away to the outlet to catch a fish for their 
 morning repast, they opened wide their mouths 
 for food ; but on Sam's clutching at one, they all 
 scrambled out of their nest and took refuge in 
 one of the branches. 
 
 Sam grabbed again, and was lucky to get 
 hold of a leg of the nearest bird, but losing his 
 balance, tumbled with it to the ground. As he 
 fell upon a soft heap of leaves, he was not much 
 hurt, but sprang to his feet and gave chase after 
 the bird, which tried to escape. Soon all parties 
 were drawn to the spot, and they were not long 
 in espying the male bird, a bold eagle, soaring 
 
I 
 
 AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 105 
 
 round ready to pounce on the nest-robbers. The 
 moment Sam had again seized his prey, the old 
 one, with tremendous velocity, and claws ex- 
 tended, aimed at the woolly head of the negro. 
 
 " You varmint, you, keep off! Debbil take you, 
 let me alone T' and giving the young one a toss 
 upward, the old bird seized it and flew with it 
 back to the nest, leaving Sam's ivool untouched, 
 much to his delight. For had he once got his 
 sharp claws in his woolly head, Sam might have 
 had his eyes dug out. 
 
 The party also set up a loud shout to scare 
 the old one, but not having a gun at hand 
 could not do the bird any harm. These birds 
 are as desperate over the loss of their young as 
 the bears when bereaved of their whelps ; and as 
 the flesh of the eagle is not desirable for food, 
 it is mere wanton cruelty to capture and kill 
 them. 
 
 Sam, in his delight, said he could have 
 killed or captured both at once — " only massa, do 
 ye see, he berry proud of de eagle, 'cause he is the 
 national bird o' freedom, and Gineral Washing- 
 ton he always fight de Britishers under de wings 
 ob his feathers ! " 
 
 "Well," said the sailor, "guess you're right. 
 Sambo, and I'd sooner have my grog stopped. 
 
106 BOBBER TALES 
 
 and live on a single hard-tack biscuit a day, 
 than ruffle a quill of his wings or tail. Besides, 
 Sam, the captain has been looking and watching 
 the old bald-head ever so long. See, he's going 
 to climb himself up to the nest." 
 
 Such, indeed, was the case. The old bird had 
 flown suddenly away, after assisting his burden ; 
 and if birds can talk to each other, as some 
 naturalists suppose, maybe he'd gone to tell the 
 mother to leave oiF fishing, and come home to 
 watch over her brood in danger. 
 
 A DISCOVERY. 
 
 However, no sooner did the captain see the 
 way was clear of danger, than he sprang from 
 limb to limb till he reached the nest. 
 
 Both Allen and Sam were eagerly watching 
 his movements, when they espied him catch at 
 something above the nest, and as there were no 
 eggs in it, they were astonished to see him grasp 
 a handful of some dark substance and thrust it 
 into his bosom. 
 
 '' I shouldn't wonder," said Sam, " if he hasn't 
 found the — the treasure, should you ? " 
 
 " Heaven grant it may be so," said Allen. 
 
 But the captain, losing his hold upon a limb — 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 107 
 
 probably excited — soon interrupted the confab 
 by tumbling down to the spot whereon Sambo 
 had previously fallen. Both scrambled to assist 
 the captain; but Sam, tumbling headlong over 
 a log, fell prone to the earth himself, and, 
 striking a sharp substance with his hand, blood 
 flowed from one of his fingers. On clearing 
 away the leaves, he discovered a regular Indian 
 tomahawk. The cut was not very deep ; and on 
 his master s coming up, Sam showed his trophy 
 and his bleeding hand, and said he must have 
 been struck by a dead Indian. Some plaster 
 was applied to his wound, and he hobbled 
 back with his master, to resume work on the 
 log cabin. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE KOMANCE OF FORT HILL. 
 
 Our party having travelled all the way from the 
 Hudson river, along the Mohawk, to the outlet 
 of the Owasco without much danger, were not 
 undiscovered by the wily savages from the 
 Onondaga Hills. Luckily for them, they had. 
 
108 BOBBER TALES 
 
 in a week's time, constructed a good-sized log 
 cabin, in which they were safe from the pelting 
 rain; and should they be compelled to winter 
 there, in search of a curious and important ob- 
 ject, dear as life, they would be in no danger of 
 perishing of cold, nor frozen to death in the 
 heavy banks of snow which covered all the hills 
 and the valleys beneath. Besides, it served as a 
 secure fort in case of danger — an attack by foes 
 — for the old fort was but a kind of breastwork 
 thrown up by digging a trench all round the 
 crest of the hill. Here they had arranged things 
 quite comfortably, spending their days each as 
 they pleased. 
 
 The captain kept apart, pursuing his search 
 from morning till night, after he had found the 
 clue over the eagle's nest, but kept his secret all 
 to himself Sambo and Allen went out foraging 
 for game, such as wild pigeons, raccoons, opos- 
 sums, black and grey squirrels, wild geese, and 
 turkeys; or they would fish in the outlet, in 
 which trout, perch, and bull-heads in great 
 quantities were found, without going as far as 
 the lake from which the fish came. 
 
 The powder and shot was running short, and 
 as supplies were only to be obtained at Fort 
 Stanwix, many miles to the east, on the Mohawk, 
 
AROUND TEE GAMP FIRE. 109 
 
 the captain bade them not to waste their powder 
 and lead on animals not needed for food on the 
 table. Not that they had a table, — only a couple 
 of chest-lids which stood in place of one, and a 
 sail-cloth was used for a table-cloth. This was 
 not so bad a shift as the poor sometimes resort to, 
 according to Doctor Johnson, who wrote — 
 
 " The sheets contrived a double debt to pay — 
 To serve the bed by night, a tablecloth by day." 
 
 The caution to be saving of ball and powder 
 was a timely one, for at nightfall, as Sam was 
 coming along, sauntering near a marsh in search 
 of wild-goose eggs, mud turtles, etc., he heard the 
 cry of a child, as it sounded to his ears. Follow- 
 ing through the ilags and jumping from one bog 
 to another, scaring owls and kicking mud turtles 
 out of the way in the tamarack swamp, when he 
 heard this cry of a child in such a strange place, 
 as if the child was in great distress, he soon 
 came to a dead halt. But he got his eyes 
 opened ; for right over his head was a wild cat, 
 or panther, several feet long, lying on its belly 
 along a large limb of a tree, ready to spring on 
 its prey! Sam had never seen one before, but 
 he had heard enough of its fearful power to 
 frighten him almost out of his wits. Turning 
 
110 BOEDER TALES 
 
 deadly pale, he started back and ran for dear life 
 to the cabin, scarcely taking breath till he got 
 within the door, when he immediately fell 
 down from fright and exhaustion. All flocked 
 around the poor darkey and begged to know 
 what was the matter. 
 
 As soon as the poor fellow could gather speech, 
 his eyes almost out of his head, he exclaimed, 
 " Bear ! bear, massa ! " 
 
 Of course, after a while he recovered his 
 senses, and related how he had nearly sacrificed 
 his life in a benevolent desire to succour a child 
 in distress. 
 
 Walker could not resist the opportunity of 
 having a little fun out of the darkey, since all 
 danger was now over. So he asked Sam if he 
 didn't see a polecat, instead of a wild cat. 
 
 " Polecat ? Not much. You bet your life dat 
 cat eat you all up, sure as you live, if get hold of 
 your skin/' 
 
 " Yes, Sam ; but you said it was a bear when 
 you got safe home. Seems to me you lacked 
 courage on that occasion ? " 
 
 " Courage ! I'se as bold as a lion, when I sees 
 the varmint on the same footing as myself If I 
 had one of de old continental muskets, such as 
 we had at de battle ob Yorktown, I'd gin him 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. Ill 
 
 fits ! You tink, 'cause I'se whipped by an 
 animal, I'se a coward ? " 
 
 "Looks like it," said Walker. "But what do you 
 know about Yorktown, where General Washing- 
 ton won the day over General Comwallis ? " 
 
 " Comwallis ? I guess I knows a heap. He 
 was General Comwallis, in course, but he ain't 
 now." 
 
 " Why not, Sam ? " 
 
 "Well, d'ye see, General Washington he 
 smart old man, and he licked Comwallis on dat 
 occasion, and so now we call him Cobwallis, — 
 he, he!" 
 
 '' What for ? " 
 
 " 'Cause General Washington shell all de corn 
 off him too slick. Ha, ha ! ho, ho ! he, he ! " 
 
 The other said, " We needn't boast too much. 
 The Britishers made us run a good many times, 
 and you must remember our fathers were English- 
 men, descendants of a bold race who, with us, can 
 conquer the world ! " 
 
 "Dat am a fact, massa, but black folks must 
 help 'um." 
 
 " WeU," said Walker, '' aU bad feeling between 
 us and the British is now laid aside, and we see 
 how foolish it was in England not to have 
 avoided a quarrel which never should have 
 been begun." 
 
112 BORDER TALES 
 
 Next morning, Walker, who had been early in 
 the forest, assembled all hands to hear what the 
 captain had to say, as they two were about to go 
 on an excursion to find out something of import- 
 ance, and they had to give orders for protect- 
 ing the young lady, Estelle, while they were 
 absent. 
 
 The captain called Allen aside from the others, 
 and took from his pocket-book a relic which he 
 had found up in the tree, much to the delight of 
 the other, who exclaimed — 
 
 " My eyes, are you not lucky ? " 
 
 Had the captain found a gold or silver mine 
 instead, it could not have caused so much joy as 
 this. For were they not out on a search which 
 might cost them all their lives, in order to find 
 
 out where, dead or alive, was the Well, we 
 
 must not spoil our story of love and fortune 
 just now, by revealing what they came for. It 
 is enough to say that it was long before Walker, 
 with the captain and Sambo, left the fort, 
 branching off through the beech-woods north 
 towards the Lake Ontario. 
 
 " A safe and pleasant journey for all of you," 
 said Allen ; " and mind you don't stray into any 
 more swamps after mudlarks again, Sam, but 
 march behind the others in regular Indian file." 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 113 
 
 " Nebber you care for dis darkey, I'm as bold 
 as a lion, and so we'll have a song before we go. 
 
 * De Lord He Inb good nigger well j 
 He know de nigger by de smell ; 
 And when de little nigger cry, 
 De Lord He gib him 'possnm-pie.' " 
 
 After a hearty laugh, Allen sat down on a log 
 before the cabin door as soon as the party were 
 out of sight, and soon appeared lost in thought ; 
 while Bond sat within the cabin singing an 
 old revolutionary song, called "The Hunters of 
 Kentucky." One verse will show the nature 
 of the refrain — 
 
 " Ye gentlemen and ladies fair, who grace this famous city, 
 Jnst listen, if yon've time to spare, while I rehearse a ditty, 
 And for the opportunity conceive yourselves quite lucky. 
 For 'tis not often that you see — a hunter from Kentucky ! 
 Oh, Kentucky ! the hunters of Kentucky ! '* 
 
 Estelle spoke up and said, "We three are all 
 there are to protect this fort, I suppose, while 
 the rest are away ? I pray our Heavenly Father 
 that He will guard us from all danger, for it 
 would be dreadful to be set upon by savage 
 Indians, and slaughtered to death in this wilder- 
 ness ! Some one told me that the Cayuga tribe 
 had made a treaty with the Jesuit missionaries, 
 some time since, on the shores of the Cayuga 
 
 I 
 
114 BORDER TALES 
 
 Lake, eight miles from this, and that we had 
 nothing to fear from them." 
 
 " That I can't say," replied Bond ; " but of one 
 thing be sure — if we are set upon by Indians, 
 Allen and I will fire the guns, and you can act as 
 * powder-monkey,' as they say on ship-board, and 
 hand us the ammunition. Well die in defence 
 of you, and so you needn't lay awake nights, or 
 dream of danger." 
 
 " Yes, miss," interrupted the other, " we'll die 
 for you, fighting on our part, if needful ; and we 
 are a whole team with our Kentucky rifles." 
 
 " I am not afraid of your lack of courage ; but 
 what if a hundred bloodthirsty savages attack 
 us at once ? How could we offer any resistance, 
 or hold out for any length of time ? " 
 
 " What would we do ? Why, we'd pop 'em 
 over like ninepins; besides, they seldom attack 
 the whites in a log cabin, as they have to fight 
 a concealed foe, and can't imagine what may be 
 their numbers." 
 
 "True, they fight their enemies in the open 
 woods, where they can dodge behind the trees 
 to avoid being shot, and the moment a gun is 
 fired at them, they jump out and tomahawk 
 their enemy, if within reach. Did you ever en- 
 counter one in battle ? " said Estelle. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 115 
 
 " No," replied Bond ; "but I have met a soldier 
 who told me how he outwitted a savage chief 
 in the Florida war, and killed him. He said he 
 had fired away at the Indian from behind a tree 
 for some time, and the Indian cracked away at 
 him. By-and-by, he put his cap on the end 
 of his ramrod and stuck it out, as though he was 
 peeping at the Indian. The savage took aim 
 and shot through the cap, which dropped, but 
 not the soldier. Supposing his enemy had fallen, 
 the chief rushed out to tomahawk him ; but he 
 had made a mistake, and when he drew near, 
 the soldier took aim and shot him dead. He 
 was highly commended by his captain for his 
 strategy." 
 
 The day passed off in stillness and quiet, save 
 by the noise of the screaming ravens and the 
 barking of the foxes ; and after the sun went 
 down, the whip-poor-will's shrill cry made it 
 seem more lonely to Estelle, who wondered at 
 the singular kinds of animal life that were found 
 in the forest, of which at home she had never 
 heard before. She wondered, too, at the mystery 
 surrounding the captain's movements, and his 
 search after some tokens he did not explain to 
 her. As the evening shadows thickened, the 
 owls began to screech and hoot, and Estelle, 
 
116 BOEDER TALES 
 
 tired and bewildered, threw herself down upon 
 her rude bed, and drew a deerskin over her 
 shoulders, to get some rest. The bold men, after 
 smoking their pipes, agreed to watch by turns 
 till daylight. 
 
 % Estelle tried in vain to sleep, but images of 
 wild beasts or savage Indians would haunt her, 
 as she fell into a doze now and then. She was 
 sure she heard bowlings of wolves close by, and 
 though safe from their attacks, she could not 
 sleep for the terror created in her mind. How- 
 ever, daylight broke in at the window, and the 
 distant rumbling of the Owasco river led her to 
 go out and look upon nature's peaceful scenery, 
 and try to divert her mind from any danger. 
 She soon saw Allen and Bond were on a rise 
 of ground near by, engaged in skinning some 
 squirrels for breakfast. 
 
 Passing by them, she ran down the hill, chasing 
 the little chipmucks that crossed her path, until 
 she had wandered quite a distance from the log 
 cabin on the hill. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 117 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHAT ESTELLE FOUND BY EXPERIENCE AND 
 NOT BY READING. 
 
 We left the young lady heroine of our story on 
 Fort Hill, going from the cabin towards the 
 Owaseo river. She had plenty of time to meditate, 
 and so she thought nothing was more likely to 
 inspire awe and dread in one's mind, than to find 
 one's self all alone in a dense forest. 
 
 To be east out in an open boat at sea, with 
 nothing to fix the eye upon but a vast expanse 
 blue above and blue or green below, is awe- 
 inspiring indeed, and one can thus imagine some- 
 what of Estelle's feelings when we left her that 
 morning rambling down the sides of Fort Hill. 
 The men who cut down the large trees with 
 which to build a cabin could tell how old the 
 trees were, by counting the rings which circle 
 round on the top of the stumps. For each year 
 of its growth, a ring is added to its age. Thus, 
 they counted on a huge chestnut fifty rings, show- 
 ing it was fifty years since it was a little sapling ; 
 
118 BORDER TALES 
 
 and they wondered if so great a change would 
 take place in that romantic and beautiful forest, 
 when emigration from the Old World should come 
 hither and clear the forest to make peaceful 
 homes for millions of our race ? 
 
 Suddenly Estelle came to a steep bank of the 
 Owasco creek, and could go no further. Here, 
 plucking some ripe mandrakes to regale her 
 appetite, and sitting down upon a rock, she 
 mused of home and friends far away on the banks 
 of the Hudson. She wept unconsciously at the 
 thought of her isolation from loved ones, and the 
 probable prospect that she might never see them 
 again. 
 
 The thought of the village church and the 
 Sunday worship there, as on each Lord's day she 
 had gone to the House of God to worship with 
 loved ones, was naturally tender, and full of 
 regret that all these were lost to her. And 
 though she had brought her Prayer-book with 
 her, and perused it daily (as well on Sundays), 
 still it was a privation ; and she wished, if it 
 were possible, she might be transported, if only for 
 a short time, to wander in the village churchyard, 
 and read once more the tombstones which told 
 of the departure in peace of so many Christians 
 sleeping peacefully side by side — fathers, mothers, 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 119 
 
 sisters, and brothers ; and most touehingly a plot 
 she remembered, all by itself, of little children 
 (called God's acre), in which the forms of little 
 rosebuds had been broken off from the parent 
 stock to sleep till the resurrection morn. 
 
 She had a pious custom, on each Sunday morn- 
 ing, of shutting her eyes and reciting from memory 
 portions of the service, thus in imagination being 
 carried back to scenes of early childhood, and 
 joining in spirit with those who were still 
 worshiping in the old stone church, in chant 
 and song and praise. 
 
 She believed in the Apostles' Creed, and 
 " the communion of saints " was a token to her 
 that we are united with all Christians, living 
 or dead. 
 
 Estelle had thus been contemplating the rush- 
 ing waters, that foamed as they rushed over large 
 rocks, and eddied round and round, with drift- 
 wood floating by^ — emblem of our lives often ! — 
 not knowing where it would stop, whether by 
 the river's side, or on and on to the ocean, which, 
 like eternity, swallows up all that comes into its 
 bosom. 
 
 " Oh, if they only meet with success in their 
 enterprise, how glad I shall be 1 and I can wait 
 in patience for their return." 
 
120 BORDER TALES 
 
 Estelle's situation, out of sight of the cabin and 
 her two protectors, was a dangerous one ; at the 
 same time, we must confess it was very romantic. 
 The perils of the forest have often been depicted 
 by our best American writers, and painted by our 
 artists, some of whose sketches adorn the Capitol 
 at Washington. One, with the title " Westward 
 the Star of Empire takes its Way," shows bands 
 of emigrants toiling over the mountains, with 
 children in waggons and men on horseback ; and 
 there one sees how they took as much of the 
 household stuff as they could carry. " The Noon 
 Meal " shows how a large party have halted beside 
 some cooling stream, and all surround the frugal 
 meal in a circle, sitting on the grass ; and one 
 cannot help asking, what will be their fortune in 
 a new home in the wilderness of the Far West ? 
 Then there is the " Baptism of Pocahontas," in 
 a panel of the Rotunda, which represents the 
 young Indian maiden who saved the life of Cap- 
 tain John Smith at the Indian slaughter near 
 Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas, at the time 
 Smith was lying on the ground to be executed, 
 threw herself upon him, and begged his life at the 
 hands of her father ; and it was granted. 
 
 It was while Estelle was absent that a party, 
 consisting of a middle-aged man and his wife and 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 121 
 
 children, a boy and two girls, happened to be 
 journeying from the Mohawk to the Owasco, 
 and coming suddenly upon the cabin on the hill, 
 were rejoiced to find a shelter for the night 
 among their white brethren ; and they were made 
 heartily welcome. 
 
 As they were only sojourners for a night or so, 
 we need not speak of them at great length ; but, 
 though not connected with the characters who 
 have figured in our story, they do deserve men- 
 tion, because the man became, many years after, 
 the possessor of Fort Hill in connection with his 
 farm, which lay close by it. This couple had, at 
 an early day, left their paternal home in Massa- 
 chusetts and Connecticut, and sought for a new 
 one, in which they could rear their children and 
 become possessors of the soil, which the Govern- 
 ment allowed all citizens to take up and pay for 
 in warrants issued to pay off the soldiers in the 
 revolutionary war, in place of hard money, which 
 in its poverty Government lacked. The Govern- 
 ment issued a currency of paper bills, called con- 
 tinental money, and by some nicknamed "shin 
 plasters." 
 
 Mr. Bostwick had early married a Connecticut 
 lady named Hannah Warner ; and being master 
 of a trade — carpenter and cabinet-maker — he was 
 
122 BOBDER TALES 
 
 able to construct a log house for himself, at a sub- 
 sequent period, very near Fort Hill, and in which 
 he opened a tavern to accommodate both " man 
 and beast." 
 
 Although Estelle had not wandered far from 
 the cabin, she was nearly exposed to a sudden 
 surprise, and thus in danger. For, on looking 
 across the stream, she saw a lot of Indians, who 
 set up a yell which rang through the forest of 
 evergreens, echoing far away over the hills. 
 The Indians were evidently going to ford the 
 stream. Quick as thought, she dropped behind 
 the rock on which she was sitting, and began 
 to crawl quietly towards some thick bushes 
 of hemlock, and thence she ran as fast as she 
 could to warn Allen and Bond of the approach- 
 ing danger. 
 
 Both were greatly surprised at this sudden 
 information ; and they at once prepared to give 
 the savages a warm reception. The rifles were 
 loaded and primed ; the flints carefully examined, 
 and found to be all right. To make sure that 
 nothing should be left undone, Estelle was 
 directed to keep plenty of brush on the fire, and 
 the big kettle of hot water ready to scald the 
 head of the first Indian who put his head in the 
 hole used for a window. 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 123 
 
 It was not long they had to wait in suspense 
 after Estelle had arrived, for loud yells re- 
 sounded again, and told of danger close at hand. 
 
 " Don't be afraid/' said Allen ; " we'll sell our 
 lives dearly for you ; and though they may out- 
 number us, we are a match for fifty of the red- 
 skins in our little castle." 
 
 Sinking down upon a chest, Estelle, the fair 
 maiden, ejaculated a prayer to God to " defend 
 them in all dangers and adversities," and '' not to 
 leave nor forsake them." 
 
 "Ah, yes," said Bond, "God will be your 
 help now, for He has been your guide and 
 rule of life since you were a little wee thing 
 saying the Lord's Prayer at your mother's 
 knee." 
 
 " The God of battles protect and defend us all, 
 and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies ! " 
 cried she; and the other two said a hearty 
 "Amen!" 
 
 A few moments sufficed to bring the rascals at 
 the door, but it was strongly barricaded within. 
 
 " Do you hear them ? " said Bond. " I suppose 
 they mean business, though I can't understand 
 their gibberish; and dang my buttons, but I'll 
 give them some of my lead pills to cure their 
 stomach-aches!" 
 
124 BOEDER TALES 
 
 Allen, who had followed the sea, took a quid of 
 tobacco in his mouth — ^the better to steady his 
 nerves, he said, a habit he had acquired on board 
 of a man-of-war before going into action — and 
 then he threw down his tarpaulin ready for the 
 first onset. He was a fine specimen of an 
 American seaman, full-chested, with brawny arms, 
 and quite six feet high in his stockings. 
 
 Bond seized his large sword, and stood behind 
 Allen to finish his work, if needful. The window 
 opening was only large enough for one to shoot 
 out from at a time. 
 
 Poor Estelle, she spoke not a word, but her 
 lips moved in silent prayer. She was greatly 
 frightened, for she had heard how the Indians 
 cruelly scalped their foes, and then killed them 
 often by a slow torture. But she did not know 
 that they had never been taught anything 
 better, in their half-civilized condition, and their 
 ignorant and depraved lives were pretty much 
 on a footing with the wild beasts of the forest, 
 with which they daily associated. 
 
 Bond felt assured that a good woman's prayers 
 would be heard, and so he dismissed all fears of 
 danger, though the yells became louder and 
 fiercer than ever. 
 
 " Stand firm," said Bond to Allen ; " they have 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 125 
 
 found us out, and yet they don't know but what 
 we are twenty in number." 
 
 " Be sure of me, sir," replied the other. " I've 
 stood more than one fight on the ocean, and I'll 
 not flinch a hair now, with such a precious charge 
 lying yonder." 
 
 The Indians, all at once, grew quiet, as if hold- 
 ing a council. 
 
 " It's no use trying to hold a parley with them, 
 think you ? " said Allen. 
 
 "Not much, I guess, from all I have heard 
 about them, as they never ask or give quarter 
 in fighting." 
 
 "Then, blast my eyes if I give them any 
 mercy ! " 
 
 "Mind, too, as men, we can't scalp them, as 
 they wiU us, if they get a chance." 
 
 " Scalp us ? what for ? " 
 
 " Why, you see, none will ever get to be a big 
 Indian chief, unless he has at least a dozen scalps 
 dangling from his wampum belt." 
 
 On taking a peep through a hole just above 
 the door, Allen saw the Indians drawing off 
 stealthily, but looking back all the while, as if 
 watching for some one to come out. At any rate, 
 they evidently were bent on mischief. 
 
 This interval was filled up, in the mean time. 
 
126 BORDER TALES 
 
 by the two men consulting what they would do 
 if the Indians should set fire to their cabin and 
 roast them out. 
 
 " Eoast us out ? How could they do that ? " said 
 Allen. 
 
 "Well, just as they roast a bear out of his 
 cave. They build a fire in the mouth of the cave, 
 and the smoke winds its way to Bruin's lair, and 
 so he walks out to see what's the matter ; and 
 when he reaches the entrance, an Indian stands 
 on one side, and strikes the bear on the head 
 with his tomahawk. Then he soon despatches 
 the cubs with a club, and eats them." 
 
 "And so that's what they call a fair fight?" 
 said the sailor. 
 
 " WeU, yes, I suppose so," said the other. " At 
 aU events, the bear doesn't know what killed 
 him. Besides, the bear does not fight on very 
 fair principles. He stands up, as if he would 
 like to shake hands with a man and embrace 
 him, and then he just hugs his victim to 
 death!" 
 
 Not more than twenty minutes had elapsed 
 before our imprisoned friends were startled by a 
 loud outcry, rising into a wild scream, from 
 the savages, which caused Estelle to tremble and 
 beg, if it were possible, to treat with the Indians, 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 127 
 
 " for," said she, " after all, they may not be bent 
 on a hostile expedition." 
 
 "Dont you believe a word of it, miss," said 
 Bruce. "They don't yell in that kind of style, un- 
 less they are seeking blood and plunder. No, no ; 
 they can talk as mild as a lamb when they come 
 to beg coffee and tobacco, but that yell means a 
 war-cry." 
 
 Then, all at once, as if by concert, the whole 
 band set up a tremendous yell, which rang 
 through the forest like a screech from a couple 
 of locomotive engines. Determined to see the 
 worst of the danger. Bond rushed out of the 
 door, to see, only ten rods away, a band of fifty 
 wild Indians, who, brandishing their tomahawks 
 and knives in the air, and climbing over the 
 earthworks, rushed towards the cabin. 
 
 They espied him at once, and he had just time 
 to rush within the door and fix the barricade 
 against it, when a dozen rushed madly forward, 
 and planted their tomahawks into the door, with 
 a yell that might have come from demons. 
 
128 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The dangers which surrounded the two men 
 and poor Estelle were very threatening indeed. 
 Mr. Bostwick, his wife Hannah, and their three 
 children, were of little service, owing to their 
 inexperience of Indian habits and customs ; and 
 although Mr. Bostwick was reared in Massachu- 
 setts, and his wife in Connecticut, where the 
 Indians had fought the Puritan settlers, they 
 knew nothing personally of Indian warfare. 
 
 Bond was the first to cheer up his companions, 
 now numbering in all eight; but the savage 
 yells soon drowned his words. Estelle had heard 
 enough to comfort her with the thought that 
 she was protected by three stout-hearted men, 
 and that the God of battles watched over them 
 all. 
 
 Bold as a lion. Bond was not content with 
 remaining pent up in the cabin. So, after being 
 wounded (as represented in the illustration), he 
 rushed forth, determined to overcome them by a 
 sudden display of courage. And, in truth, the 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 129 
 
 ammunition had nearly all been exhausted, so 
 that he was obliged to seize his trusty sword, and 
 deal death and destruction among the ranks of 
 the wily foe. All aghast, the natives fell back 
 with awful yells, as they saw the destruction of 
 their chosen by one man. The slaughter on the 
 right hand and on the left, by a dexterous 
 movement of the white man, seemed to strike 
 terror into the breasts of the savages, as he cut 
 off one head after another and laid them low. 
 
 " Give them Jessie ! " shouted Allen, as he laid 
 about him on every side with a pike he had in 
 his hand. " Remember our children and women 
 in peril, and let us fight and die, if need be, in 
 the last ditch!'' 
 
 The Indians became demoralized by the terrible 
 slaughter of their companions, and they began 
 to think the Great Spirit had deserted them. 
 They had their " charms " with them, but they 
 began to fear that the pale-faces had charms also 
 that protected them. For instance, they noticed 
 that Bond wore a red cap with a feather in it. 
 They imagined that if they could only capture 
 this feather, the victory would turn on their side. 
 They soon saw it was no use to fight against the 
 *' white man's medicine," * as it is called ; and as 
 
 * A cliarm or talisman. 
 
 K 
 
130 BOEDER TALES 
 
 if by a signal, they began to withdraw, but in an 
 orderly and quiet manner. They yelled and 
 howled, making the forest ring out with their 
 frightful noise. By striking their hands over 
 their mouths, and yelling at the same time, they 
 produced a horrid din, as any one can see who 
 tries this mode, so common among all Indians, 
 when having their war-dances. 
 
 For some time the forest echoed with their 
 yells; but by-and-by they died away with the 
 passing breeze, and all was hushed and still. 
 
 Mr. Bostwick, who had acted merely in the 
 capacity of fugleman, or powder-man, doing 
 •good service, now exhorted the brave men to 
 remember that, though they had shown great 
 prowess in defending the helpless women and 
 children, it was due to their heavenly Father to 
 return thanks for so signal a deliverance. 
 
 All agreed to this pious proposition. 
 
 Drawing his Prayer-book from his pocket, he 
 read from the psalter : — 
 
 " To Thee, Lord our God, belong mercy and 
 power, faithfulness and truth. 
 
 " Thou art our rock and our fortress, our de- 
 liverer, our God, our strength, in whom we will 
 trust. 
 
 " We will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to 
 
AROUND THE GAMP FIEE, 131 
 
 be praised; so shall we be saved from our 
 enemies. 
 
 " We will keep the ways of the Lord our God 
 for ever and ever, and He will be our guide unto 
 death." 
 
 Then, drawing forth from another pocket a 
 tuning-fork, and a pitch-pipe made of mahogany 
 by himself, he began to sing, followed by his 
 wife and others, the " Old Hundredth," so common 
 all over the land. 
 
 " Let all the earth, with one consent, 
 To God their cheerful voices raise ; 
 Glad homage pay with awful mirth, 
 And sing before him songs of praise." 
 
 Then, kneeling down, they joined in the Lord's 
 Prayer : and at the end of the prayer of thanks- 
 giving, all said a hearty "Amen !" 
 
 While the inmates were preparing coffee for 
 supper, which had been delayed to a late hour 
 on account of the sudden attack of the Indians, 
 Bond and Allen went out to take a survey of the 
 battle-ground, and see how many of the savages 
 had bitten the dust. 
 
 " The rascally villains ! " muttered Bond, wiping 
 the drops of perspiration from his brow, as he 
 looked over the ground so recently covered with 
 the dusky forms of the savages. 
 
132 BOBBER TALES 
 
 " Villains ? I believe they are the children of 
 the evil one," said the other, as he threw a quid 
 of tobacco in the face of a dead Cayuga. " It's 
 no child's play we've been engaged in, for every 
 Indian is worse than a wild animal when he's 
 a-fighting ! " 
 
 " This fellow," said Bruce, pointing to a stalwart 
 chief, '' did not know what hit him, I guess, for 
 a chunk of lead carried away the roof of his 
 cranium." 
 
 " No, nor that other chap alongside him," said 
 Allen, pointing to another whose body lay apart 
 from his head. " You must have read of Sir 
 William Wallace, the hero of Scotland, who 
 swung his claymore, fifteen feet long, and cut his 
 way in many a fray among the Highlands, as a 
 mower cuts the grain." 
 
 " And you ? Why give me aU the praise ? 
 You thrashed the rascals as though you had 
 swung a flail all your life on a farm." 
 
 "Ay, ay," said the sailor, "I played a tattoo 
 on some of their skulls, and gave them what 
 Paddy gave the drum — a good beating." 
 
 Supposing the other Indians might return in 
 the night to bury the bodies of the slain, or 
 carry them off, they took advantage of the moon- 
 light to count them, and found a dozen lying 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 133 
 
 prostrate on the ground. They had gone to "the 
 happy hunting grounds " for good and all. 
 
 But the drama was not yet ended. Bond saw 
 one of the biggest of the Indians raise himself up 
 gradually from the ground, and he drew near to 
 see if he needed another touch of the weapon he 
 had left in the cabin ; but when he came close to 
 the Indian, he jumped up suddenly, and with a 
 yell plunged his knife into Bond's side, and so, 
 before he could say " Jack Robinson," bounded 
 away and was out of sight. Judge of Bond's 
 surprise, which was so sudden as almost to 
 paralyze him ; and turning to his friend, he said — 
 
 " Dang my buttons ! but the fellow came near 
 giving me my quietus. If he had aimed a little 
 higher, he'd have struck a deadly blow." 
 
 " Are you seriously hurt ? " said Allen. 
 
 " Not exactly — only my ' bread-basket ' is cut 
 a little near the diaphragm ; and I hope to live 
 yet to give him a Roland for an Oliver." 
 
 " Lucky he didn't stay longer and strike higher. 
 He could easily have finished you ; but I'd have 
 taken the wind out of his sails," said the other. 
 
 " If he had fired the magazine " — pointing to 
 his heart — " he'd have blown me up sky high." 
 
 They now began to look more carefully at the 
 others, lest another one or two might be still 
 
134 BOBDER TALES 
 
 alive and "playing 'possum." But they were 
 satisfied that nothing could revive the carcases 
 of those remaining stark and stiff upon the 
 ground, till the trumpet of the archangel should 
 sound at the resurrection morn. 
 
 On their return to the cabin, they found that 
 in the excitement Mr. Bostwick had been slightly 
 wounded, and that Estelle had bound his wrist 
 with a bandage during the fight. As he had not 
 complained at all, Bond and Allen had not known 
 it before. After this excitement, Estelle had 
 thrown herself down upon her rude bed, and 
 seemed to fall into a kind of stupor. When they 
 entered the cabin, she revived, and exclaimed in 
 an excited manner — 
 
 " Heavenly Father ! are we safe ? " 
 
 " Safe as a bug in a rug," said Bond. " We've 
 laid a dozen low, and many more must have 
 gotten away wounded." 
 
 " And are you quite sure they are really gone 
 off for good ? " 
 
 " Yes ; all that could travel have gone to tell 
 their sorrowful tale. But if they had set eyes 
 on you, they might have fought more desperately, 
 to have added you to the chief's household, and 
 made you Queen of the Cayugas." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " exclaimed she, with a 
 shudder. 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 135 
 
 To convince her that all was peaceful with- 
 out, he led her forth to look upon the scene of 
 slaughter. 
 
 A BIT OF ROMANCE. 
 
 She soon came upon one of the fallen foe. 
 The moonlight enabled her to look upon the face 
 of one upturned to the sky, and what most 
 attracted her notice was a cap made of the 
 feathers of a white swan, such as she had seen 
 upon the heads of the most noted chiefs, as dis- 
 tinguished from those made from squirrel-skins 
 and foxes. The expression on the face of the 
 Indian at once aroused her attention, as if by 
 magic. There is something startling and awful 
 in looking upon the face of the dead at any 
 time ; but there is a difference in the appear- 
 ance of one who dies after a spell of sickness 
 and long suffering, and one who is suddenly cut 
 off in full health. Hence in paintings depicting 
 the scene of "Herodias's daughter bearing the 
 head of John the Baptist in a charger," one will 
 notice a waxlike appearance of the skin. 
 
 The Indian lay half doubled up, with one arm 
 Tmder his head and the right hand of the other 
 thrust into his bosom, as if grasping something 
 
136 BORDER TALES 
 
 half concealed. Perhaps it was only a woman's 
 curiosity that noticed this circumstance. She 
 looked at him, almost fearing to draw his hand 
 away ; for he was lying close by eleven others, 
 and any one looking upon these slaughtered men 
 would say to themselves, as she did, " These 
 savages have done nothing that seemed wrong 
 for them to do. They kill all foes, wild beasts 
 and birds, white and red men, because they learn 
 in infancy that a good Indian must be a brave, 
 or he will never get to be a chief. They," said 
 she, " were alive an hour ago, and now they have 
 gone to the other world, to be judged by their 
 Creator according to the light of nature as their 
 only teacher. God made them as well as He 
 made us, and He is a merciful Father to all His 
 children." 
 
 The dead Indian who awakened these reflec- 
 tions had his face partly covered by long black, 
 silken hair, falling below his neck to the shoulders. 
 
 As her feelings of horror gradually subsided 
 from the first sight of the slain natives lying 
 around him, she stooped over the body, and 
 gently took hold of the hand that seemed clenched 
 with a death grip on a part of his body. The 
 fingers were not stiff*, but yielded easily to her 
 effort to unclasp them from the spot they were 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 137 
 
 fastened, and the hand fell instantly to the 
 ground. The sudden unclosing of the fingers 
 made her start, and she thought she perceived a 
 kind of quivering of the body to take place. 
 Pausing a moment, she watched the body, but 
 could perceive nothing further that indicated life. 
 At length, putting her hand upon the spot on his 
 bosom, she felt something beneath his vesture 
 of a hard substance. Curiosity at once induced 
 her to take a small clasp knife which she had for 
 years carried with her, and to cut through the 
 cloth. In doing this she discovered a small 
 silver plate, fastened with strings of some kind 
 of skin, which went through holes in it, and then 
 passed round his body and were tied strong. 
 
 With considerable difficulty she unfastened the 
 plate, and drew it from beneath the covering. 
 The outside was polished bright and smooth, and 
 the under side was hollow ; the plate being raised 
 in similar form to the crystal of a watch, but filled 
 with something resembling rosin or pitch. 
 
 The cause of this being worn upon his body 
 she could not divine. In vain she examined the 
 spot from whence she had removed it, to discover 
 if it had shielded a tender point or scar; but 
 there was nothing on the skin but the impress 
 which it had seemingly made by being com- 
 
138 BOEDER TALES 
 
 pressed with the tightness of the leather cords 
 that had fastened it. If it was for ornament, 
 why should the wearer have concealed it beneath 
 the cloth vestment ? And it could have been no 
 protection as a shield to his body, it was so small ; 
 and, in addition, it covered no particularly ex- 
 posed point of his body which might lead one to 
 suppose it placed there for a breastplate. 
 
 Musing a few moments on the singularity of 
 the circumstance, she put the plate into her 
 bosom, and rose to leave the body. As she was 
 about turning to depart, she thought she would 
 again ascertain, for a certainty, if there was life 
 in him ; and, accordingly, once more bent herself 
 over the inanimate form before her. Thrusting 
 her hand into his bosom, she placed her soft palm 
 upon his heart. Scarce had she touched this 
 spot, the seat of life, when a faint exclamation 
 escaped her ; for beneath her gentle pressure, she 
 distinctly felt a feeble throbbing, as though life, 
 still lingering, was about passing off in fainter 
 and fainter pulsations from the vital throne. 
 " The dying spark still glows," murmured she to 
 herself, withdrawing her hand from his bosom, 
 and, raising his head, attempted to place him in 
 an easier position. 
 
 As she moved him, the hand that she first dis- 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 139 
 
 covered grasping his breast was convulsively 
 raised by him to the same spot from which she 
 had unloosed it, and seemed vainly attempting to 
 clasp the place again. In raising his head, a 
 part of his dishevelled long hair fell back and 
 exposed his face, and for the moment he opened 
 his eyes. There was a languid mildness in their 
 expression as they fixed upon her bending over 
 him, and his lips moved as if attempting to arti- 
 culate something, although no sound caught her 
 ear. That feeling, inherent in the female bosom, 
 which neither time nor circumstances can eradi- 
 cate, and which ever shows itself at the sight of 
 distress, prompted Estelle to alleviate the suffer- 
 ing form before her. To save life, though at the 
 hazard of bringing a deadly foe again upon them, 
 altered not her sympathetic heart ; and she chafed 
 the cold forehead of the native, and applied a 
 small vial of camphorated and volatile spirits, 
 carried and used by herself, to his nostrils, to 
 revive, if possible, the almost inanimate form she 
 was bending over. Again he opened his eyes, a 
 new life seemed to have been given to the dark 
 orbs of vision, and a faint smile apparently played 
 upon his countenance; consciousness was first 
 usurping the suspended powers of animation. 
 Mentally Estelle thanked the omnipotent God, 
 
140 BORDER TALES 
 
 as she saw indications of returning life, brought 
 as it were into existence again, by the slender 
 means she was enabled to use. A small tree stood 
 near where he lay stretched upon the ground ; 
 and she exerted her utmost strength to move and 
 set him leaning against it. She succeeded, and 
 for a moment sat by his side, holding his head, 
 which had dropped from feebleness upon one side; 
 and while supporting him in this upright posi- 
 tion. Bond and Allen came upon the scene. 
 
 To those who have witnessed woman's devotion 
 at the bedside of the sick and dying, of the sick 
 and wounded in hospitals, and on the battle-field 
 of deadly strife, Estelle's attention to this one is 
 easily understood. Florence Nightingale, at the 
 Crimean war, was the forerunner of many others 
 rising up in the civil war in America, as also in 
 the Prussian and French campaign, ready to go 
 forth and smooth the pathway of the dying to 
 the better land. Indeed, many a youth was 
 restored to loved mother by careful nursing of 
 those Sisters of Mercy, or better called, " Merciful 
 Sisters," in some army hospital. 
 
 Bond asked Estelle if she expected to restore 
 again to life one he deemed "as dead as a 
 stone." 
 
 " My friend, do you not see that life is not ex- 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIBE, 141 
 
 tinct ? This young savage still breathes, and God 
 will be angry with us if we do not try to pre- 
 serve his life now he is in our power." 
 
 " No doubt, madam ; but if he he alive, he 
 reminds me of a cat, which, they say, has nine 
 lives." 
 
 " I certainly thought him dead at first," said 
 she, " but on moving him he began to show signs 
 of life. Run to the cabin, and fetch me the wine 
 cordial, do ; I think he can be saved." 
 
 " But," said the other, " mercy is not justice. 
 ' Let the dead bury the dead,' says the Bible." 
 
 " Scripture says also, ' Thou shalt not kill,' and 
 ' Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.' " 
 
 Bond soon got the cordial. 
 
 "Pray," said Allen, ''let's save the wounded and 
 bury the dead. I've been a prisoner myself and 
 was wounded, so I know how it is. If the 
 English surgeon hadn't been kind to me on a 
 man-of-war ship, where would I be now? It 
 was me that felled the chap, and the young 
 Indian smiled as he drew near, when I was cut- 
 ting right and left. He feU, as if a ball had 
 reached his heart, and he only gave a faint yell, 
 and all at once was as still as a dead kitten." 
 
 Estelle applied the cordial to his lips, and at 
 once they removed him a short distance, and laid 
 
142 BORDER TALES 
 
 him carefully down upon a bed of dry leaves. 
 Next, they laid the bodies of his eleven com- 
 panions in a trench, throwing evergreens over 
 them, and then covering them with the light 
 sandy soil of the hill. 
 
 Night was setting in, and, as yet, Walker and 
 the captain had not returned. The sun went 
 down in the west, reflecting a gorgeous sunlight 
 on the tree-tops and over the distant hills which 
 towered up in the north. 
 
 The spot where the bodies of the slain lay 
 they marked with stakes, and the men at once 
 gathered some dry branches with which to make 
 a fire, and keep it burning through the night, 
 in case the captain should return hungry, and 
 might need, at least, a cup of coffee, if not a 
 rasher of bacon or a piece of dried venison. 
 
 "I shouldn't wonder," said Bond, "that some 
 ugly customer will pay us a visit to-night. The 
 smell of blood is very keen among beasts of the 
 forest; and it is said that crows and buzzards 
 can scent a carcase five miles away." 
 
 " Well," said Allen, " we must stow away our 
 dried venison and moose-meat " (meaning the 
 supposed dead Indian who had been nursed by 
 EsteUe). 
 
 But she came back from the bed of leaves upon 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 143 
 
 which the young Indian lay, and reported that 
 he had suddenly revived and made his escape, 
 without as much as thanking her for her kind- 
 ness, or telling her when he would come back 
 again. She said he darted into the forest like 
 a deer, and bounded away as if nothing was the 
 matter. 
 
 This led to a consultation as to what was best 
 to be done. 
 
 " If," said one of them, " the fellow is not a 
 viper you ve warmed into life, he'll be glad he 
 has gotten off with a whole skin. On the con- 
 trary, if he has any gratitude in him, we have 
 nothing to fear. Doubtless, he can soon reach 
 the Cayuga Lake, and bring back upon us a host 
 of savages, but all we have to do is to keep a 
 good look-out, and not be caught napping." 
 
 Estelle retired to her couch, musing on the 
 strange events of the day, and tried to compose 
 herself for a good night's rest. 
 
 In the mean time her companions were in any 
 mood but that of sleeping, and they resolved that 
 their eyes should not for a moment be closed that 
 night. They mutually kept each other wide 
 awake by talking, now of the day's adventure, 
 and next of scenes far away at the east they 
 called their home. 
 
144 BORDER TALES 
 
 "Catch me," said Allen, "venturing my life 
 ■with our captain in a dense forest again, with 
 wild cats and wild Indians. It is too much like 
 Alexander Selkirk and his island, we used to 
 sing of — 
 
 * I am moDarcli of all I survey, 
 My right there is none to dispute ; 
 From the centre all round to the sea, 
 I am lord of the fowl and the brute.' 
 
 No, no ; give me the smell of salt water, and 
 plenty of clams and oysters (quahogs some call 
 them), lobsters and shad, in preference to all the 
 dried venison, and the glory of dead Indians 
 thrown into the bargain." 
 
 "I was in hope," replied the other, "that the 
 captain and the others would put in an appearance 
 and solve the mystery ere this ; and even now, it 
 seems to me, I hear some steps coming this 
 way." 
 
 " Maybe it's them," replied Allen. 
 
 But how mistaken ! All at once they found 
 themselves surrounded and held down by a fresh 
 lot of savages, who began at once to bind their 
 limbs with some green withes they had brought 
 with them. Here, indeed, was a sudden surprise ! 
 
 " Well," grumbled the old sailor, " dang my 
 buttons, this is quick work, friend Bond," whom 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 145 
 
 he saw prostrate, and in the same predicament 
 with himself. 
 
 The stealthy, snake-like approach of the In- 
 dians, surprising the two bold men (Mr. Bostwick 
 and wife having made their escape through the 
 aid of a friendly Indian), did not prevent their 
 calm consideration of the situation. They might, 
 indeed, feel soon the tomahawk or scalping knife 
 in their heads with deadly effect ; but, somehow 
 or other, they did not easily give way to de- 
 pression or despair. They felt more interested 
 in poor Estelle, as one of the savages was seen 
 to catch hold of her the moment she had reached 
 the spot where her protectors lay, helpless to 
 defend her. 
 
 Her captor bound her hands behind her and 
 led her into the cabin. The Indians appeared in 
 no hurry, but were cool and collected. 
 
 A tall, fine-looking young Indian led the band 
 of twelve young warriors, and his orders were 
 strictly obeyed. As near as the prisoners could 
 catch the words, he said — 
 
 " EAU-HIYA-KSUWEYA-CUICA-WIKOSKA ; KIN- 
 CUICA-TARINEA ! " 
 
 That is, " Do not hurt the young maiden, the 
 young deer." 
 
 L 
 
146 BORDER TALES 
 
 One of the Indians asked what they should do 
 with the " Imktomi-huha-kanskas-ka ; " that 
 is ''Daddy long-legs^' as they called the two 
 men. 
 
 But they set up such a jabbering in the lan- 
 guage of the Iroquoi, that it was hard to tell 
 what it all meant, as neither had picked up any 
 bits of the Indian language. But so, too, they 
 knew very well the Indians did not, on their part, 
 understand the English language ; so they freely 
 exchanged views on their perilous condition. 
 
 "Confound their lingo!" said Allen. "Why 
 don't they speak like Christians, and not let their 
 words jerk out through their teeth and noses ? 
 My opinion is it's worse than dog Latin ; and I 
 shouldn't wonder if they don't understand it 
 themselves ! " 
 
 " You'd better dry up, old fellow," replied the 
 other. " Don't you see the rascals are building a 
 fire yonder, as if they meant to stay and make 
 themselves at home here, and maybe roast us 
 alive, as an offering to the ' Great Manitou ' ? " 
 
 "Well," said Allen, "they know one word at 
 least besides 'whisky' (miniwakan), and that 
 is ' Yankee,' pronounced by them ' Yengeese' and 
 the way they learned to call us so is thus 
 explained. The French in Canada had much to 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 147 
 
 say to the Indians about their foes, the English, 
 and that was as near as they could pronounce 
 the word," 
 
 They both began to feel pain in their arms and 
 legs, as the green withes which bound them were 
 very tightly tied, 
 
 " Can't you get one of your flippers loose, and 
 cut my lashings ? " 
 
 " Devil a bit of it ! " replied the old saUor. '' My 
 opinion is, if you call on them to loosen your 
 stays, they'll cut your throat from ear to ear." 
 
 Thus they talked on to each other to while 
 away the time, and evidently to cheer themselves 
 up — as naughty boys, who are put in a dark 
 room for punishment, are said to whistle to keep 
 up their courage. And all the while they kept a 
 sharp look upon the Indians, watching every 
 motion as they were making preparations to pass 
 the night outside the cabin. So they felt re- 
 assured that their lives would be spared, at 
 least for a while, when they saw the savages 
 throw themselves on the ground where they had 
 spread their skins, and were soon snoring loudly. 
 The moon shone out through the clouds, and the 
 heat-lightnings played across the western sky, 
 but did not disturb their slumbers. 
 
148 BOEDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 New revelations and some startling scenes now 
 lie before us, in our story of the early day on 
 Fort HiU. 
 
 Bond and Allen could not sleep long nor very 
 sound, and, after being left to themselves, 
 wondered why the Indians should have become, 
 as it were, unmindful of them. It had thundered 
 and the lightning had flashed, but no rain had 
 fallen to wet their skins. Then they began to 
 make efforts to loosen their bonds, which bound 
 them so tightly. If they could only loosen them, 
 they could contrive some plan of escape while 
 the thunder howled, and the mire would not 
 reveal their walking to Estelle's cabin to try 
 and release her. But they failed, as the withes 
 were green and tied too tight to let them get a 
 leg or arm loose to use them. 
 
 " Well," said the old sailor, '* I suppose we may 
 as well make the best of it. Let us try and 
 got a little more sleep on the dry leaves, and 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 149 
 
 do as ' The Babes in the Wood ' did when they 
 had no home to live in." 
 
 But the other partner in danger had no heart 
 to indulge in witticism or jokes while surrounded 
 with dangerous foes, who might take it into their 
 heads to get up at any moment, and sacrifice 
 them by roasting slowly before a fire, or torture 
 them by fastening them to a tree and practising 
 their skill in throwing knives or tomahawks at 
 their heads, by way of shooting at a mark. 
 
 But nature will give way to fatigue, and it 
 was not long before both were fast asleep once 
 more, and snoring too, as soundly as if they were 
 at home sleeping in a stable, or on board ship 
 swinging in a hammock. 
 
 Allen next morning, on opening his eyes, dis- 
 covered a large stalwart Indian standing directly 
 over him, and gazing intently at him. He seemed 
 to look down upon his captives with silent con- 
 tempt, much as a huge mastifi* contemplates a 
 little terrier, or as a cat looking at a mouse. 
 His broad, naked shoulders, and arms muscular 
 and sinewy, folded upon his bosom, showed a 
 strength not to be despised, and his gaze denoted 
 a vision like the eagle's as he gazes upon the 
 sun. 
 
 Allen raised himself on his elbow, and turned 
 
150 BOBBER TALES 
 
 up his good-natured but rather doleful face to 
 the captor, and said, "Old chap, just you cut 
 these things and let me loose, and 111 not run 
 away, 'pon my honour." 
 
 No answer to Allen's request was returned by 
 the native, who seemed not to understand him ; 
 but strode off with a majestic tread, after having 
 gathered up a large bearskin partly over his 
 shoulders, which had fallen low about his body 
 as he stood with his folded arms over the old 
 sailor. 
 
 "Stiff* as a midshipman!" muttered Allen. 
 " If I had you on board the Butterfly, my copper- 
 coloured chap, the boatswain should tickle your 
 hull ; " and he followed him with his eyes as he 
 mingled with the other natives, who were now 
 stirring round. 
 
 It was an hour or two after this before any of 
 the natives took notice of Bond or Allen. They 
 had both risen to a sitting posture, and hitched 
 themselves close together. Bond would occasion- 
 ally utter a curse against the imps, which would 
 immediately be responded to by the other. All 
 at once, they discovered a cluster of natives 
 gathering together, and in a few moments they 
 came towards where they sat. As they moved 
 along, a white man was seen among them, though 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 151 
 
 he looked about as savage as the crowd of dark 
 bodies around him, 
 
 " There is a white Indian among them fellows," 
 said Bond. 
 
 " So there is, or old Bob never took a correct 
 observation," replied Allen. ''I wonder if the 
 fellow has turned Turk or Indian ? " 
 
 " Very likely both," answered Bond. 
 
 In the mean time the crowd of natives ap- 
 proached where they were sitting, and soon sur- 
 rounded them by forming a circle. As yet they 
 had kept strict silence, but all of a sudden a yell 
 proceeded from the leader, and all joined in the 
 horrid chorus. Then they began to move round 
 in single file, uttering sounds of discord ; while 
 each one lifted his tomahawk, and drew his 
 scalping knife, flourishing them in the air, and 
 with fiendish looks directed towards their 
 prisoners, strained their voices as loud as 
 thunder. 
 
 Old Allen eyed them as they danced around, 
 like the witches in " Macbeth," until his face re- 
 laxed into a quizzical smile at the comic actions 
 and queer doings he saw. But turning to Bond, 
 he muttered, ''Dang my buttons. Master Bond, 
 what under the sun are they about ? " 
 
 " Well," replied he, ** I guess it means our death 
 song, and they are chanting it now." 
 
152 BORDER TALES 
 
 '' I do not fancy the music," replied Allen ; ''and 
 it can't be true, as some old poet wrote — 
 
 * Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast ; ' 
 
 for they are singing our lullaby, and stirring up 
 the old boy in their wicked hearts." The eyes 
 of Allen rolled from one object to another, while 
 they circled round with their faces horribly 
 painted. " Confound their tin-pan music ! It 
 sounds about as musical as filing a saw, or 
 pulling a naughty cat out of an ash-hole ! Now, 
 if they put daylight through me, and you get off, 
 you tell our captain that I died game." 
 
 The loud yells of the savages almost drowned 
 this appeal; but Bond had nodded assent, as 
 his bold comrade made a successful attempt to 
 get his hand loose. Having a large pocket-knife 
 in his left side pocket, he managed to work it 
 out, and with his teeth opened the blade. One 
 may be sure he was not long in cutting himself 
 loose. He was free from the withes which held 
 him fast. Turning to his comrade, he whispered, 
 *' I may as well let you up too, and see if we 
 can't get out of this hell-hole ! " 
 
 Then he cut the other's fastenings, undiscovered 
 by the Indians — at least, they thought so. But 
 the two men were imprudent enough to draw out 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE. 153 
 
 a plug of tobacco, and while Allen was biting off 
 a quid, the Indians discovered the motion. All 
 of a sudden, a dozen sprang up, and raising their 
 tomahawks, began to yell and whoop like mad. 
 They would soon have made short work of their 
 prisoners, had not the tall and muscular savage, 
 and another (a youth), with a bound jumped in 
 before them, ot'dering them back to where they 
 had just been seated. 
 
 The chief ordered the prisoners to follow him ; 
 and they rose to their feet, wondering what next 
 would take place. Harmless they went with him 
 on the other side of the hollow, a few rods, where 
 Estelle was a prisoner, and were bid to enter. 
 
 " Ah, Bond, we had a close shave that time," 
 said Allen. ''We'd have soon been done for 
 — made cold mutton, I'm sure, if they did not 
 really torture us over a slow fire." 
 
 " Yes, that's so," replied Bond. " But where is 
 Estelle? I pray Heaven she's not carried off 
 beyond our reach." 
 
 Before Allen had time to reply, the poor girl, 
 pale and agitated, entered the shelter and sank 
 down, with her hands tied fast behind her. She 
 had passed the night quite unharmed, indeed, but 
 sleep refused to visit her eyelids. The loud 
 shouts of the savages had driven her from the 
 
154 BOBBER TALES 
 
 tent a few minutes before, but seeing her friends 
 safe, she came back again. 
 
 " Bless your dear heart, miss," said the old 
 sailor, " I was afraid we would never see your 
 face again." 
 
 " Thanks be to Him who hath said, ' not a hair 
 of your head shall perish,' we are all thus far safe 
 from cruel torture and death. But," said she, 
 " those natives who were slain yesterday will be 
 visited upon us, I greatly fear." 
 
 " Never you mind, girl," said Allen. " Things 
 look squally; but, you know, we must have a gale 
 now and then,- for the sea is purified by winds 
 and storms, and it is not always calm and smooth, 
 nor is it ever fair weather at all times on the 
 ocean. But, dear me, let me cut your arms loose." 
 
 " No, no," said she. " I am afraid they will bind 
 me tighter still if you do." 
 
 If any one has heard a loud crash of thunder 
 and seen forked lightning break out of a black 
 sky, he can imagine how startled this group 
 was when they heard another outcry from 
 the Indians, which excelled all they had heard 
 before. It brought the men to their feet, and 
 not knowing the cause, they rushed at once to 
 the opening of the tent to see what had caused 
 this tumult. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 155 
 
 The natives were all rushing along the south 
 part of the trenches, with fiendish shouts, jump- 
 ing over the parapets close by the prisoners. All 
 at once they heard the loud bark of Bose, the 
 captain's dog, a huge mastiff well known to the 
 old sailor. 
 
 " Ah," said he, " our comrades have returned, 
 I feel quite sure." I hear old Bose's loud bark ; " 
 and he started at once for the tent door to see if 
 it was really true. 
 
 The tall Indian pushed him back, and placed 
 himself in front of the door of the tent. 
 
 The old salt gave a horrified look as he was 
 thus pushed back, and he hardly knew what next 
 to do, so he wisely resigned himself to his fate. 
 
 Presently, however, Bose came bounding in, 
 jumping up to kiss the faces of all his friends. 
 
 " Where can the captain be ? " said Estelle. 
 
 As soon as the old sailor could quiet the faith- 
 ful dog, he said to her, " Yes, he can't be far 
 away;" and the girl trembled as she sat and lis- 
 tened to the yells of the Indians, for she knew 
 not if a deadly combat had already begun. 
 
 " The natives have captured our friends, I am 
 quite sure," said Allen. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," replied the other ; " and so we 
 must all die without judge or jury." 
 
156 BOBDER TALES 
 
 Amid the loud yells and awful screams that 
 rang through the forest, the old sailor and his 
 friend chafed in spirit that they could not have a 
 share or hand in the fray, when suddenly the 
 tent was parted and the captain, with Walker 
 and Sambo, the black servant, tightly bound, 
 and their clothes besmeared with blood, were 
 thrust in. 
 
 " More prisoners !" said the captain, as his hand 
 was grasped by the old sailor. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir, it is true. But they had double 
 the number of us; and though old Allen has 
 been a prisoner before, these fellows can't make 
 me scare worth a cent. Ha! old sable," con- 
 tinued he, turning to his black companion in 
 misery, who was covered with blood and looking 
 pale round the mouth, " I'm glad to see you haven't 
 lost your scalp." 
 
 This sally of wit cheered up Sambo, and he 
 grinned from ear to ear as he said, " Dis nigger 
 wasn't brought up in de woods to be scared by 
 owls." But the old darkey would have been 
 glad to see the whole crew of savages drowned 
 in the Owasco Lake. 
 
 From the opening of the tent in front, they 
 could see something of what was going forward 
 among the aborigines, as a large lot of them 
 
 J 
 
ABOUND THE CAMF FIBE, 157 
 
 had gathered together, and one of them could 
 be heard haranguing the rest. Next, the crowd 
 separated, and very soon they beheld the bodies 
 of those slain by Bond and Allen taken up 
 and carried away. As the last one passed in 
 single file, Bond told the captain all about the 
 battle they had been engaged in, and of the flight 
 of the natives, and how they were taken prisoners 
 by surprise and bound as captives. 
 
 In the mean time. Walker was rehearsing to 
 Estelle something which caused her to weep. 
 For a short time after this. Walker and the captain 
 whispered together apart, and it was seen that the 
 stern features of the captain relaxed, and a smile 
 came over his manly, sunburnt features. 
 
 The day passed off* in a quiet monotony, and 
 quite a number of dusky faces passed every 
 now and then, viewing the tent; and it was 
 observed that a powerful, tall, and muscular- 
 built native kept quite close to them, and he 
 glanced often at each of the prisoners. 
 
 At the same time a number of others were 
 engaged in erecting lodges of bark, as though 
 they intended sojourning there for some time 
 longer. The old man Allen and the black now 
 began to think they were in no immediate 
 danger, and at once set to tell old yams they had 
 
158 BORDER TALES 
 
 learned at sea, sometimes fighting pirates arm 
 to arm in the Spanish main, or singing the song 
 of 
 
 " Captain Kidd, Captain Kidd, 
 How he sail-ed, how he sail-ed," 
 
 etc., etc. They, as thousands of others, believed 
 the pirate's story of having buried untold treasures 
 of silver somewhere on the shores of Long 
 Island, near " Coney Island," or at Eockaway. 
 
 The sunrise next morning found all in the 
 tent wide awake, and the natives bustling about 
 making preparations for some coming event, 
 quite mysterious. A number were carefully 
 examining their bows and arrows, while some 
 were listening to one of the chiefs, who was 
 gesticulating and speaking in a low voice. 
 
 The captain watched him, as did Walker also, 
 with some forebodings of coming evil. Walker 
 knew full well the spirit of all Indians, who 
 hold the old Mosaic teaching of an " eye for an 
 eye, and a tooth for a tooth," i.e., blood for blood ; 
 and some, if not all the party there, must suffer 
 the penalty of death. 
 
 Strange, that of all, Sambo showed the least 
 anxiety or emotion. He would scan the features 
 and forms of the redskins as they passed to 
 and fro where they were, while now and then 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 159 
 
 he would curse them as worse than pirates on 
 the ocean. 
 
 They had not long to wait before they were 
 informed as to their fate. 
 
 " It is all up with us," said one of them. 
 
 When death threatens, or any severe danger 
 is at hand, we first begin to think of dear loved 
 ones at home, who will suffer all the horrors 
 attending upon our decease, while waiting hour 
 after hour, day by day, and month after month, 
 in hopeless anxiety as to our fate, wondering if 
 we will ever return again to gladden the fireside 
 of old home ! 
 
 The sun was high up in the sky, when all 
 of a sudden the Indians began to surround the 
 tent. They brought out each of its inmates one 
 by one, and fastened them by withes singly to 
 large beech trees, and then a kind of war-dance 
 began. The trees were all in a row, so each had 
 a view of his companions. 
 
 The yelling increased in louder tones, as though 
 the Indians were working themselves up to a 
 higher pitch of excitement and rage. Then they 
 began shooting their arrows into the trees just 
 above the heads of their victims, and now and 
 then a tomahawk would be hurled in the same 
 direction, sticking fast in the bark of the tree. 
 
160 BORDER TALES 
 
 Poor Estelle was taken to the tree next the 
 captain, and her arms were fastened around the 
 trunk, while she seemed ready to faint with fear. 
 Bond and the black man were tied to two trees 
 next, and Allen, Walker, and Bostwick came next 
 in order. Here they stood in breathless anxiety 
 for a whole hour, awaiting death. Visions of 
 horror and torture were passing through their 
 minds all the while, ere death should come to 
 release them from their cruel foes. But a sur- 
 prise on which they had not counted now 
 awaited them. 
 
 Just as they had given up all hope of relief 
 and could endure no longer the horrid suspense, 
 and while all (save Estelle, who was less moved 
 than any) trembled with anxiety, a tall, power- 
 ful native — the one who had thrust the captain 
 into the tent so hastily — accompanied by a 
 light, straight, youthful, fine-built native, with 
 two white men dressed in full Indian costume, 
 presented themselves before the eyes of the as- 
 tonished prisoners. They had suddenly leaped 
 over the parapet right in front of the captives, 
 and hurried towards them. Here was a surprise 
 indeed ! The whole scene changed as if wrought 
 by a miracle. 
 
 Upon this the savages broke forth anew in a 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 161 
 
 yell of fierce anger, as they witnessed this in- 
 terruption of what they would call sport. A 
 fierce conflict was impending, as the Indians 
 raised their weapons in defiance ; but the chief 
 placed a bugle to his lips, and blowing a blast, 
 ordered silence. A moment more, and he rushed 
 to the side of the nearest prisoner and cut his 
 bonds loose, and so on to the others. 
 
 Had an angel suddenly come down from 
 heaven to release them, he could not have been 
 more of a surprise and a welcome deliverer. 
 They stared at the chief, but had no words to 
 express their amazement. 
 
 In a moment, however, Walker sprang 
 forward, and addressed one of the whites who 
 came, saying, " Thank Heaven, she '' (Estelle) 
 " is saved ! Behold your daughter ! " 
 
 These words, like a new revelation, struck 
 upon the ears of Estelle, as she rushed forward 
 and threw herself into the arms of her newly 
 found and long-lost father. She exclaimed, " Oh, 
 my dear, dear father, I thought you were dead 
 and I an orphan ! " 
 
 He could only sob out, " My child, my only 
 daughter!" and as the tears rolled down his 
 bronzed cheeks, he drew her near his bosom and 
 thanked God, with uplifted hand to heaven, for 
 
 M 
 
162 BORDEB TALES 
 
 that sacred hour. It seemed to him like a 
 dream, as he gazed from the captain to Walker, 
 and for a moment seemed lost in thought. 
 
 After Estelle's emotion had had full vent, 
 and her usual calm repose had returned, she 
 released her hold of her parent, and glanced 
 at the youthful native who had cut their bonds 
 and set them free. His eye was riveted on her, 
 as he advanced with hand extended, and at once 
 threw himself at her feet in adoration, thanking 
 her, in English, as his preserver — the one who 
 had saved his life. 
 
 Estelle recognized him as the youthful native 
 whom she had begged Bond and Allen to 
 spare during the recent battle, and then, with 
 her own hands, had restored him to life among 
 the mutilated remains of those of his comrades 
 whose lifeless forms strewed the ground on Fort 
 HiU. 
 
 Putting her hand into her bosom, she drew 
 forth the silver medal which she had taken from 
 his body when he was unconscious, and handed it 
 to him. He took it with eagerness, kissing and 
 grasping it as his greatest earthly treasure. 
 
 Allen drew near him, having seen Estelle hand 
 the medal to the young man. 
 
 " Let me look at that for a moment, my boy," 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 163 
 
 said he, at the same time wiping his eyes with 
 his sleeve. 
 
 Just then, the white man who came with 
 Estelle's father rushed forward, his eyes nearly 
 bursting out of his head, and stood by their side. 
 On seeing what was in the hand of Allen, he made 
 a faint attempt to clasp the young Indian in his 
 arms; and with a half exclamation in these 
 words, " Oh, my dear, dear " fell back insen- 
 sible to the ground. 
 
 And thus ended, for the day, the romance of 
 Fort HiU. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 We left our heroine, the beautiful Estelle, and 
 party surprised in Fort Hill by the sudden release 
 of herself and the other prisoners bound to trees 
 and expecting sudden death. During the time 
 that this occurred, the black man, Sam, had 
 remained speechless, staring at the tall young 
 Indian. Suddenly he threw up his arms, and 
 exclaimed — 
 
 ''I declare to goodness, Bob Allen, that's 
 
164 BORDER TALES 
 
 massa ! I knows him by the colour of de eyes ! 
 Sure's you live, now, it's young Massa Charlie, 
 for de scars on his cheek is dar, sure as gospel, 
 mind I tell ye." 
 
 Bob replied, "Well, old Snowball, I guess 
 you're right;" and then he proceeded to hug 
 the stranger tight as a bear, exclaiming, " Can't 
 you see I'm your old mate Bob ? " 
 
 The gallant youth stood for a moment as if 
 hesitating in doubt, bewildered by what he had 
 seen ; but soon recovering his self-possession, said, 
 " Yes, I do remember. But who is this ? " point- 
 ing to the man prostrate before him. 
 
 " Blast my eyes if I know!" said the old sailor. 
 " Perhaps it's some chap turned Indian, the same 
 as you and Estelle's father." 
 
 Then the captain and the darkey stood a little 
 way off, the black holding something in his hand 
 which he was trying to decipher. " Show it to 
 him, captain " — ^pointing to the supposed Master 
 Charlie. "It seems to me dey bof look just alike." 
 
 Before the captain could reply, Estelle's father 
 approached and demanded, " Where did you find 
 that?" 
 
 " Up in the eagle's nest, massa. He climb the 
 tree, and grab it in his hand," replied the black. 
 
 " Hush up, you rascal, you black ace of spades !" 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 165 
 
 said Allen, as he approached the captain. " Do 
 you see that copper-coloured iidi,-tive ? " pointing 
 to the young savage. 
 
 " I do ; but what about him ? " said the captain. 
 
 " Well, nothing ; only he happens to be your 
 own brother — turned Indian for the time being, 
 that's all." 
 
 " My eyes ! " exclaimed the captain. " Has he 
 the counterpart of this ? " seizing the medallion 
 from the darkey, and placing it by the side of 
 the one he held. 
 
 " Stand back ! " said Estelle's father. " I alone 
 can explain all of this." 
 
 Now, to help to understand this part of our 
 story, I will explain to my youthful readers the 
 following, as relating to the early part of the 
 narrative. 
 
 The Continental Congress, which met first in 
 Philadelphia, and adopted the title of 
 
 "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," 
 
 had a very few vessels of war to constitute her 
 navy. Among those who figured among the 
 boldest and bravest of men was Paul Jones. 
 This man, who became conspicuous in our 
 
166 BORDER TALES 
 
 struggles for independence, was a Scotchman^ 
 bom at Arbigland, near the month of the river 
 Nith, 6th of July, 1747. In 1779 Jones was 
 placed in command of an expedition, under the 
 joint auspices of the King of France and the 
 American Commissioners. 
 
 A short account of this brave man will be 
 found in the Appendix, as well as a sketch of the 
 life of Davy Crockett, a warrior on land. 
 
 Jones had a naval battle with several of the 
 king's men of war, and a small continental 
 cruiser managed to sail away into New England, 
 and this vessel fell in with a wreck, which was 
 boarded by one of her boats. 
 
 When the leader first jumped upon the deck, 
 not a living person was seen. But on entering 
 the cabin, however, a handsome lady was found 
 almost dead of starvation, and lying beside her 
 were two male children, aged only a few months. 
 There was just enough of life in her emaciated 
 form for her to speak to her discoverers, telling 
 them who she was, and the names of the dear 
 little ones she was so soon to leave to the care 
 of strangers. Breathing a prayer for them, she 
 then expired. 
 
 There was little of value found on the vessel, 
 and after sewing up the delicate body of the poor 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 167 
 
 lady, they consigned her remains to the great 
 deep, with this prayer : — 
 
 " We therefore commit her body to the deep, 
 to be turned into corruption, looking for the 
 resurrection of the body (when the sea shall 
 give up her dead), and the life of the world to 
 come, through our Lord Jesus Christ : who at His 
 coming shall change our vile body, that it may 
 be like His glorious body, according to the 
 mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all 
 things unto Himself." 
 
 One said, " Did you ever think what a singular 
 expression that is, taken from Scripture — ' The 
 sea shall give up the dead ' ? " 
 
 The children were taken on board the yacht, 
 and two men selected to care for them : one of 
 them was the black, Sambo, and the other the 
 large-hearted Yankee Allen. These children had 
 had no sustenance for several days, save what 
 they drew from an open vein in the mother's 
 arm — they sapping her own life-blood to sustain 
 themselves, and fulfilling Bible language, " Can 
 the mother forget her sucking child ? " 
 
 Black Sam first discovered this; and it was 
 said that the sailors amused themselves some- 
 times, while the cruiser was making port, by 
 pricking their fingers and letting the little 
 fellows suck the blood. 
 
168 BORDER TALES 
 
 The mother had fastened two silver medals 
 round her children's necks, the name of each 
 loved one being engraved thereon ; and in order 
 to preserve the medals, the sailor and the black 
 had encased them in leather pouches covered 
 with wax, which they tied to the orphans' 
 bodies. 
 
 In a few days they were in sight of land, and 
 the little fellows were taken ashore, and duly 
 cared for. 
 
 After a year or so, one of them strayed away, 
 or perhaps was stolen, and no trace of him could 
 be found. 
 
 The other one, after two or more years, was 
 taken on board the cruiser as an accepted child 
 of the ocean (they called him " the little man-of- 
 war s-man "), with a view to educate him for the 
 navy. The name graven on his medal, which 
 he lost just before his brother was missing, was 
 " Willie Williamson ; " and on his being placed on 
 board the cruiser, Allen, in order to preserve his 
 name in case of any accident, did what so many 
 sailors do — tattooed the letters on the boy's 
 breast with Indian ink, pricked in with a needle. 
 
 Now let us return to the day when the other 
 twin boy was missing, and explain who were 
 the other persons spoken of at Fort Hill. 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 169 
 
 Estelle was the daughter of Edmund Griffith, 
 who, several years before our story begins, had 
 left civilization and plunged into the forests of the 
 Far West, in search of adventure and of fortune. 
 He was living in what was called '' a howling 
 wilderness," but which to-day is dotted with 
 those beautiful towns and cities along the Mo- 
 hawk, the Genesee, and the Susquehanna. 
 
 Estelle's mother had died when she was an 
 infant and knew little or nothing of a proud 
 mother's love and tenderness, and so her maternal 
 aunt had the little one adopted into her own 
 family. 
 
 The father of Estelle, as soon as her mother 
 was dead, left the banks of the Yantic river, in 
 Connecticut, and for a long time no one knew what 
 had become of him. Then, about that time, the 
 twin brother of Willie was seen to be missing, and 
 after a vain attempt to ascertain his whereabouts, 
 it was concluded that the poor little one must have 
 strayed to the river's bank and got drowned. 
 
 As time, however, rolled along, Estelle had 
 reached her sixteenth year, and Walker, the 
 only son of those who adopted her, had already 
 arrived at the age of manhood. He had joined 
 some fur traders under the advice of Mr. Astor, 
 who was the prime mover and most influential 
 
170 BOEDER TALES 
 
 of the "North American Fur Company." He 
 started westward in hopes of winning fame and 
 fortune, hunting with the French Canadians and 
 the Indians along the St. Lawrence and other 
 rivers, up south to the tributaries of the Owasco 
 and Cayuga lakes. 
 
 He suddenly made his appearance one day in 
 his eastern home, whither his steps had eagerly 
 turned, to give the glad tidings that Estelle's 
 father had been found and was then living in 
 the west. It was in a vast forest of beeches 
 on the western shores of the Owasco that he 
 had providentially come across her father, who 
 was leading somewhat of a hermit's life, in a log 
 cabin lined with wolf and bear skins. 
 
 Walker had learned from Estelle's father that 
 the missing orphan had been carried off by him, 
 and had remained with him as a constant com- 
 panion for a long time, until at last he had been 
 stolen from him in an unguarded moment, while 
 he was absent, or perhaps had been devoured by 
 some wild beast of the forest, so many of which 
 had a habit of prowling about ready to devour 
 man or beast, if once secure of their prey. He 
 searched the woods for a long time, but no trace 
 of him could be found. When this happened, 
 he naturally was afraid to return to his native 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 171 
 
 place, and so he remained buried alive, as it 
 were, in the almost desert wilds of the Owasco 
 country. 
 
 At the time of Walker's return, Williamson, the 
 sailor, who had risen to be a captain* in the Con- 
 tinental Navy service, had arrived again in port 
 and heard the marvellous story of Walker. A new 
 feeling wno took possession of his breast; one 
 desire only animated him, and that was, to seek 
 out his long-lost brother. He would see, also, 
 if he could bring back Estelle's father to his old 
 haunts of civilization. 
 
 At once preparations were made by Captain 
 Williamson for absence on his cruiser, the 
 Butterjiy, which had conveyed them by the 
 Long Island Sound, through Hurl Gate (a 
 dangerous place, full of whirlpools and rocks), 
 on to Manhatten Island, off New Amsterdam 
 (now New York), where he took passage to 
 visit the new settlements on the shores of Lake 
 Ontario. 
 
 Here the real development of my story begins 
 to unfold itself. Captain Williamson had arrived 
 at the fort, and formed one of the group which 
 were gazing at the medal. 
 
 " Ah, yes 1" said he, " I am sure it must be my 
 dear brother, for though I have not seen him 
 
172 BORDER TALES 
 
 since we were little shavers together, I recognize 
 the token." 
 
 '' And I am sure of it, too," said Allen, as he 
 took out his knife and began scraping off the 
 wax covering. " Didn't I tell you so ? There 
 they are, both engraved, and as like as two peas 
 in a pod — ' Willie Williamson ' on this ; ' Charlie 
 Williamson ' on that." 
 
 The black must needs put his oar in, and he 
 declared that "just as sure as de sun shines above, 
 dey bof am alike." Negro-like, he grinned from 
 ear to ear and clapped his hands, crowing like a 
 rooster, of which he gave a first-rate imitation. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 While this performance was being enacted, the 
 Indians stood staring in amazement at the scene, 
 and Sambo fairly danced with joy, as did his 
 friend also, full of glee as they realized the 
 almost miraculous reunion of the brothers ; while 
 Walker looked upon the twins with a keen relish, 
 as the captain seized the hand of his long-lost 
 brother, and they fell on each other's neck. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 173 
 
 as did David and Jonathan, and kissed each 
 other. 
 
 "Captain," said Allen, "it was not my fault 
 that that likely brother of yourn didn't bite the 
 dust, when I gave him a slight wound, for I 
 thought he was as much an Indian as the copper- 
 headed fellows he was leading against us." 
 
 " Yes," replied the brother, " it was a lucky 
 escape indeed for him." 
 
 " You'd have worked daylight into or out of 
 him, you bet ?" said the darkey. 
 
 " No, Ebony ; it would have been pitch-dark 
 very soon for him, if he hadn't dodged so quickly 
 behind the sapling." 
 
 At this moment the tall, muscular native came 
 forward, supporting the crippled white man in 
 disguise, who was no one else but Le Fort, who 
 figures so conspicuously in the first part of our 
 story. 
 
 " My dear children ! my own dear boys ! God 
 bless you ! We are united now again at last, 
 never, I trust, to be parted while we live." 
 
 " What !" exclaimed old Yankee Allen, "are you 
 indeed the father of these two boys ? You know 
 it was this old darkey and I who found them on 
 that wrecked vessel off" the shoals of Nantucket." 
 
 "And what of the mother, my dear wife? 
 
174 BOEDER TALES 
 
 Do tell me at once what has become of her," 
 gasped Le Fort. 
 
 " The beautiful woman ? Why, we laid her 
 away at rest on old ocean's bed, to sleep the sleep 
 that knows no waking here." 
 
 At this intelligence Le Fort bowed his head in 
 grief, for he had hoped, now he was so happy, 
 that his wife survived her voyage to fill his cup 
 of joy to the full. 
 
 " Oh, this is sad indeed, to think that she was 
 cast into the sea, and I shall never behold her 
 sweet face again ! " 
 
 Allen seemed to have a doubt that Le Fort 
 was the father of the two boys, now grown to 
 manhood, and asked for proofs of the fact. 
 
 But the captain said, "Enough, my friend, if 
 we have found a real parent, as we believe. Why 
 cast a cloud over new-found happiness ? We are 
 waifs from the perils of the sea, too young to 
 know the authors of our being." 
 
 "The handsome lady was voyaging to the 
 States to meet her husband," interrupted Sambo, 
 " 'cause she said the two little cubs had a papa 
 there, jest afore she breeved away her last bref " 
 
 "Well," replied Allen, "if indeed this boy is 
 your son, he's as noble a one as ever trod the 
 deck of a man-of-war. But who'd have thought 
 of finding his father among wild savages ? " 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 175 
 
 Le Fort, having recovered his surprise on thus 
 suddenly finding his sons, whom he supposed to 
 have perished at sea with their mother, at once 
 began to relate how it was he became separated 
 for a while from his family, and soon all doubts 
 were put at rest as to his being indeed the father 
 of the twins. 
 
 He was born in France, and had a desire to 
 emigrate to Canada, shortly after his marriage. 
 On arriving at Quebec, he was engaged in trading 
 for furs and peltry, and seeing a fair prospect of 
 accumulating a fortune, he made arrangements 
 for his wife to join him. Judge how anxiously 
 he watched for the vessel that should bring to 
 him his earthly treasures. But the ship was 
 nearly lost in a storm, and the only persons 
 saved from shipwreck were the poor wife and 
 her two children. The ship did not founder and 
 go down, but drifted a wreck off Nantucket 
 shoals, where the Dancing Feather fell in with 
 it, and rescued the two children. 
 
 Le Fort was his assumed name, he said, the 
 real one being Williamson, after whom his wife 
 had named the two boys. Not hearing any 
 tidings of the vessel, he had made up his mind 
 to return to his native country, and leaving 
 Canada, he went back to Paris. 
 
176 BORDER TALES 
 
 There he soon learned that the vessel had un- 
 doubtedly been lost at sea, and again he returned 
 to America, and cojicluded to settle among the 
 Hollanders on the Hudson river. He fell in 
 with fur traders, and often acted as a scout and 
 guide to the trappers back and forth to Canada 
 among the French settlers. 
 
 At the time of our parties landing where he 
 was, near Vanderheyden s landing in the North 
 river, he got information that Van Buren's idea 
 was to rob them if he could, and he made up his 
 mind to thwart his plans, if possible ; so he quar- 
 relled with his companion to find out the truth 
 of the matter. 
 
 On leaving the neighbourhood so suddenly, he 
 overtook the party and piloted them along the 
 Hudson to the Mohawk valley, up to Onieda 
 Castle and on to the salt springs in Onondaga, 
 where he came across the old chief, Thay-an-da- 
 na-ga, who had saved his life once, and he agreed 
 to stay with him and share his wigwam. 
 
 While sojourning here, a young Indian came 
 in one day, and brought the news of a great 
 slaughter by the whites, and that the adopted 
 son of the chief was slain. But the same youth, 
 who had been so kindly cared for and nursed in 
 illness by Estelle, was the very one who was 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 177 
 
 saved, but supposed to be lost for ever to him. 
 The messenger who brought the news said he 
 saw him lying dead on Fort Hill. 
 
 At once the chief, set out with this young fel- 
 low as guide to the fort, some twenty-five miles 
 away to the westward. Then it was that Estelle, 
 Bostwick, Allen, and Bond were seized and bound, 
 expecting soon to be slain. But the young son 
 of the chief interceded to save them if he possibly 
 could. 
 
 Finding only these four of the party attacked, 
 they resolved to go forth and capture the rest 
 of them ; that is, the captain. Walker, and Sambo, 
 the coloured man. When Walker and the 
 captain left, with the faithful black servant, they 
 were in search of old Griffith, but were unsuc- 
 cessful ; and they were returning to Fort Hill 
 and had crossed the Owasco outlet, in sight of 
 the fort, when the natives surrounded them and 
 made them all prisoners. But fortunately old 
 Griffith had heard, as he was following the trail 
 of a bear in the forest, that some whites were 
 captured, and he resolved to go and see who they 
 were, and perhaps be the means of saving the 
 lives of some strangers. Little did he dream of 
 finding his own daughter there among them, 
 doomed to die an ignominous and cruel death. 
 
 N 
 
178 BORDER TALES 
 
 Some time before this, the foster-son of the 
 great Onondaga chief, whom Estelle had taken 
 such good care of, discovered that he had lost the 
 keepsake which he always wore near his heart, 
 and felt very sad indeed about it. 
 
 On the morning the party was brought out, 
 this young fellow had wandered in the woods 
 with Le Fort. The Indians thought to seize 
 the opportunity, in the absence of the chief, to 
 suddenly slay their prisoners, as needful to appease 
 the spirits of their slain comrades, whose souls 
 were waiting an entrance to the happy hunting 
 grounds. But the providential return of Le Fort 
 baffled their hellish designs, just as they were 
 about to slay them with their arrows. 
 
 They had fallen in with old Griffith in their 
 ramblings, and he at once returned with them. 
 Time had passed away, however, and made him 
 forget young Williamson, whom he had brought 
 with him from the river Yantic, in Connecticut, 
 as, soon after he had hid himself in the wilderness, 
 the little fellow had been suddenly surprised by 
 some wild Indians, and carried off he knew not 
 where, and henceforth had heard nothing about 
 him. The Chief Brant, as the English called 
 him, had lost a son about that time, and he con- 
 cluded to adopt the little fellow as his own. 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIBE. 179 
 
 Some time afterwards, Griffith, while hunting 
 on Fort Hill, lost the silver token which he 
 had taken from the child, and worn himself 
 among his other Indian trappings about his neck. 
 The story runs that he lost the medal, with 
 strings attached, in some bushes, and when the 
 eagles were picking up twigs with which to 
 build a nest, they carried it up with grass and 
 leaves to the limb of a tree, and there it remained 
 for a long time, till found by the captain. 
 
 The captain, when he came to Fort Hill, had 
 a spy-glass such as all navy vessels carried on 
 the ocean; and while surveying the flocks of 
 wild pigeons which were flying over, something 
 glittered in the sunlight among the chestnut 
 trees. His curiosity was awakened, and he 
 determined to climb the tree and see what it 
 was of so singular a nature in the wilderness. 
 What a wonderful discovery, to be sure ! It 
 seemed something more than chance or good 
 luck. He thought it was providential, for he 
 discovered a missing link carrying him back to 
 his early years. Long lost indeed, but now re- 
 stored and far dearer to him than a pot of gold ! 
 On showing it to his comrade Allen, he, as well 
 as the black, Sam, at once recognized it as be- 
 longing to one of the twin brothers. 
 
180 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The wars of the English and the French, and so, 
 too, of the colonists along the St. Lawrence and 
 the Hudson, are so well described in Cooper's 
 novels, that we have no need to speak of them in 
 detail here. The Indian tribes called the Iroquois, 
 or Six Nations, were very much mixed up with 
 these parties, and added greatly to the cruelties 
 of that unholy strife of that early day. 
 
 The French general of the forces had vowed 
 to exterminate the Six Nations, who summoned 
 a large grand council, when war to the knife 
 was decided on among the tribes. They were 
 gathering aU their warriors to repel the French 
 and the Canadian Indians, who were coming 
 against them across the St. Lawrence river. 
 
 Le Fort had learned all about this from his 
 chief; so aU the party which had gathered 
 together on Fort HiU agreed, as the best thing 
 they could do, to set forth towards their former 
 home on the North river, far below Albany. 
 
 Le Fort and Walker, however, thought best to 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 181 
 
 pay a visit to a fur-trading post on the banks 
 of Lake Ontario. 
 
 So the twins, now united, with Walker and 
 Le Fort, started on their journey northward to 
 Oswego, leaving Estelle with old Griffith, Bond, 
 Allen, and the coloured man, who was good com- 
 pany and a safe protector. 
 
 The Indians had nearly all scattered, except a 
 few who were dissatisfied, and who ground their 
 teeth in rage that they had thus been cheated 
 out of a grand " pow-wow " and death of their 
 victims. 
 
 Yankee Allen and Sambo, now thoroughly 
 disgusted with Indian fighting, were not slow 
 to set their faces towards the rising sun. 
 
 " What would I just give to be on board the 
 old cruiser Butterfly once more," said Allen, 
 "with our rations of grog served up regularly 
 twice a day ? " 
 
 "And I too, massa; and when we all jine 
 ag'in on de old shores of de noble Hudson, 
 we'll h'ist the anchor and sail away on de broad 
 ocean ! " 
 
 " I tell you, Sam," said the other, " I don't like 
 the looks of these Indians, somehow. They re- 
 mind me of the Evil One, ready to seek and 
 devour us, and when we least expect it." 
 
182 BORDER TALES 
 
 " Golly, I'm of de same 'pinion, and I wonder 
 how young missus' father kep from being killed. 
 He must know 'em pretty well by dis time ? " 
 
 They thus kept up each other's courage, as we 
 say children do, who whistle or sing in the 
 dark. 
 
 Allen declared that one of the Indians gave 
 him a fierce look, just as he was about to stick 
 a knife in him while bound to the tree, when 
 they were timely rescued, and he was sure if 
 the Indian got a chance, he would slake his 
 vengeance in taking his life. 
 
 " Well, we'U keep our eyes skinned then," said 
 the darkey, " and you no catch dis child asleep 
 any more 'n 3^ou catch a weasel asleep ! " 
 
 While this talk was going on, Estelle and her 
 father noticed how the Indians persisted in 
 hanging round, as if reluctant to go. Griffith 
 said he smelled mischief brewing, and he told his 
 daughter of it ; but they were too cautious to 
 betray themselves or show any fear. 
 
 The Indians pretended to be engaged only 
 in a wrestling match, a trial of skill, tumbling 
 one another upon the ground, and rolling among 
 the dry leaves, much to the amazement of Sambo 
 and AUen. 
 
 Sambo said he could land him on the deck if 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 183 
 
 on board of ship, pointing to the very lithe form 
 of one of the Indians. The Indian understood 
 the gesture, and came forward, motioning by 
 signs that he was eager for a trial, if the black 
 was willing. 
 
 " Try him," said the other, ^ and I'll bet you 
 can tumble him over the log yonder. If you do 
 it, I'll give you a plug of tobacco and an extra 
 grog of New England rum." 
 
 At once they joined in locking arms, and it 
 was difficult to tell which was proving most 
 skilful for a while in dodging each the other's 
 feints to throw the other, but once the Indian 
 lifted Sambo off his feet. The black, who knew a 
 trick or two, and what was called the knuckle, 
 or lock-knee trick, by pushing his right knee 
 into the Indian's left leg came near throwing his 
 antagonist, but both feU to the ground together. 
 This drew a loud laugh from all the Indians. 
 This was declared even, and Sambo was ready 
 for another trial. 
 
 " Double the reward," said his backer, *' if you 
 fetch him this time." 
 
 Now all became a scene of excitement. Sambo 
 declared he'd make him measure his length on 
 the ground ; and at it they went again, holding 
 each other at arm's length. They gazed into each 
 
184 BORDER TALES 
 
 other's eyes for a few moments, when the tall 
 Indian again tried to lift Sambo off his feet ; but 
 his move was detected, and Sambo foiled him. 
 He knew his enemy lacked wind, for he was 
 panting, and so he began to tire him out by 
 skirmishes, till by-and-by he made a powerful 
 effort and threw the Indian prone to the ground, 
 with so great a force as to draw from him a 
 groan of pain. 
 
 Allen shouted out, " WeU done, old boy ! you ve 
 conquered ! " 
 
 But the other Indians were mad at this defeat, 
 and setting up a howl, rushed at once forward 
 and seized the black, trying to throw him to the 
 ground. 
 
 There was a good reason why they had chal- 
 lenged the black to this conflict of skill and 
 strength. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 It was plain to the whites that all this manoeu- 
 vring on the part of the Indians meant mischief. 
 The red men only wanted an occasion to slake 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 185 
 
 their thirst for vengeance in the blood of their 
 white foes, and so they made their discomfiture 
 in the wrestling match a pretence for picking a 
 quarrel. 
 
 The black man quickly shook himself free, but 
 others closed in upon him. Allen, seeing that the 
 black was holding his own and tumbling the 
 savages one over another, loudly cheered him ; 
 but Sambo was "getting his mad up," as he 
 called it, seeing they were disposed to pit three 
 or four upon one. With an almost superhuman 
 effort, he threw two of them to the ground, and 
 drawing back a few paces, declared he would 
 fight the, whole of the crew, if they didn't let 
 him alone. 
 
 Allen, above the savage yells of the Indians, 
 bade them "hold off ! " or he would harm some of 
 them. He might as well have whistled to the 
 wind, or, as one said, "have sung psalms to a 
 dead horse 1 " All of them, full of anger at their 
 disappointment, made a dash upon the black at 
 once, determined to seize him. 
 
 "I'U stand by you," said Allen. "If they touch 
 a lock of your wool, I will give them 'Hail, 
 Columbia!'" 
 
 The struggle now became intense, and it 
 seemed doubtful which would win. Allen gave a 
 
186 BORDEB TALES 
 
 powerful Indian a blow which sent him a kiting, 
 head over heels. Then half a dozen sprang upon 
 the brave man, and he had to yield, as they 
 secured him with thongs and bound him fast. 
 Next came the black's time, and after he had 
 felled one or two, he was overpowered and bound 
 likewise. 
 
 Then, in turn, came old Griffith out of the tent, 
 agitated with fear, not for himself, but for his 
 lovely daughter. At once he ran in among 
 them, and tried to calm and quiet the frenzied 
 Indians, but he too might as well have asked the 
 Falls of Niagara to stop their deafening roar. 
 They, in their excitement, were deaf to all 
 entreaty. 
 
 He turned back to where Estelle was, to see 
 how best he could protect her. In her fright she 
 had fallen down in a swoon, and was deadly pale. 
 Her father thought she was dying or dead, and he 
 burst out in tones of lamentation, praying God 
 to spare his dear child. 
 
 He bore her to the air, and was met at the tent 
 door by two or three Indians howling like fiends. 
 But the sight of the poor girl, pale and almost 
 lifeless, made them halt; for death, or its sem- 
 blance, is alike appalling to all human beings, 
 and even animals and domestic birds are startled 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE. 187 
 
 and moved at sight of one of their dead.* 
 Estelle's hand was resting upon the old man's 
 shoulder, and her long hair hung down in wavy 
 folds, nearly to the ground, while her face was 
 as white and transparent as Parian marble. 
 
 Not minding them, the old man was bearing 
 his precious charge along, to bathe her head at 
 a spring of water close by. The Indians, re- 
 covering from their surprise, at once tore her 
 from the old man and bore her away, while they 
 tied her father fast to the ground upon his back. 
 As soon as they had carried their victim a few 
 rods off, they shouted in triumph. 
 
 The men prisoners were at a loss to know 
 what next would turn up, in the misfortune 
 they had met with, and could only wait with 
 patience, as best they could, for some new de- 
 velopment. Allen said the silence was awful. 
 "Give me anything but suspense," added he. 
 " I wonder what next they will do ? " Each one 
 had an opinion to give, and all concluded that the 
 chief having gone away, they would certainly be 
 put to death. 
 
 * Persons may donbt this, thinking the birds and brute 
 creation are dnmb animals and have not reasoning powers. 
 But let any one kill a fowl or chicken by cutting off its head, 
 and if blood is seen by the live fowls they show signs of being 
 frightened, and set up a noise, perhaps saying one to another, 
 ** How barbarous to kill one of our family ! " 
 
188 BORDER TALES 
 
 But none were braver than the darkey. He 
 said, "I s'pose my 'pinion ain't of much ac- 
 count, any way 1 A live nigger arn't wofF much ; 
 much more a dead one ! They can't kill me 
 but once, and a beating don't last long." 
 
 Strange how a little burst of humour, even in 
 danger, seems to cheer up companions in misery. 
 One cracked his jokes on the poor blacky, telling 
 him that the savages might, just as likely as not, 
 raise his hair (meaning a scalping of his wool). 
 The chances of his escaping this painful opera- 
 tion were ten to one in his favour, as the Indians 
 might, possibly, appropriate Sam to themselves, 
 to be of service in helping them to preserve their 
 game of dried venison for the winter. Sam 
 said he would like to be their cook for a day 
 or two. Not that they would appreciate his 
 skill in getting up a good dinner ; but he would 
 like to put in some ingredients, such as wild 
 parsnips in their broth ; but they would not need 
 any more soup, he said, this side of their happy 
 hunting grounds. 
 
 As night drew on, they became resigned to 
 their fate, believing that they were as well pre- 
 pared to die now as at any time, and each 
 believing also that they had done right in killing 
 their enemies, who had tried to kill them. And 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 189 
 
 thus it was they beguiled the weary hours of the 
 the evening, and sank into a quiet repose. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 But sleep, sweet as it is to the weary, was not 
 undisturbed in the tent on Fort Hill. About 
 midnight, Griffith started to get on his feet, at 
 the sound of a piercing cry, but was fast tied 
 down by the thongs which encircled his wrists 
 and ankles. " What is that ? " he exclaimed. 
 
 This roused the black out of a deep sleep, and 
 he cried out, " Fire de Lord, de debbils are coming, 
 sure enough ! " 
 
 " Hush I you lubber," cried Allen ; " it's only a 
 panther or night owl. Indians do not slaughter 
 their victims in the dark ; they prefer the day- 
 light, when they can see and enjoy the writhings 
 of their dying victims." 
 
 Sambo, in his struggle to meet the "debbil," 
 as he supposed, had succeeded in getting one 
 of his paws loose, and asked one of his com- 
 panions in trouble for a knife, so as to set himself 
 entirely free. He put his hand into old Griffith's 
 
190 BOEDER TALES 
 
 pocket and drew out a knife, with which he 
 proceeded to cut the bonds of all, and set them 
 free. The old man bade them remain perfectly 
 quiet. 
 
 At nightfall, the Indians made a fire to cook 
 some squirrels, and after setting a guard to watch 
 the prisoners, they proceeded to devour their 
 evening meal. 
 
 Let us see what had become of the frightened 
 Estelle. After the sortie, she was separated 
 from her friends and carried down into a glen, 
 just where one visiting the place will find the 
 tomb of New York's favourite son, who was a 
 governor of the State, and afterwards a senator 
 and member of the cabinet of the President. 
 Here rude wigwams had been constructed by 
 the savages, and into one of them she was con- 
 veyed. 
 
 One can hardly imagine what fearful thoughts 
 came into her mind, as she reflected upon the 
 chance of a cruel fate awaiting her and her 
 father ! Ah, yes ! and perhaps a lover, too, 
 was in her mind, whom she was never again 
 to behold. 
 
 It was while thinking of her sad condition 
 that she espied a light, and a savage approached, 
 bearing in his hand a lighted pine-knot. He 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 191 
 
 stood over her for a moment, and on her opening 
 her eyes, he addressed her in broken English. 
 This was a surprise indeed. 
 
 She said to him, " Have you come to kill me ? 
 If so, pray be merciful." 
 
 '' No," he said ; " I am come to save you, I 
 am one whom chance has sent to release you 
 and all your friends." 
 
 " Ah ! can you ? will you ? " she exclaimed, as 
 hope now began to animate her breast. 
 
 " I can, and will, as sure as the Great Spirit 
 lives!" 
 
 '' And my father and his companions, too ? " 
 
 " All but one," he replied. '' The council have 
 decided that one of them must die. He has 
 slain so many of the red men that his life is 
 forfeit ; he cannot escape." 
 
 She knew at once whom he meant — it was 
 Bond. 
 
 " The good Lord be with him ! " she ejaculated. 
 "But why cannot you save him, if you will? 
 He slew others only in self-defence." 
 
 " You know not the laws of Indian warfare," 
 he replied. 
 
 "Sure, he will be saved. It is hard to die 
 here in the wilderness, and be buried far from 
 kindred and friends." 
 
192 BOEDER TALES 
 
 " I cannot answer that/' said he. 
 
 Estelle resolved that she, too, must die, if her 
 father must end his days. And the savage, 
 seeing how sorrowful she looked, said he would 
 do all in his power for her, and then left the 
 wigwam. 
 
 The night passed away, while hope and fear 
 alternated in her mind; at length daylight ap- 
 peared. Of the rest, none had slept more soundly 
 than Bond — the most to be pitied of all ; for he 
 had made up his mind, he said, " to die game." 
 
 Soon all were startled by a loud outcry of the 
 natives. Something had happened, but they 
 knew not what it was. The old man looked, 
 and saw something was engaging them besides 
 their prisoners. It was evident that the Indians 
 were preparing for an attack from some foes 
 outside the fort. 
 
 Sambo was the first to discover the barking of 
 a dog, and he knew it meant something ominous. 
 " Do you hear that, massa ? " said he. 
 
 " Yes," one replied ; " that's old Bose, sure as 
 you live." Another, " That's the captain's dog — 
 they have returned." 
 
 All at once the savages rushed into the tent, 
 with tomahawks and knives uplifted to slay 
 their prisoners. They had expected to find their 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 193 
 
 prisoners fast bound, as they had left them; 
 but suddenly they all rose to their feet, and one 
 seized a pole close at hand, with which he kept 
 them at bay. Realizing that the French had 
 attacked the savages outside, they saw hope 
 dawning upon them once more, if they could 
 defend themselves till rescued. The black, with 
 a club, knocked over one Indian, and seizing his 
 tomahawk, made quick work in despatching 
 him. 
 
 The natives, thus baffled, had to beat a sudden 
 retreat ; and at once in rushed a lot of armed 
 men, led on by Le Fort, Walker, and the twin 
 brothers, who had arrived just in the nick of 
 time to save them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The sudden delivery from the very jaws of death 
 is what few experience in life where such dangers 
 threaten, especially on battle-fields or far away 
 from civilization. All were suddenly raised from 
 the depths of despair to a longer lease of life ; 
 and, let us hope, their hearts beat lively, if their 
 
 
 
194 BOBDER TALES 
 
 lips did not express it, with gratitude to "the 
 Giver of every good and perfect gift " for their 
 safety. 
 
 It was said that the darkey indulged in quite 
 an eloquent oration over the dead form of the 
 savage whom he had slain. He said, " You was 
 mighty 'cute, old Injun, now warn't you, comin' 
 in here widout knocking, into our sleepin' apart- 
 ments ? Perhaps, old fellow, your mother never 
 tole you, ' First catch your fish afore you cooks 
 'em ! ' Nebber mind, old chap, I'll gib you a 
 decent funeral ; and mebbe de crows'll come and 
 sing a hymn ober your grave." Sam had heard, 
 evidently, of the old story of "Cock Robin," 
 where one of the birds promised to be " the 
 parson," but wasn't a crow by any means. Then 
 he gave a kick at the Indian's shins in perfect 
 disgust. 
 
 The scenes here recorded were of only a few 
 moments' duration, but how all was changed for 
 them ! It often takes longer to tell of a battle 
 than it does to fight it. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the twin brothers 
 were long in asking after Estelle. Both in one 
 breath demanded of Griffith where she was. 
 " The good Lord only knows," were all the words 
 he could utter. But recovering, he added, " The 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIRE, 195 
 
 savages rose upon us yesterday, and we had to 
 submit. They carried off my child, and she may 
 be dead for aught I know." 
 
 " Which way went they ? " asked the captain, 
 while his brother ran out of the tent the way 
 the Indians had retreated. 
 
 " There's no use chasing them," said Allen ; 
 "they're miles away by this time towards the 
 Cayuga." 
 
 The unfortunate girl had gotten into a quiet 
 repose, when she heard the yells of the demon 
 savages outside her cabin door. She had just 
 time to rise, when five or six rushed in, still 
 howling, and at the sight of them she fell in a 
 swoon upon the ground, feeling that now her 
 time had come. When she came to, she found 
 that she was being carried away by the young 
 Indian who had visited her on the previous 
 evening and promised to save her. 
 
 " Alas ! " she exclaimed, " where am I ? " 
 
 " Safe with one who will not harm you ; not 
 a hair of your head." 
 
 " But father— where is he ? " 
 
 " Safe. They are all gone — fled far away." 
 
 Soon she heard footsteps approaching, and she 
 gladly beheld the form of the twin brother Charlie. 
 Then she knelt on one knee, and thanked the 
 
196 BORDER TALES 
 
 good Lord for her deliverance from the very 
 jaws of death. 
 
 Charlie rapidly informed her of himself and 
 party ; how they had met some French soldiers, 
 and how they had scattered the Indians in time 
 to save her father and all, with the black man. 
 No wonder her heart beat with lively emotions 
 on beholding him whose life she had saved. 
 
 They soon retraced their steps to the fort, where 
 they were surrounded by the released prisoners, 
 Le Fort, her father, and the rest of them. Here 
 was a new revelation as the party met. It goes 
 back to our first chapter. 
 
 "My eyes!" exclaimed Le Fort, '' Diedrich, 
 you here ! Where, in the name of all that's 
 good, did you come from ? " 
 
 "Why, of course, from the Hudson river. Where 
 else could I come from ? Dick Van Buren is 
 dead — your enemy, who hated you so, and would 
 have killed you most certainly — was drowned 
 while trying to swim across the Mohawk. 
 Chance has brought me here to save the life 
 of this young lady, who is a real angel." 
 
 Le Fort looked upon his twin boys with a 
 manly pride, as he thought how mercifully they 
 had been rescued from a watery grave. 
 
 The query of the black man was put to the 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 197 
 
 leader, as to their exodus out of the wilderness 
 into "the Lord's Country," as he called civili- 
 zation in the eastern part of New York. 
 
 After a hearty supper on venison, trout fresh 
 from the lake, and good coffee, a council was 
 held, and the captain said the next morning, 
 bright and early, they would set their faces home- 
 ward. At sound of these stirring words, Sambo 
 threw a somersault and danced as he never did 
 before, declaring he was never so happy in his 
 life. 
 
 That night they all slept as sound as roaches, 
 nothing being near to make them afraid. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The dangers to which Estelle had been exposed, 
 added to the fatigue she had borne, were enough 
 to make her look old and drive away the rose 
 colour of her cheeks. For it has often happened 
 that men and women have had their hair turn 
 almost white in a few hours through a great 
 sorrow or sudden fear. But though her features 
 were assuming a womanly touch, she looked, in 
 
198 BORDER TALES 
 
 the eyes of that party, as a queen of beauty, 
 for all admired her, while at least one must have 
 her. Perhaps it was one of the twin brothers ? 
 We shall see. Her father, too, was justly proud 
 of her, and looked with pride upon the twin 
 brothers, as they both seemed to vie with each 
 other in paying her every attention. 
 
 Among the French party who came in time 
 to release the prisoners was a French officer 
 named La Valliet ; he too became a suitor of the 
 fair American girl. This is a habit with a good 
 many gallant Frenchmen, who manage to fall 
 in love with our beautiful countrywomen, de- 
 claring that none in the world can surpass the 
 handsome American girls. There was an ex- 
 cuse, too, for it was novel and romantic to find 
 one so gifted in mind and beautiful in appear- 
 ance as Estelle, who might have been compared 
 to a rose in the desert. The French officer 
 declared she was as pretty as a fairy, and that 
 he adored her. He had seen belles and women 
 in Paris in ball-rooms and at parties ; but here 
 she shone brightly among nature's charms, and 
 that, too, with little beside nature's adorning. 
 He was continually speaking of her as a floral 
 gem that would shine in .Paris, at the French 
 court, if transplanted on French soil. But he 
 
AROUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 199 
 
 was cautioned to beware how he let his affec- 
 tions become entangled, as one of the young 
 Americo-French twins, whose life she had saved 
 in the forest, was her favoured suitor. But, 
 French-like, he could not imagine that a tawny 
 young man, habited in Indian costume of buck- 
 skin and leggings, could stand any chance with 
 him if he urged his suit. Then he became 
 jealous, and resolved he would win her in spite 
 of any one. 
 
 Le Fort and his friends had made up their 
 minds, as stated, to begin their journey before 
 the French should commence their great battle 
 with the Indians, for this might delay their 
 journey eastward. 
 
 It was known that the Indians had been 
 gathering at Onondaga Hill to attack the 
 French, and they chose Fort Hill as a safe de- 
 fence to abide in and await an attack from the 
 Onondagas and Cayugas. They, however, pro- 
 vided an escort of a few armed men, under La 
 Valliet, which soon set out, skirting the shore of 
 the Skaneatedes Lake. Thus they could recon- 
 noitre the position of the Indians, and report 
 to their commander; and thus he had oppor- 
 tunities which he could avail himself of to let 
 Estelle know how violently he was in love 
 with her. 
 
200 BORDER TALES 
 
 La Valliet told the twin brothers of the com- 
 mission committed to him, and how he was 
 willing to be the escort of the party. They 
 replied that they were obliged to him indeed, 
 but they really feared no danger. But he was 
 determined to go in the same direction, and 
 they could not well get rid of him. 
 
 The first halt in their journey was at the salt 
 springs. Charlie was consulted 'by the French- 
 man as to his knowledge of the various tribes 
 he had met. He bore testimony to the courage, 
 bravery, and skill of all the tribes of the Six 
 Nations among whom he had visited, and he pro- 
 phesied long and cruel warfare before they could 
 be subdued, if at all. But La Valliet thought 
 that this caution reflected upon the valour of 
 the French, imagining the savages to be only 
 brutes, with instincts, but hardly gifted with 
 reasoning faculties. He even went so far as to 
 call his companion a half-civilized person. The 
 youth flashed a look of indignation in return 
 for this insult, and felt tempted to draw his 
 knife; but he kept cool, saying, "Perhaps you 
 had better try me." 
 
 This sudden outburst of passion startled the 
 rest of the officers, as the young man moved 
 away. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE. 201 
 
 ''Ah/' said the Frenchman, ''you no get off 
 in that way. I shall chastise you, I shall." 
 
 The reply he got was this : " You call your- 
 selves the Grand Nation. If you want my opinion 
 of an average Frenchman, Td say he's a cross 
 between a tiger and a monkey ; so put that in 
 your pipe and smoke it, if you like." 
 
 The Frenchman had fought duels at home, and 
 his rank would suffer in reputation if he did not 
 resent an insult, even from a civilian. All this 
 trouble was the effect of bad temper, added to La 
 Valliet's fit of jealousy. 
 
 Charlie did not think he would show any 
 pluck, but he was mistaken, for La Valliet at 
 once followed him — to " settle their hash," as 
 Sambo called it. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Ned had not gone far from the presence of the 
 French commander, when he met old Allen, the 
 sailor, and at once informed him that a storm 
 was brewing between himself and the French 
 captain, who now came up and demanded what 
 
202 BORDER TALES 
 
 he wanted. At this Allen spoke up and said, 
 " Perhaps my room here is better than my com- 
 pany ? " 
 
 " No/' replied his friend. '' This fellow has 
 used language personally insulting to myself, and 
 he must retract it." 
 
 " Hold ! " said Allen, turning to the Frenchman, 
 " I rescued this boy from a watery grave, and I'll 
 see fair play, you may depend upon it." 
 
 " I do not know you, sir," said the Frenchman. 
 " Who are you ? " 
 
 " Well, I am an old salt, a tar, if you want to 
 know, and can pitch such chaps as you into the 
 middle of next week, if occasion should offer. I'd 
 like to know who yon are ? " 
 
 " Sir," said he, drawing himself up, '' I serve 
 the King of France, and I find it necessary to 
 chastise some of these Americans, who have no 
 royal blood in them." 
 
 " Ho, ho ! " replied the tar, " here's a go. I hap- 
 pened to be at the battle of Tripoli and Algiers, 
 and the way I laid the cat-o'-nine tails over those 
 refractory Turks couldn't be beat. Besides, I've 
 whipped a live catamount — chased a black bear 
 through the woods, and when the old customer 
 got on top of a log, I caught him by the tail, till 
 he growled at me and I let him go. I was with 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 203 
 
 General Putnam when he stole two cubs from 
 that cave and made a successful retreat." 
 
 While this parley was going on, the rest of the 
 officers, with Le Fort, father of the youth in- 
 sulted, drew near, and demanded what it all 
 meant. 
 
 La Valliet seemed to wish to avoid his com- 
 panions, and speaking a few words in a low tone, 
 walked off, followed by Charlie. 
 
 The officers who remained with Charlie's friends 
 said to William (the captain twin brother), " Blood 
 will have to be shed, according to our French code 
 of honour, for your brother's language was very 
 irritating," 
 
 "Well, so be it," replied the other; "my 
 brother is plucky and will not shirk the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 '' If he should," said Allen, " I am an old seaman 
 and will take his place." 
 
 " Never mind," said the captain. '' I'll answer 
 for him ; he's not a drop of a coward's blood in 
 his whole skin." 
 
 Le Fort, feeling all a parent's anxiety, was bent 
 on interfering, for he loved his new-found son too 
 well to run any risk of losing him. So he rushed 
 forward, followed by the darkey, and they soon 
 heard the sound of blows at a short distance from 
 
204 BORDER TALES 
 
 them. Sam was the first to find the couple, and 
 he stopped short on beholding them, as they 
 were fighting desperately. 
 
 The black cheered his master on, and was 
 more than half inclined to have a hand in him- 
 self, but that would never do. It seemed as 
 though one or both must die, as their knives 
 glittered in the light of the moon. 
 
 Le Fort rushed forward as though he would 
 stand between them, but they were too close 
 together, and he demanded of them to desist. 
 But it was too late ; La Valliet had received a 
 wound, and fell as if lifeless to the earth. 
 
 Then Estelle, having an inkling of what was 
 going on, came upon the scene, just as the French 
 officer fell, when she saw that her lover was also 
 wounded, and at sight of his blood fell down in 
 a fainting fit. 
 
 The companions of La Valliet soon gathered 
 some sticks, formed a litter, and bore him away 
 to their quarters. 
 
 Ned was not badly wounded — only some cuts 
 on his arms which would be scars for life in 
 what he called " an honourable warfare." 
 
 On the other hand, Allen and the black were 
 exultant, showing their approval in an amusing 
 way, because their side had triumphed. 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIBE. 205 
 
 " CufFee ! " said Allen, " what do you think of 
 onr brave boy ? He hasn't shown the white 
 feather, as Mons. Crapean thought he would, 
 eh?" 
 
 " Not much," replied the ebony sailor, as he 
 showed his white ivory teeth, grinning like a 
 ''Cheshire cat." "Gorra, massa, how he did let 
 daylight into him ! He no more eat frog s legs 
 for he supper." 
 
 But let us not be too cruel. He was in love 
 with Estelle and may be pardoned for picking a 
 quarrel. We all know how many great wars 
 have grown out of the troubles in which women 
 have had a hand. The spilling of a glass of wine 
 on a queen's dress caused a war of great magni- 
 tude ; and to the Empress Eugenie is attributed 
 Napoleon's declaring war with Germany. 
 
 The surgeon who belonged to the expedition 
 carefully examined the wounds and dressed them. 
 All, even the Americans, were glad to learn that 
 they would not prove fatal. 
 
 The next day, it was agreed, was to be their 
 last in the Far West, and so they retired early to 
 their bivouac fires, to start with the early dawn. 
 
206 BORDER TALES 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 At midnight Griffith awoke and took a look out 
 of the door of the tent where his dear child 
 Estelle was sleeping. He saw the two sentinels 
 meet on their rounds and cry, " All's well ! " 
 From the head-quarters of the commander he 
 could see a light burning, for La Yalliet was 
 lying in a feverish state, cursing now and then 
 " the Yankee," as if his mind was still dwelling 
 on the awful conflict. Griffith's tent was only a 
 few rods from the place where others of the party 
 had sought shelter under an old Indian wiekup. 
 He carefully looked into it to see if all was as it 
 should be. He found Allen and the black man 
 wide awake and spinning yams of olden times 
 on the Hudson. 
 
 By-and-by Sambo started up and exclaimed, 
 " What dat dur ? Massa, didn't you hear a 
 noise ? " 
 
 " No ; all I hear is a tree-toad, which always 
 makes that noise when it's going to rain. I did 
 hear a whip-poor-will a few moments ago." 
 
 All of a sudden, the reports of two pistols were 
 
ABOUND TEE CAMP FIRE, 207 
 
 heard near the French camp, and this was fol- 
 lowed as usual by those yells which, once heard 
 from savage throats, can never be mistaken or 
 forgotten. It is the cry of fell revenge, and 
 means death without mercy. The Indians were 
 almost as thick as leaves, as Sambo said ; they 
 seemed to swarm like bees around the French, 
 after picking off the sentinels, so near, and yet 
 no previous alarm had been given of their ap- 
 proach. 
 
 The wily savages had adopted a new plan to 
 pick off the sentinels. In the woods were wild 
 hogs running about, and the Indians and whites 
 were glad to hunt and kill them for a good roast. 
 Well, two of the Indians, in the darkness which 
 followed when the moon passed under a cloud, 
 crawled up softly and stealthily among the 
 leaves, on their bellies, quite up to the guards, 
 grunting like the pigs, and thus deceived them ! 
 The soldiers rushed out of their shelter, and, in 
 the confusion of the moment, many of them were 
 slain by the infuriated savages. The war-paint 
 on their faces indicated a determination to ex- 
 terminate their foes. 
 
 The French had gone to their slumbers little 
 dreaming of what awaited them. They sup- 
 posed in a year, or maybe a less time, they could 
 
208 BORDER TALES 
 
 conquer the refractory Indians, and be recalled to 
 la belle France with honours won in battle, 
 and meet again their beloved friends and rela- 
 tives in their home of the vine and the olive ! 
 But, alas! none of them were ever to hear 
 again the sweet voices of little children, or the 
 hum of the spinning-wheel, found everywhere 
 in the homes of the peasantry ; for their bones 
 were to lie bleaching on the soil of a foreign 
 land, or be buried far from all they held dear 
 in life ! 
 
 Of course the light in the tent of the wounded 
 Le Valliet first drew their attention, and thither 
 they wended their steps. The watcher, who was 
 standing at the head of the prostrate officer, was 
 the first to be despatched ; and as one of the 
 savages, who was the first to enter, threw a 
 tomahawk at La Valliet, he discharged his two 
 pistols at the heads of the two nearest him; 
 and these were the sounds which were heard by 
 Grifiith and the others. 
 
 The French soldiers, as soon as they could 
 recover from the panic into which they had been 
 thrown, at once rallied, and a deadly warfare 
 began. For a long time the Indians seemed to be 
 on the point of success. Anon they would give 
 way under the galling fire of the old cavalry or 
 
 i 
 
AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, 209 
 
 horse pistols of the French, who used their sabres 
 too with a deadly effect. The temporary shelters 
 of the soldiers were no barriers to protect them, 
 so the fight became a dreadful hand-to-hand 
 encounter, causing blood to flow on every side. 
 The moon broke forth in a full blaze, and thus 
 gave light to distinguish friend from foe. The 
 orders of the French commander rang out clear, 
 and he animated his soldiers with the cry, " Down 
 with the villains ! Death to every savage ! " 
 
 As we may imagine, the quarters of Estelle 
 and her party were close by, and they were soon 
 aware of the dangers surrounding them. A 
 hurried consultation was held as to what was 
 best to be done. But they too were soon dis- 
 covered, and the rascals, maddened by blood, 
 were only bent on shedding that of every white, 
 friend or foe. 
 
 The first to meet the savage who rushed toward 
 them was Sambo, who caught the Indian round 
 his waist, and lifting him off" his feet, threw him 
 upon the ground with a violence that stunned 
 him ; then, jumping upon him, drove his breath 
 clean out of his body. 
 
 This daring feat of the black hero nerved 
 Allen to pitch in also, and see how many he could 
 lay low. He struck out right and left, felling 
 
 p 
 
210 BORDEB TALES 
 
 many a savage to the ground. But just as he had 
 fought and overcome a brave warrior, another 
 Indian came up behind him and struck him on 
 the head with a tomahawk, causing him to fall 
 and die without a struggle. 
 
 This was a sad sight for poor black Sam, who 
 had, with him, sailed across the Spanish main, 
 fighting pirates and always victorious together. 
 But to be cut down by brutes was too much for 
 the poor fellow to behold without stirring his 
 heart deeply in sympathy for his old comrade, 
 whose voice he never more would hear upon the 
 earth. Dropping a few tears over his fallen friend, 
 he roused himself, bent on revenging him who 
 could not revenge himself, though his own brave 
 right arm was hanging by his side, powerless. 
 
 The warfare had now raged at least half an 
 hour, the whole body of whites were completely 
 surrounded, and the savages had the advantages 
 mostly on their side in the hand-to-hand en- 
 counter. At a distance, the soldiers were sure 
 to win, as their rifles were more than a match 
 for the Indians' weapons of bows and arrows, 
 knives and tomahawks. 
 
 The American captain looked for his brother, 
 whom he had missed in the general fray. Meet- 
 ing Sambo, he saw him ready to pounce upon 
 
ABOUND THE CAMP FIBE. 211 
 
 the slayer of his companion. With an iron grasp 
 Sambo seized the wretch, and each gave the 
 other a deadly blow, both falling at the same 
 time to rise no more. 
 
 All at once the whole scene changed. The tall 
 chief, who commanded the Indians, appeared with 
 the twin brother upon the scene. The loud voice 
 of Thay-an-da-na-ga was heard bidding a parley. 
 This the savages obeyed. They knew not what 
 it meant, but none dared disobey the voice of 
 the chief. 
 
 We all know that one of the twins had been the 
 adopted son of the chief, and he had sought and 
 found him in time to reach the scene of the 
 strife, and thus save Estelle, her father, and all 
 except poor Allen and Sambo, who had lived and 
 died together, brave and noble and deeply 
 lamented. 
 
 TO CONCLUDE. 
 
 As the sun rolled up next morning, as big as a 
 great cart-wheel, shining down upon that bloody 
 battle-field, it filled them all with horror. The 
 natives were the conquerors, for not a solitary 
 soldier was left to tell the tale. 
 
 Our friends, however, were seen, or might have 
 
212 BORDER TALES 
 
 been seen, threading their way through the 
 forests and over the hills of the Onondaga and 
 Oneida, where no woodman's axe had yet been 
 heard, and the stillness of the wild woods was 
 unbroken, save by the cry of the whip-poor-will, 
 the eagle, the hawk, or wild heron, or the more 
 terrible howling of wild beasts in search of prey. 
 
 To-day, the same scene shows the progress of 
 religion and civilization, where the cattle graze 
 upon a thousand hills, and where are homes filled 
 with hearts and hands of children of those noble 
 pioneers, who were the hardy settlers of the early 
 day. Then all was toil and struggle with poverty 
 and self-denial to reclaim the wilderness and 
 make it blossom as the rose. 
 
 After a solemn committal to the earth of Allen 
 and the faithfiil African, the party took their 
 leave, never to return. 
 
 A few years later, a lovely farmhouse, with 
 barns full, and stacks of hay, and with flocks and 
 herds surrounding, could be seen on the banks of 
 Connecticut river, and close by the farmhouse 
 and dairy was an 
 
 •' Old oaken bncket, the iron-bound bucket. 
 The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well." 
 
 A double wedding was celebrated at the nup- 
 tials of Estelle and her twin lover; while the 
 
AROUND THE GAMP FIRE, 213 
 
 other, the handsome captain, had somehow found 
 a charming mate among New England's fair 
 daughters, who had consented to be a party to 
 make complete the happiness of our heroes, the 
 Jacob and Esau of modern times. 
 
 Whoever has been a guest of the olden time, 
 not too proud to eat in a New England kitchen, 
 will readily recall the surroundings of a New 
 England wedding. Cake and cider, baked pork 
 and beans, old fashioned dough-nuts and crullers, 
 homely as we may regard them, were then neces- 
 sary adjuncts of every entertainment where 
 festive joy reigned. 
 
 What the future life of Estelle was we can- ' 
 not tell. But it was said by an old lady that 
 " she and her husband lived in peace, and died 
 full of honours, leaving a noble lot of boys and 
 girls, some of whom became ministers and lawyers 
 and doctors, and the females were the mothers of 
 governors and statesmen." 
 
 The writer ranks himself among them. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 L PAUL JONES'S GKEAT VICTORY. 
 II. DAYY CROCKETT. 
 III. FALL OF THE ALAMO, IN TEXAS. 
 
I. 
 
 PAUL JONES'S GREAT VICTORY. 
 
 This remarkable man's name was simply John Paul, 
 that of Jones having been assumed in after-life for 
 some unknown reason. At the age of twelve he was 
 apprenticed to a merchant of Whitehaven who was 
 engaged in the American trade. His first voyage was to 
 Virginia, where his elder brother was established as a 
 planter. Some time after, we hear of him as engaged 
 in the slave-trade, but this he abandoned in disgust. 
 Subsequently he made several voyages to the West 
 Indies, and, it is said, accumulated a fortune by his 
 successful speculations. 
 
 At the commencement of the Revolution Jones 
 offered his services to the United States Government, 
 and received a commission as lieutenant in the navy, 
 December 22, 1775. For a time he served in a sub- 
 ordinate capacity, but his ability and daring became so 
 conspicuous that within ten months he was placed in 
 command of an expedition consisting of two vessels, 
 the Alfred and the Providence. For the next three 
 years we hear of him in all parts of the Atlantic coast 
 and on the shores of Scotland, where he harassed the 
 coasting trade, and also made a most daring and suc- 
 cessful descent upon the town of Whitehaven. 
 
 In 1779 an important expedition was fitted out under 
 the joint auspices of the King of France and the 
 American Commissioners, and placed under the com- 
 
218 APPENDIX, 
 
 mand of Jones. The squadron consisted of fiYQ vessels ; 
 and though four of them were French, they were to be 
 considered as American ships, to be governed by the 
 rules of the American navy during the cruise. The 
 commissions of the officers were given by Dr. Franklin ; 
 and before the expedition sailed, the name of the Duras^ 
 Jones's flag-ship, was changed to that of Bonhomme 
 Richard, as a compliment to the great philosopher. 
 His crew of 375 men was a medley made up of repre- 
 sentatives of almost every nation in Europe, and even 
 Malays. The ship herself was an indifferent vessel, 
 and equipped in a very inefficient manner. On her 
 main or gun deck she mounted twenty-eight twelve- 
 pounders, and on her quarter-deck and forecastle four- 
 teen nine-pounders, making an armament of forty-two 
 guns in all. Dissatisfied with this, Jones caused twelve 
 ports to be cut in the room below, where six old eighteen- 
 pounders were mounted. This expedient, however, did 
 not add to the efficiency of the ship, but, on the con- 
 trary, produced the most disastrous consequences. 
 
 At the close of July, Jones sailed from L'Orient, on 
 the coast of France, steered for the western shores of 
 Ireland, and appeared off Kerry. From thence he 
 ranged round the north of Scotland until he came 
 opposite the Frith of Forth, when he directed his course 
 toward Flamborough Head. By the middle of Septem- 
 ber twenty-six vessels had been captured or destroyed 
 by the squadron, and very great alarm created upon 
 the east coast of England. On the 23rd of the same 
 month Jones fell in with the fleet from the Baltic, 
 under the protection of the Serapis, commanded by 
 Captain Pearson, and the Countess of Scarhoroughy 
 commanded by Captain Piercy. Before noon Captain 
 Pearson received intelligence from the bailiffs of Scar- 
 borough of the squadron under Jones being on the 
 coast, and between twelve and one the enemies were in 
 each other's sight. Signal for general chase was made 
 
PAUL Jones's great victory. 219 
 
 by Jones, and the ship Alliance, being the fastest of 
 the squadron, took the lead. Owing, however, to the 
 cowardice or mutinous spirit of her commander, Captain 
 Landais, on seeing the strength of the English fleet 
 she immediately stood off at a safe distance. About 
 half-past seven in the evening the Richard came up 
 with the Serapis, and closed with her upon her quarter- 
 deck to about half pistol-shot. The weather was serene 
 and beautiful, the water perfectly smooth, and the wind 
 light at south-west, both ships heading to the northward. 
 It was also full moon, and Flamborough Head less 
 than a league distant, so that the piers of Scarborough 
 were covered with spectators eager to witness the 
 combat. The Serapis now hailed the Richard, and 
 was answered. A few unimportant questions passed, 
 when broadsides were exchanged, and two of the old 
 eighteen-pounders in the Richard^ s gun-room burst, 
 blowing up the deck above, and killing or wounding a 
 number of the men stationed at them. This part of the 
 battery was then abandoned, and the ports closed. A 
 close and heavy cannonade was now maintained by both 
 ships for about an hour, when they fouled each other, 
 and for a few moments the fighting ceased. Captain 
 Pearson then hailed the Richard, and asked if she had 
 struck her colours. "I have not yet begun to fight,'* 
 was the reply of Jones, and the action was immediately 
 renewed. 
 
 Captain Pearson's vessel had considerable superiority 
 over the Richard in regard to her working power, and 
 repeatedly gained advantages, in spite of the efforts of 
 Jones to prevent it. Finally, to put an end to this, Jones 
 aimed at laying his ship athwart of the other. Though 
 he did not succeed in his wish, yet, as the bowsprit of 
 the Serapis ran between his poop and mizzenmast, he 
 seized the opportunity of lashing the two vessels to- 
 gether ; and the wind driving the head of the English 
 ship against the bow of the Rdckard, they came so close 
 
220 APPENDIX, 
 
 fore and aft that the muzzles of their guns touched each 
 other's sides. 
 
 In this position the action continued from half -past 
 eight until half-past ten in the evening, each party- 
 fighting with the utmost desperation. As the conflict 
 waxed warmer, they fought hand to hand with pike, 
 pistol, and cutlass, and blood flowed freely. Already 
 the Richard had been pierced by several eighteen-pound 
 balls between wind and water j her twelve-pounders 
 had been silenced, and she was commencing to fill. 
 Only three nine-pounders kept up a cannonade ; but 
 the marines in the round-top sent volleys of bullets 
 with deadly aim down upon the struggling Englishmen. 
 Ignited combustibles were scattered over the Sera])is, 
 and at one time she was on fire in a dozen places. The 
 Serajpis also suffered much from the guns of the Alli- 
 ance, which came up from her position of safety and 
 deliberately poured forth her volleys indiscriminately 
 on friend and foe. About ten o'clock the cry was 
 raised on board the Richard that she was beginning 
 to sink, and her carpenter released over a hundred 
 prisoners, a part of whom succeeded in getting aboard 
 the Serapis. The gunner also, alarmed at the quantity 
 of water in the vessel, ran aft on the poop, crying for 
 quarter. He was abruptly silenced by Jones. But the 
 situation of the Richard was apparently hopeless. She 
 was almost in a sinking condition, many of her guns 
 were disabled, a large number of her prisoners were at 
 large, the Alliance was deliberately firing into her, and 
 some of the petty officers had set up the cry of fire. 
 
 Jones was advised to surrender, but repudiated the 
 thought. The prisoners were compelled to work at the 
 pumps, the three surviving guns kept up their fire, and 
 the action was continued under Jones's personal super- 
 intendence. At length the 8eraj)is, overcome with the 
 fury of her enemy, surrendered. Captain Pearson, who 
 had nailed his flag to the mast, became convinced of 
 
PAUL Jones's great victory, 221 
 
 the folly of prolonging the engagement, and struck his 
 colours with his own hand. When the moment came 
 for the gallant Englishman to deliver his sword to 
 Commodore Jones, whom he regarded as a rebel and a 
 pirate, it is related that he said, "I cannot, sir, but 
 feel much mortification at the idea of surrendering my 
 sword to a man who has fought me with a rope around 
 his neck." Jones received the weapon, and immediately 
 returning it, said, " You have fought gallantly, sir, and 
 I hope your king will give you a better ship." Captain 
 Pearson was afterward knighted as a reward for his 
 conduct on the occasion. The story is told that, upon 
 hearing of the event, Jones remarked, " He deserves it ; 
 and if I fall in with him again, I will make a lord of 
 him." 
 
 Both the Serapis and the Richard had suffered much 
 during the engagement, but the latter was a complete 
 wreck, and the seven feet of water which she had in 
 her hold upon the conclusion of the combat kept con- 
 stantly increasing. She was on fire in two places, her 
 quarters on the lower deck were driven in, the whole of 
 her main battery was dismounted, and she was cut to 
 pieces in the most extraordinary manner. The after- 
 part of the ship, in line with the guns of the Serapis, 
 was so completely demolished that the upper deck was 
 only sustained by the ruins of the framework, some 
 parts of which had been missed by the shot. It being 
 considered impossible to convey her into port, the 
 wounded were removed to the 8erapis, and, after a 
 short attempt to keep her afloat by means of the pumps, 
 she was allowed to go down in the deep waters off 
 Bridlington Bay. Commodore Jones, with the remains 
 of his flying squadron and prizes, made for Holland, 
 and on the 3rd of October anchored off the Texel. The 
 prizes taken and ransomed by the Bonhomme Richard 
 during her cruise were estimated at the sum of £40,000. 
 
 Upon the arrival of Jones at Holland, the British 
 
222 APPENDIX, 
 
 minister at the Hague applied to the States-General for 
 an order delivering up the Serapis and Scarborough, 
 the latter having surrendered at the same time as the 
 Serapis, together with Jones and his men. Happily 
 the Dutch authorities refused to interfere, for they felt 
 a secret friendship for the struggling Americans. By a 
 diplomatic trick they also avoided trouble with Great 
 Britain, and Commodore Jones, instead of being con- 
 veyed as a pirate to England, was soon upon the ocean 
 as commander of the Alliance, the captain of that 
 vessel having been dismissed the service on account of 
 his conduct during the famous combat. Jones's action 
 with the Serapis gave him great eclat in Europe and 
 America, and no subsequent action ever dimmed his 
 fame. Louis XVI. gave him a gold-mounted sword, 
 bearing upon its blade the words : Vindicati maris 
 I/iidovicus XVL, remunerator strenuo vindici. This 
 inscription was surrounded by the emblems of America 
 and France. Louis also created him Knight of the 
 Order of Merit. In 1781 he sailed for America, and 
 here further honours were heaped upon him. General 
 Washington wrote him an exceedingly complimentary 
 letter, and Congress gave him a special vote of thanks. 
 Eight years later, the same body ordered a gold medal 
 to be struck and presented to the *^ Chevalier John Paul 
 Jones." One side bore a portrait of the hero, and the 
 other a view of the engagement by which his fame was 
 won. 
 
 At the close of the war, Jones sailed for France, 
 empowered to negotiate for the recovery of prize-money 
 in different parts of Europe. This service rendered, he 
 accepted the position of rear-admiral in the Russian 
 navy, and on the occasion of a difficulty between that 
 power and the Turks, acquitted himself in such a 
 manner that he received from the Empress Catherine 
 the ribbon of St. Anne. He was disappointed, however, 
 in not obtaining the command of the fleet in the Black 
 
DAVY CROCKETT, 223 
 
 Sea, and a quarrel with the admiral, Prince Nassau, 
 brought him into such disgrace at court that he retired 
 from the Russian service. A pension was promised 
 from the Russian Government, but it was never paid, 
 and the great naval commander retired to Paris, where 
 he lived in poverty and neglect. His death occurred 
 on the 18th of July, 1792, but the place of his burial 
 is unknown. A commission from the American Govern- 
 ment, appointing him agent to treat with Algiers, 
 arrived too late to find him among the living. 
 
 II. 
 DAVY CROCKETT. 
 
 A Sketch of his Life — His Adventures with Indians, and 
 Great Reputation as a Bear-Hunter — His Acts in 
 Congress. 
 
 Davy Ceockett was a self-made man ; and although 
 his example cannot be followed by our American 
 youth, because no such circumstances can possibly arise 
 in our history as those which attended his birth, youth, 
 and manhood, yet still boys may learn from his ex- 
 ample that our best and most enterprising men have 
 had little to favour their rise in the world, and much 
 to hinder their advancement. 
 
 An old saying is current in our literature, which 
 originated with our hero — 
 
 *' Be sure you're right, and then go ahead ! " 
 
 David Crockett, of East Tennessee, was a nondescript 
 of human nature — neither civilized nor savage. Like 
 Boone, Kenton, Sam Dale, etc., he was a man of cir- 
 cumstances. Had he lived in polished society, he 
 
224 APPENDIX, 
 
 would have been a popular man of the world. Brought 
 up in the settlements strung along the Southern Indian 
 border, he was a popular man of the woods. 
 
 Davy was the fifth child, of six sons and three 
 daughters. His father, half squatter, half settler, led 
 the restless life of his class, trying his hand at a dozen 
 things and succeeding in none. The children consti- 
 tuted a loving family, nevertheless — sure evidence that 
 the mother was a loving woman. Though rude and 
 uncultivated, they were honest and true, which is more 
 than can be said of many families who sport an 
 escutcheon. 
 
 Davy, at an early date, had to " do " for himself. 
 Born about 1780, he was yet a lad when the first Creek 
 war desolated the Tennessee settlements. Then his 
 grandparents were both butchered in their cabin home 
 by the Indians, who had been badly treated by the 
 whites in the neighbourhood. His uncle Joseph was 
 wounded, and his uncle James, a mute, was carried off 
 a prisoner, to be recovered seventeen years afterwards. 
 
 Such were the boy's early recollections. He soon 
 became familiar with forest life, but grew up at the 
 settlements, labouring at whatever ofifered for an honest 
 living, farming, droving, teaming, etc. He ran away 
 from his home to escape a severe whipping for refusal 
 to go to school. Then came his first real tussle with 
 the world, and a '* rough and tumble" it was, such as 
 boys nowadays know but little of, or such as. if they 
 had to go through it, would leave them bad habits 
 and broken characters. 
 
 When the second Creek war broke out in 1818, 
 David was a married man, having two sons ; but he 
 soon enlisted, and won fame as a scout. In the several 
 battles of the war he participated, fighting with the 
 heroism and skill of the true borderman. But he tired 
 of the service, of its dreadful marches and short 
 supplies of everything needful, and returned home. 
 
DAVT CROCKETT. 225 
 
 near the war's close, fully satisfied to " have no more of 
 sich doin's." 
 
 Crockett's extraordinary political career may be said 
 to have commenced with his election to the colonelcy of 
 a militia regiment in Giles county, where he then had 
 "stuck his stakes." 
 
 Davy was popular, apparently, because he was 
 ignorant ; he was one of " the people," and this popu- 
 larity soon sent him to the Legislature (1822), a 
 member from Giles and Hickman counties. His 
 ignorance was such that he did not know what the 
 word "judiciary" meant. 
 
 A " great fresh " made Crockett a poor man by 
 washing away his mills. He gave up everything to his 
 creditors, and moved into the wilderness of North-west 
 Tennessee, on the Ohio river. In that game-haunted 
 region he spent the happiest years of his life. The 
 woods and breaks were full of " meat," and there 
 occurred the numerous adventures with bears which 
 rendered Crockett famous as a hunter of ugly beasts. 
 
 But even in that wilderness the man's own political 
 popularity followed him, and, in spite of himself, he was 
 nominated (1823) by the people who had gathered at 
 the little town of Jackson, forty miles away from his 
 past home. This nomination was, by the three oppos- 
 ing candidates, regarded as a burlesque ; but Davy, 
 leaving his retiracy, went into the canvass so earnestly 
 that he was elected. His remarkable speeches and odd 
 sayings, and his great reputation as a bear-hunter, all 
 told so powerfully in his favour that his more intelligent 
 competitors were "nowhar." 
 
 Crockett was now a public man. His popularity was 
 not lessened by his two winters in the Legislature, 
 where his hunter's garb, his queer talk, and his down- 
 right honesty made him conspicuous. It is not sur- 
 prising, therefore, that he should have turned his face 
 toward Washington, by running for Congress in 1824. 
 
 Q 
 
226 APPENDIX. 
 
 He was beaten, however, by two votes only, by his rich 
 and influential opponent, the then Congress man. 
 
 He resolved to "pick his flint and try it again," after 
 two years, when election time came on once more. 
 During that two years he hunted much of the time. 
 In this perilous pastime he found his greatest enjoyment 
 as well as profit, for the meat constituted the family's 
 main reliance for food, while the skins and oil were sold 
 for money with which to purchase " store stuif." The 
 stories of these prolonged hunts are exciting enough. 
 His skill, courage, and power of endurance made him 
 more than a match for the ferocious brutes, many of 
 which weighed over 600 pounds each. In one year's 
 time (1824-25) he killed 105 bears. 
 
 Davy had to give over his bear-hunting, however. 
 In the summer of 1827 he contested the canvass for 
 Congress against his old competitor and a wealthy and 
 influential citizen, beating both by a large majority. 
 
 His early Congressional career was marked by 
 devotion to the " Jackson party's " interests and 
 principles, but never would he sacrifice his sturdy 
 independence at the behest of his politicians. He was 
 re-elected in 1829 by an overwhelming vote. But, 
 during his second term, he sternly set his face against 
 Jackson's Indian bill, as it was called, and this secured 
 his defeat in the canvass of 1831 by a very small 
 majority. His third canvass taught him what a dirty 
 thing politics is — tainting every man's moral nature (if 
 he has any moral nature to taint) who becomes a tool of 
 political tricksters or an office-hunter. 
 
 A fourth canvass, in 1833, resulted in a dead set 
 being made against him by the Jackson men. Jackson 
 then literally owned the Tennessee Legislature ; so, to 
 kill off Crockett, the Legislature re-districted the State, 
 but all to no purpose. Davy's extraordinary popularity 
 carried him over all intrigue and money, and he took 
 his seat in the session of 1833-34, a strong, because 
 wholly unfettered, man. 
 
DAVY CROCKETT, 227 
 
 Despite his early ignorance, Crockett became a power 
 as a man. He was shrewd, intelligent by nature, full 
 of ready wit, which he used like a weapon, studious to 
 get at the merits of every question, and perfectly fearless 
 in expressing his convictions or wishes. 
 
 This independence, in those days of intense partisan- 
 ship and detestable corruption, was so rare a virtue as to 
 render him doubly noted ; and when, in the spring of 
 1834, he made his well-remembered "Northern Tour," 
 he had a " real triumphal procession tugging on behind 
 all the way." His reception on that tour by the Whigs 
 of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, etc., reads like an 
 odd romance. Everywhere thousands of people turned 
 out to see and hear the great hunter. It w^as an ovation 
 of which the honest backwoodsman was justly proud. 
 His speeches and stories became the " town's talk," and 
 were copied in every paper in the land. Crockett's 
 joke-books and almanacks were immensely popular for 
 years after. 
 
 In the closely and peculiarly contested canvass for 
 Congress in 1835, Crockett was beaten, the Jackson 
 party leaving no artifice or dodge untried which could 
 impair his popularity. He was beaten by fraud, now 
 very openly used. This defeat greatly mortified Colonel 
 Crockett, and disgusted'with politics, and broken in for- 
 tune by his long inattention to his own private affairs, he 
 resolved to leave Tennessee altogether, and strike for 
 Texas, whose struggles for independence were then 
 enlisting the sympathies of the United States. Eejected 
 by his own State, he could yet command glory in a 
 higher and a nobler cause. It was a resolve worthy 
 of a noble soul. Alas ! that Santa Anna's blood-dyed 
 hands had the power to drive to butchery such a hero. 
 
 Bidding adieu to his many friends, and tearing himself 
 from the embraces of wife and children, whom he loved 
 with all the tenderness of his soul, he started (October, 
 1835) overland for San Antonio. His journey was 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 long and exciting, full of the strangest episodes and 
 adventures. As related in his remarkable autobio- 
 graphy, it reads like the invention of a romance writer. 
 He finally reached the Texas garrison of the Alamo, at 
 Bexar, on the San Antonio river, where the brave Colonel 
 Travis and the renowned Colonel Bowie were awaiting 
 the assault of Santa Anna's army, 1600 strong, then 
 coming to redeem the defeats of General Cos, from 
 whom San Antonio and the fortress called the Alamo 
 had been wrenched by the Texan patriots (December 
 10.) 
 
 This force, under immediate command of Santa Anna, 
 reached the vicinity of Bexar late in February, 1839, 
 when a series of bloody struggles followed, until at last 
 the heroic Texans were wholly driven into the works. 
 The Alamo was assaulted on the morning of March 6th, 
 and when finally captured, only six of the garrison of 
 150 were left alive, Crockett one of that number. 
 " He stood alone in the angle of the fort, the barrel of 
 his shattered rifle in his right hand ; in his left his large 
 bowie-knife, dripping blood. He had a frightful gash 
 across his forehead, while around him were a complete 
 barrier of twenty Mexicans, lying pell-mell, dead and 
 dying." 
 
 An appalling sight truly, but one made more appalling 
 by the scene which soon followed — the slaughter of 
 the six living men by Santa Anna's orders. Crockett 
 and his companions, having surrendered as prisoners of 
 war to General Castrillon, were led to Santa Anna, who 
 at once ordered them to be put to the sword. "Colonel 
 Crockett, seeing the act of treachery, instantly sprang 
 like a tiger at the ruffian chief ; but, before he could 
 reach him, a dozen swords were sheathed in his indomi- 
 table heart, and he fell and died without a groan, a 
 frown on h.s brow and a smile of scorn and defiance on 
 his lips." 
 
 Out of such scenes of carnage and martyrdom did 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO. 229 
 
 Texas finally emerge into the glory of independence. 
 She truly owes a monument to these grand souls who 
 perished in her cause ; and to none more than to the 
 chivalric David Crockett. 
 
 III. 
 
 FALL OF THE ALAMO, 
 
 San Antonio, Texas. 
 
 The fall of the Alamo, whose tragic results are so 
 well known, was an action whose details, so far as the 
 final assault is concerned, have not been fully or cor- 
 rectly given in any of the current histories of Texas. 
 The reason is obvious when it is remembered that not a 
 single combatant from within survived to tell the tale, 
 while the official reports of the enemy were neither 
 circumstantial nor reliable. A trustworthy account of 
 the assault could only be compiled by comparing and 
 combining the verbal narratives of such of the assailants 
 as could be relied on for veracity, and adding to this 
 such light on the matter as may be gathered from 
 military documents of that day. As Colonel Potter was 
 a resident of Matamoros when the event happened, and 
 for several months after the invading armies had 
 returned thither, he had opportunities for obtaining 
 the kind of information referred to which few persons, 
 if any, still living in Texas have possessed ; and he has 
 been urged to publish what he gathered on the subject, 
 as by means of it an interesting fragment of history 
 may be saved. He thus narrates his experience. 
 
 *^ Among the facts which have been perverted by both 
 sides is the number of Mexican troops engaged in the 
 assault and in the campaign. The whole force with 
 which Santa Anna invaded Texas in 1836 probably 
 
230 APPENDIX, 
 
 amounted to about 7500 men. It consisted of two 
 regiments of horse and thirteen battalions of foot. It 
 may be well here to observe that the Mexicans apply 
 the term regiment only to cavalry corps. Those of 
 infantry of the same size are always called battalions ; 
 and the latter term as used by them designates the 
 whole of a colonel's command of foot, not as with us 
 a subdivision of it. The nominal complement of a 
 regiment or battalion is 1500 men ; but I have never 
 known one to be full, or to much exceed a third of 
 that number. It is seldom attempted to swell them 
 beyond 500 men, for it is only by keeping down the 
 strength, to keep up the number of the corps, that 
 the numerous ofiScers entitled to pay and clamorous 
 for commands can be employed. I saw all the corps 
 which returned from the campaign of '36, and from the 
 size of those which had not been in action, as well as 
 from the remaining bulk of those which had suffered, 
 after allowing for probable loss, I am convinced that 
 their average strength when they entered Texas differed 
 little from 500 — making the aggregate of the army 
 as above surmised. That this estimate will apply 
 to the third of it engaged in storming the Alamo I 
 consider very probable, for I paid more attention to the 
 strength of these corps than of others. 
 
 " At the beginning of the invasion the Mexican officers 
 spoke of their army as 10,000 strong. After its failure 
 Santa Anna, in his letter to General Jackson, referred 
 to his invading force as having numbered 6000. This 
 is the usual Mexican style of overrating, as a threat 
 before action, and underrating, as an apology, after 
 defeat. The truth is usually to be found midway 
 between the two estimates.* 
 
 * When Santa Anna summoned General Taylor to surrender at 
 Buena Vista, he announced his force as being over 20,000 strong. 
 After his repulse he reported it to his Government as 16,000. 
 18,000 was probably near the truth. 
 
FALL OF TEE ALAMO. 231 
 
 " The main army, commanded by Santa Anna in 
 person, moved from Laredo upon San Antonio in four 
 successive detachments. This was rendered necessary 
 by the scarcity of pasture and water in certain portions 
 of the route. The lower division, commanded by Briga- 
 dier-General Urrea, moved from Matamoros upon Goliad 
 in one body. It consisted of the cavalry regiment of 
 Cuatla, the infantry battalion of Yucatan, and some 
 companies of permanent militia. The aforesaid bat- 
 talion, which I counted, numbered 350 odd men. The 
 regiment of dragoons was of about the same size, and 
 the whole made 900 or 1000.* 
 
 " The advance detachment from Laredo, consisting of 
 the dragoon regiment of Dolores and one or two bat- 
 talions, arrived at San Antonio in the latter part of 
 February — I think on the 21st. The Alamo was at 
 that time garrisoned by 156 men under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Travis. James Bowie was, I think, considered 
 his second in command. David Crockett, of Tennessee, 
 also belonged to this garrison, having joined it a few 
 weeks before ; but whether he had any command or 
 not I have never heard. One of the most estimable 
 and chivalrous men attached to it was J. B. Bonham, 
 Esq., of South Carolina, who had recently come to 
 volunteer in the service of Texas ; but what his posi- 
 tion was in the fortress I am unable to say. Travis 
 had been commissioned by the Provisional Government 
 of Texas a lieutenant-colonel of regular cavalry ; but 
 his corps had not been raised, and the men he now 
 commanded were volunteers. Some of them had been 
 engaged in the recent siege of San Antonio, when 
 Cos capitulated, and others had more lately arrived 
 from the United States. Among them were only 
 
 * This was the force, leaving out two small detachments, which 
 overtook Fannin at Coleto ; but it was reinforced before the sur- 
 render by two battalions from San Antonio, and by others a few 
 days after. 
 
232 APPENDIX, 
 
 three Mexicans of San Antonio, and what proportion 
 the old residents of Texas bore to the newly arrived 
 among them I am unable to say. 
 
 " No regular scouting service seems to have been kept 
 up from Travis's post ; for, though the enemy was ex- 
 pected, his near approach was not known until his 
 advance of dragoons was seen descending the slope west 
 of the San Pedro. The guard in town is said to have 
 retired in good order to the fort ; yet so complete was 
 the surprise of the place that one or more American 
 residents, engaged in mercantile business, fled to the 
 Alamo, leaving their stores open. After the enemy 
 entered the place, a cannon-shot from the Alamo was 
 answered by a shell from the invaders ; and, I think, 
 . little more was done in the way of hostility that day. 
 The fortress was not immediately invested, and the few 
 citizens who had taken refuge in it succeeded in leaving 
 it that night. 
 
 '* On the 23rd, Santa Anna with the second division 
 arrived,* and on the same day a regular siege was com- 
 menced. Its operations, which lasted eleven days, are, 
 I think, correctly given in Yoakum's " History of Texas," 
 though he did not succeed in getting a true account of 
 the assault. Several batteries were opened on succes- 
 sive days, on the north, south, and east of the Alamo, 
 where there were then no houses to interfere with the 
 operations. The enemy, however, had do siege train, 
 but only light field-pieces and howitzers. A breach was 
 opened in the northern barrier, but the buildings seem 
 not to have been severely battered. The operations of 
 the siege consisted of an active though not very effective 
 cannonade and bombardment, with occasional skirmish- 
 ing by day, and frequent harassing alarms at night, 
 designed to wear out the garrison by want of sleep. No 
 
 * Yoakum, in his " History of Texas," errs in supposing that the 
 advance division arrived at San Antonio with Santa Anna on the 
 23rd. He was preceded by another, as here related. 
 
FALL OF TEE ALAMO. 233 
 
 assault was attempted, as has often been asserted, till 
 the final storming of the place. Neither was the invest- 
 ment so close as to prevent the passage of couriers and 
 the entrance of one small reinforcement ; for, on the 
 night of the 1st of March, a company of thirty-two men 
 from Gonzales made its way through the enemy's lines, 
 and entered the Alamo, never again to leave it. This 
 raised the force of the garrison to 188 men, as none 
 of the original number had yet fallen. There could 
 have been no great loss on either side till the final 
 assault.* 
 
 " Santa Anna, after calling a council of war on the 4th 
 of March, fixed upon the morning of Sunday, the 6th, 
 as the time for the final assault. 
 
 "It was resolved by Santa Anna that the assault 
 should take place at early dawn. The order for the 
 attack, which I have read, but have no copy of, was 
 full and precise in its details, and was signed by 
 Brigadier- General Amador as head of the staff. The 
 besieging force consisted of the battalions of Toluca, 
 Jimenes, Matamoros, los Zapadores (or sappers), and 
 another, which I think was that of Guerrero, and the 
 dragoon regiment of Dolores. The infantry were 
 directed at a certain hour, between midnight and dawn, 
 to form at a convenient distance from the port in four 
 columns of attack and a reserve. This disposition was 
 not made by battalions ; for the light companies of all 
 
 * In a letter of Travis, dated March 3rd, he sajs : "With 
 145 men I have held this place ten days against a force variously 
 estimated from 1500 to 6000 ; and I shall continue to hold it till I 
 get relief from my countrymen, or I will perish in its defence. 
 We have had a shower of bombs and cannon-balls continually 
 falling among us the whole time; yet none of us have fallen. 
 We have been miraculously preserved." Travis must have alluded 
 to the original force of the garrison before the arrival of the Gon- 
 zales company. If its full number was 156, eleven men must 
 have been non-effective from sickness or wounds, as none had been 
 killed. 
 
234 APPENDIX, 
 
 of them were incorporated with the Zapadores to form 
 the reserve, and some other transpositions may have 
 been made. A certain number of scaling ladders and 
 axes were to be borne with particular columns. The 
 cavalry were to be stationed at different points around 
 the fortress to cut off fugitives. From what I have 
 learned of men engaged in the action, it seems that 
 these dispositions were changed on the eve of attack, so 
 far as to combine the ^yq bodies of infantry into three 
 columns of atttck. This included the troops designated 
 in the order as the reserve ; and the only actual re- 
 serve that remained was the cavalry. 
 
 "The immediate command of the assault was entrusted 
 to General Castrillon, a Spaniard by birth and a bril- 
 liant soldier. Santa Anna took his station, with a part 
 of his staff and all the regimental bands, at a battery- 
 south of the Alamo and near the old bridge, from which 
 the signal was to be given by a bugle note for the 
 columns to move simultaneously at double quick time 
 against different points of the fortress. One, composed 
 mainly of the battalion of Toluca, was to enter the north 
 breach ; the other two to move against the southern 
 side — one to attack the gate of the large area ; the 
 other to storm the chapel. By the timing of the signal 
 it was calculated the columns would reach the foot of 
 the wall just as it became light enough to operate. 
 
 " When the hour came the batteries and the music 
 were alike silent, and a single blast of the bugle was at 
 first followed by no sound save the rushing tramp of 
 soldiers. The guns of the fortress soon opened upon 
 them, and then the bands at the south battery struck 
 up the assassin note of deguello ! * But a few and not 
 very effective discharges from the works could be made 
 before the enemy was under them ; j and it is thought 
 
 * No quarter. 
 
 t A sergeant of the Zapadores told me that the column he be- 
 longed to encountered but one discharge of grape in moving up, 
 and that passed mostly over the men's heads. 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO, 235 
 
 that the worn and wearied garrison was not till then 
 fully mustered. The Toluca column arrived first at the 
 foot of the wall, but was not the first to enter the area. 
 A large piece of cannon at the north-west angle of the 
 area probably commanded the breach. Either this or 
 the deadly fire of the riflemen at that point, where 
 Travis commanded in person, brought the column to a 
 disordered halt, and its leader, Colonel Duque, fell dan- 
 gerously wounded. But, while this was occurring, one 
 of the other columns entered the area by the gate or by 
 escalade near it. The defence of the outer walls had 
 now to be abandoned, and the garrison took refuge in 
 the building already described. It was probably while 
 the enemy were pouring in through the breach that 
 Travis fell at his post, for his body was found beside 
 the gun just referred to. All this passed within a few 
 minutes after the bugle sounded. The early loss of the 
 outer barrier, so thinly manned, was inevitable ; and it 
 was not till the garrison became more concentrated and 
 covered in the inner works, that the main struggle com- 
 menced. They were more concentrated as to the space, 
 not as to unity ; for there was no communicating between 
 buildings, nor in all cases between rooms. There was 
 now no retreating from point to point ; and each group 
 of defenders had to fight and die in the den where it 
 was brought to bay. From the doors, windows, and 
 loopholes of the several rooms around the area, the 
 crack of the rifle and hiss of the bullet came fierce and 
 fast : as fast the enemy fell and recoiled in his first 
 eff'orts to charge. The gun beside which Travis lay 
 was now turned against the buildings, as were also some 
 others ; and shot after shot in quick succession was sent 
 crashing through the doors and barricades of the several 
 rooms. Each ball was followed by a storm of musketry 
 and a charge ; and thus room after room was carried at 
 the point of the bayonet, when all within them died 
 fighting to the last. The struggle was made up of a 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 number of separate and desperate combats, often band 
 to band, between squads of tbe garrison and bodies of 
 tbe enemy. Tbe bloodiest spot about tbe fortress was 
 tbe long barrack and tbe ground in front of it, wbere 
 tbe enemy fell in beaps. 
 
 " In the mean time tbe turning of Travis's gun bad 
 been imitated by tbe garrison. A small piece on tbe roof 
 of tbe cbapel or one of tbe otber buildings was turned 
 against tbe area while tbe rooms were being stormed. 
 It did more execution than any other cannon of tbe 
 fortress ; but, after a few effective discharges, all who 
 manned it fell under tbe enemy's fire. Crockett had 
 taken refuge in a room of tbe low barrack near tbe 
 gate. He either garrisoned it alone, or was left alone 
 by tbe fall of bis companions, when he sallied to meet 
 bis fate in tbe face of tbe foe, and was shot down. 
 Bowie had been severely hurt by a fall from a platform, 
 and, when tbe attack came on, was confined to his bed 
 in an upper room of the barrack. He was there killed 
 on bis coucb, but not without resistance ; for he is said 
 to have shot down with bis pistols one or more of the 
 enemy as they entered the chamber. 
 
 " The church was tbe last point taken. Tbe column 
 which moved against it, consisting of tbe battalion of 
 Jimenes and otber troops, was at first repulsed, and 
 took refuge among some old bouses outside of the 
 barrier, near its south-west angle, till it was rallied and 
 led on by General Amador. It was soon joined by the 
 rest of the force, and tbe church was carried by a coujp 
 de main. Its inmates, like the rest, fought till the last, 
 and continued to fire from the upper platforms after the 
 enemy occupied the floor of the building. A Mexican 
 officer told of seeing a man shot in tbe crown of the bead 
 in this melee. During the closing struggle Lieutenant 
 Dickenson, with bis child in bis arms, or tied to bis 
 back, as some accounts say, leaped from an upper win- 
 dow, and both were kiUed in tbe act. Of those be 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO, 237 
 
 left behind him the bayonet soon gleaned what the 
 bullet missed ; and in the upper part of the church the 
 last defender must have fallen. The morning breeze 
 which received his parting breath probably still fanned 
 his flag above that fabric ere it was pulled down by the 
 victors.* 
 
 " The Alamo had fallen. 
 
 " The action, according to Santa Anna's report, lasted 
 thirty minutes. It was certainly short ; and possibly 
 no longer space passed between the moment the enemy 
 fronted the breach and that when resistance died out. 
 Some of the incidents which have to be related sepa- 
 rately no doubt occurred simultaneously, and occupied 
 very little time. 
 
 " The account of the assault which Yoakum and others 
 have adopted as authentic, is evidently one which 
 popular tradition has based on conjecture. By a rather 
 natural inference it assumes that the enclosing wall of 
 the fortress was its principal work, that in storming this 
 the main conflict took place, and that after it was 
 entered nothing more than the death struggles of a few 
 occurred. The truth was, that extensive barrier proved 
 to be nothing more than the outworks, speedily lost, 
 while the buildings constituted the citadel and the scene 
 of the sternest resistance. That Santa Anna himself 
 was under the works, urging on the escalade in person, is 
 exceedingly fabulous. 
 
 " A negro boy belonging to Travis, the wife of Lieu- 
 tenant Dickenson, Mrs. Alsbury (a native of St. Antonio) 
 and another Mexican woman, and two children, were 
 the only inmates of the fortress whose lives were spared. 
 The children were those of the two females whose names 
 
 * It is a fact not often remembered, that Travis and his men 
 died under the Mexican Federal flag of 1824, instead of the "Lone 
 Star," although the Independence of Texas, unknown to them, had 
 been declared four days before. They died for a republic whose 
 existence they never knew. 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 are given. Lieutenant Dickenson commanded a gun in 
 the east upper window of the church. His family was 
 probably in one of the two small upper rooms of the 
 front. This will account for his being able to take one 
 of his children to the rear platform while the building 
 was being stormed. A small irrigating canal runs below 
 the window referred to ; and his aim, in the desperate 
 attempt at flight, probably was to break his fall by 
 leaping into the water ; but the shower of bullets which 
 greeted him rendered the precaution as needless as it 
 was hopeless. 
 
 " About the time the outer barriers were carried, a few 
 men leaped from them and attempted to escape, but 
 were all cut down by the cavalry. Half an hour or 
 more after the action was over a few men were found 
 concealed in one of the rooms under some mattresses; 
 General Houston, in a letter of the 11th, says as many 
 as seven ; but I have generally heard them spoken of as 
 only three or four. The officer to whom they were first 
 reported entreated Santa Anna to spare their lives ; but 
 he was sternly rebuked and the men ordered to be shot, 
 which was done. Owing to the hurried and confused 
 manner in which the mandate was obeyed, a Mexican 
 soldier was accidentally killed with them. 
 
 " Castrillon was the soul of the assault. Santa Anna 
 remained at the south battery, with the music of the 
 whole army and a part of his staff, till he supposed the 
 place was nearly mastered, when he moved up with that 
 escort towards the Alamo ; but returned again on being 
 greeted by a few rifle-balls from the upper windows of 
 the church. He, however, entered the area towards the 
 close of the scene, and directed some of the last details 
 of the butchery. 
 
 " The five infantry corps that formed the attacking 
 force, according to the data already referred to, amounted 
 to about 2500 men. The number of Mexican wounded, 
 according to various accounts, largely exceeded that of 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO, 239 
 
 the killed ; and the estimates made of both by intelli- 
 gent men who were in the action, and whose candour, 
 I think, could be relied on, rated their loss at from 
 150 to 200 kiUed, and from 300 to 400 wounded. 
 Santa Anna's report is a piece of balderdash dealing 
 mostly in generalities. He sets down his force at 1400, 
 his loss at 60 killed and 300 wounded, and the strength 
 of the garrison, all told and all killed, at 600. This 
 is about as reliable as the legend of old Texans, that 
 the Alamo was stormed by 10,000 men, 1000 of whom 
 were slain. The real loss of the assailants in killed 
 and wounded probably did not differ much from 500 
 men. General Bradburn was of opinion that 300 
 men in that action were lost to the service, counting 
 with the killed those who died of wounds or were per- 
 manently disabled. This agrees with the other most 
 reliable estimates.* Now, if 500 men or more were 
 bullet-stricken in half an hour by 180 or less, it was a 
 rapidity of bloodshed almost unexampled, and needs no 
 exaggeration. It was not the carnage of pursuit like 
 
 * Anselmo Borgara, a Mexican, who first reported the fall of the 
 Alamo to General Houston at Gonzales, and who left San Antonio 
 on the evening after it occurred, stated that the assaulting force 
 amounted to about 2300 men, of whom 521 were killed and as 
 many wounded. He had probably either had opportunities of see- 
 ing and estimating the bulk of the besieging force, or had his 
 information on this point from those who had a tolerably correct 
 idea of its strength. It probably did not exceed 2500 men, nor 
 much fall below that number. The loss, however, is evidently 
 exaggerated, because it is simply incredible. We would have to 
 search history closely to find where any troops have carried a for- 
 tress with a loss of more than two-fifths of that number. If there 
 was any basis for this part of the statement, it is probable that 521 
 was the entire loss of killed and wounded, which at second-hand 
 would become that of killed alone, and then it would be assumed 
 that the number of wounded was equal. General Houston seems to 
 have gathered from this man the idea that Travis had only 150 
 effective men out of 187. — (Letter of March 11th to Fannia.) But 
 if none had fallen up to the 3rd, the effective force could hardly 
 have been reduced so much in the next two days and nights. 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 that of San Jacinto, nor the sweeping effect of cannon 
 under favourable circumstances like that of Sandusky. 
 The main element of the defence was the individual 
 valour and skill of men who had few advantages of 
 fortification, ordnance, discipline, or command. All 
 their deficiencies, which were glaring, serve only to 
 enhance the one merit, in which no veterans could have 
 excelled them. It required bravery even in greatly 
 superior numbers to overcome a resistance so deter- 
 mined. The Mexican troops displayed more of it in 
 this assault than in any other action during the cam- 
 paign ; and they have seldom shown as much anywhere. 
 " Santa Anna, when he marched for Texas, had counted 
 on finding a fortified position in the neighbourhood of 
 San Antonio, but not at the Alamo ; for he supposed, 
 with good reason, that the Mission of Concepcion would 
 be selected. The small area of that strong building, 
 which had room enough for Travis's force and not too 
 much, and its compactness, which would have given 
 better range to his cannon, would have made it a far 
 better fortress than the Alamo ; and earthworks of no 
 great extent would have covered the garrison's access to 
 the river. The advantages of the position must have 
 been known to Travis, and that he did not avail himself 
 of it was probably owing to his imperfect command of 
 men unwilling to leave their town associations. An 
 attempt to move might break up the garrison. The 
 neglect of scouting service, before referred to, indicates 
 a great lack of subordination, for Travis, who during the 
 late siege of Bexar had been the efiicient head of that 
 branch of duty, must have been aware of its importance. 
 On the 24th of February he wrote thus : ' When the 
 enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of 
 com. We have since found in deserted houses eighty 
 or ninety bushels, and got into the walls twenty or 
 thirty head of beeves.' This omission to provide, 
 remedied so late by accident, must have been more owing 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO, 241 
 
 to the commander's lack of control and to the occupa- 
 tion of mind incident to it, than to his want of fore- 
 sight. His men were willing to die by him, but, I 
 infer, not ready to obey in what did not immediately 
 concern fighting. 
 
 "I am here tempted to speculate briefly on the bearing 
 which it might have had on the campaign, had Travis 
 changed his post to the Mission, strengthened it to the 
 best of his ability, and secured a supply of provisions 
 for a few weeks. The great importance Santa Anna 
 attached to an early blow and rapid movement would 
 probably have induced him to make an assault there as 
 early, or nearly so, as he did at the Alamo ; and there, 
 even had his force been stronger, I am confident the 
 result would have been different. Instead of the panic 
 which the fall of the Alamo spread through the land, 
 sending fugitives to the Sabine, a bloody repulse from 
 Concepcion would have filled Texas with exultation, 
 and sent its men in crowds to Houston's camp. The 
 fortress could then have held out till relieved ; and the 
 war would probably have been finished west of the 
 Guadalupe. Its final results could not have been more 
 disastrous to the invaders than they eventually were ; 
 but a large extent of country would have been saved 
 from invasion and partial devastation. 
 
 " A military lesson may be derived from the fall of 
 the Alamo. Among the essential qualities of a perfect 
 soldier we must consider, not only the discipline and 
 subordination which blend him with the mass in which 
 the word of command moves him, but also the indi- 
 vidual seK-reliance and efiiciency which may restore 
 the battle after the mass is broken. From the lack of 
 the former quality the men of the Alamo were lost ; by 
 their possession of the latter they became, in the last 
 struggle, as formidable as veterans and died gloriously, 
 and in a better position they would have been saved by 
 it. Though the latter quality depends more on nature 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 than tlie former, it admits of development, and the 
 perfection of training neglects neither. 
 
 "Of the foregoing details which do not refer to 
 documentary authority I obtained many from General 
 Bradbum, who arrived at San Antonio a few days after 
 the action, and gathered them from officers who were 
 in it. A few I had through a friend from General 
 Amador. Others, again, I received from three intelligent 
 sergeants, who were men of fair education and, I think, 
 truthful. One of them, Sergeant Becero, of the bat- 
 talion of Matamoros, who was captured at San Jacinto, 
 was for several years my servant in Texas. From men 
 of their class I could generally get more candid state- 
 ments as to loss and other matters than from commis- 
 sioned officers. I have also gathered some minor 
 particulars from local tradition preserved among the 
 residents of this town. When most of the details thus 
 learned were acquired I had not seen the locality ; and 
 hence I have to locate some of the occurrences by 
 inference, which I have done carefully and, I think, 
 correctly. 
 
 " The stranger will naturally inquire, * Where lie the 
 heroes of the Alamo % ' and Texas can only reply by a 
 silent blush. A few hours after the action, the bodies 
 of the slaughtered garrison were gathered up by the 
 victors, laid in three piles, mingled with fuel, and 
 burned.* On the 25th of February, near a year after, 
 their bones and ashes were collected, placed in a coffin, 
 and interred with due solemnity, and with military 
 honours, by Colonel Seguin and his command. The 
 place of burial was in what was then a peach orchard 
 outside the town and a few hundred yards from the 
 Alamo. It is now a large enclosed lot in the midst of 
 the Alamo suburb, but has fortunately not been built 
 upon. The rude landmarks which once designated the 
 
 * Their own dead were carted across the San Pedro and bui'ied. 
 
FALL OF THE ALAMO. 243 
 
 place of burial have long since disappeared, and it 
 would now require diligent search to find the exact 
 locality. It is to be hoped that search will not be 
 delayed till it is too late. 
 
 "The Government of the State of Texas has never 
 secured or preserved but one memento of the Alamo. 
 A small but finely executed monument was made from 
 the stones of the fortress in 1841 by an artist named 
 Nangle ; and, after lying long neglected, it was pur- 
 chased by the State. It now stands in the haU of the 
 Capitol at Austin ; but neither at the Alamo itself, nor 
 at the forgotten grave of its defenders, does any legend 
 or device, like the stone of Thermopylae, remind the 
 stranger of those who died for their country's rights." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS. BECCLES. 
 
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