xt7prr1pgr33 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7prr1pgr33/data/mets.xml Otis, James, 1848-1912. 1900 books b92-105-27901621 English Burt, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Juvenile fiction. On the Kentucky frontier : a story of the fighting pioneers of the West / by James Otis [pseud.] ; with six page illus. by J. Watson Davis. text On the Kentucky frontier : a story of the fighting pioneers of the West / by James Otis [pseud.] ; with six page illus. by J. Watson Davis. 1900 2002 true xt7prr1pgr33 section xt7prr1pgr33 In a twinkling I was by his side, and there saw that which caused the cold chill of fear to run down my back.-Page 40. Frontis. On the Kentucky Frontier. ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. A STORY OF THE FIGHTING PIONEERS OF THE WEST. BY JAMES OTIS With Six Page Illustrations by J. Watson Davis NEW YORK: A. L. BUR-2, PUBLISHER. Copyright, 1900, by G. L. BURT. ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. BY JAOES OTIS. PREFACE. "Poor Simon Kenton experienced the bitter effects of wrong, ingratitude, and neglect. On account of some legal matters concerning his lands in Kentucky, he was imprisoned for twelve months upon the very spot where he built his cabin in 1775. In 1802, beggared by lawsuits and losses, he became landless. Yet he never murmured at the ingratitude which pressed him down, and in 1813 the veteran joined the Ken- tucky troops under Shelby, and was in the battle of the Thames. In 1824, then seventy years old, he journeyed to Frankfort, in tattered garments and upon a miserable horse, to ask the legislature of Kentucky to release the claims of the State upon some of his mountain lands. He was stared at by the boys, and shunned by the citizens, for none knew him. At length General iii iv PREFACE. Thomas Fletcher recognized him, gave him a new suit of clothes, and entertained him kindly. When it was known that Simon Kenton was in town, scores flocked to see the old hero. He was taken to the Capitol and seated in the Speaker's chair. His lands were released, and afterward Congress gave him a pension of two hundred and forty dollars a year. He died, at the age of eighty-one years, in 1836, at his residence at the head of Mad River, Logan County, Ohio, in sight of the place where, fifty. eight years before, the Indians were about to put him to death." (Lossing's "F Field-Book of the Revolution.") CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. SIMON KENTON .................1 II. BESIEGED......................................... 24 III. THE VENTURE..................................... 45 IV. PAUL SAMPSON ................. 6 V. DOWN THE OHIO... .............................. 91 VI. ASTRAY ..................... .. ...... .......... 114 VII. THE CAPTIVE SCOUT . .................. 131 VIII. AT THE RENDEZVOUS . .................. 161 IX. KASKASKIA..................... 184 X. CAHOKIA..................... 208 XI. HOMEWARD BOUND..................... 29 XII. A NOVEL BATTLE..... ................ 251 This page in the original text is blank. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Pats IN A TWINKLING I WAS BY HIS SIDE AND THERE SAW THAT WHICH CAUSED THE COLD CHILL OF FEAR TO RUN DOWN mY BACK ........................... FRONTISPIECE. THE BRUTE FELL AS THOUGH STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND A CRY OF TRIUMPH FRANG FROM mY LIPS .............. 62 WITHIN FIVE SECONDS I HAD FIRED, USING THE CURL OF VAPOR FOR A TARGET ................................ 103 WE ADVANCED FROM ONE PLACE OF SHELTER TO ANOTHER, FIRING RAPIDLY.....14........... 142 STRAIGHT UP TO THE BIG GATE WE ADVANCED BELIEVING THAT IN THE NEXT SECOND WE SHOULD HEAR THE ALARM GUN........... 204 FROM OUT OF OUR BARRICADE WHISTLED THREE BULLETS AND EVERY ONE FOUND iTs MARK . ................... 258 This page in the original text is blank. ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. CHAPTER I. SIMON KENTON. IT is my pUTrPose to set down what I saw during such time as Simon Kenton gave me my first lessons in woodcraft and it is well to make the statement in a4vahce in order that others may be deprived of the opportunity of saying what would sound disagreeable :-that the pupil was for a time so dull that one less patient and painstaking than Kenton would have brought the lessons to a speedy close. That which now seems the most difficult is to decide how I shall begin this story of the little which I did on the Kentucky frontier during the, year of grace 1778, and I can hit upon no plan I ON THE RENTUCKY FRONTIER. which promises better success than that of copy- ing here what I read in a printed book long years after I, a green lad, set out to do my little share toward bringing peace and a sense of security to the settlers who were striving to make homes for themselves and their families in what was then known as the colony of Virginia. I make use of such a beginning because it appears to me as if the wise man who thus ex- plains the condition of affbirs among us at that time, tells in a few lines what I might struggle vainly over many pages of Paper to put into form one-half so concise Sind satisfactory: " With the single exception of Dunmore's ex- pedition in 1774, hostilities west of the Alle- gbanies were nothing but a series of border con- flicts, each little party acting upon its own responsibility, until 1778, when Major George Rogers Clarke led a regular expedition against the frontier posts of the enemy in the wilder- ness. Clarke first went toward Kentucky in 1772, when he paddled down the Ohio with the 2 SIMON KENTON. 3 Reverend David Jones, then on his way to preach the Gospel to the Western Indians. " He was at once impressed with the impor- tance of that fertile region, and the necessity of making it a secure place for settlements. His mind was clear and comprehensive; his personal courage of the truest stamp; his energies, physical and mental, always vigorous, and he soon became an oracle among the backwoods- men. During the years 1775 and 1776, he traversed vast regions of the wilderness south of the Ohio, studied the character of the Indians chiefly from the observations of others, and sought to discover a plan by which a tide of emigration might flow unchecked and secure into that paradise of the continent. " He soon became convinced that the British garrisons at Detroit, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes, were the nests of those vultures who preyed upon the feeble settlements of the west, and deluged the virgin soil with the blood of the pioneers. Virginia, to which province this rich 4 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. wilderness belonged, was at that time bending all her energies in advancing the cause of inde- pendence within her borders east of the Alle- ghnies, and the settlers west of the mountains were left to their own defense. "1 Major Clarke, convinced of the necessity of reducing the hostile forts in the Ohio country, submitted a plan for the purpose to the Virginia Legislature, in December, 1777. His scheme was highly approved, and Governor Henry and his council were so warmly interested that Major Clarke received two sets of instructions, one public, ordering him to 'proceed to the defense of Kentucky,' the other private, direct- ing an attack upon the British fort at Kaskaskia. Twelve hundred pounds were appropriated to defray the expenses of the expedition; and the commandant of Fort Pitt was ordered to fuir- nish Clarke with ammunition, boats, and other necessary equipments. "His force consisted of only four companies, and they were all prime men. Early in the SIMON KENTON. spring they rendezvoused upon Corn Island, at the falls of the Ohio, six hundred and seven miles by water, below Fort Pitt. Here Clarke w-as joined by Simon Kenton, one of the boldest pioneers of the west, then a young man of twenty-two years. He had been acting as a spy for two years previously; henceforth he was engaged in a more honorable, but not more use- ful, service." Now that this much has been explained by another, I am still at a loss to know how this poor story should be begun, and after much cudgeling of my weak brain have decided to jump into the matter after the same fashion that the events come into my memory after these many years of peace and idleness. On a certain morning in February, in the year 1778, I went out to look after my traps, and had thrown myself down on the bank of the Ohio River to decide a question which had been vex- ing me many days. Never for a moment did I lose sight of the 5 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. fact that it was necessary I have.,mytiwits about me in case I counted on keeping my hair, for many a scalp had been taken in that vicinity within the six months just passed, and I believed that nothing larger than a squirrel could come within striking distance, save by my own knowl- edge and consent. Therefore it was I sprang up very suddenly in the greatest alarm when a white man stood before me, having approached so silently that it was almost as if he had come up through the very earth. It is not to be supposed that Indians were the only beings in form of men we settlers on the Ohio had reason to fear in those days; there were many white men whose hearts were as black as those of the savages, and who would draw bead on one of their kind from sheer love of spilling blood, if no other reason presented itself. As I have set down here, I sprang to my feet, rifle in hand, ready for the first threatening 6 SIMON KENTON. movement onl th. part of the stranger; but he gave little Voken of being an enemy. His weapon was thrown across the hollow of his arm as he stood looking at me in a friendly manner, and I might easily have shot him down, unless he was quicker with a rifle than any other I had ever met. A young fellow was this newcomer, hardly more than one and twenty, as it then seemed to me, and there was that in his face which gave token that he might be a close friend or a dangerous enemy, whichsoever way he was approached. "Out for fur" he said rather than asked, glancing down at the traps which lay near at hand. I nodded; but remained on my guard, de- ternined not to be taken at a disadvantage by soft words. " It is better to keep movin', than lay 'round where a sneakin' Injun might creep up a bit too near," he said with a smile, as he seated himself 7 8 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. near the decaying tree-trunk on which I had left the traps. "I would have sworn neither white nor red could have come upon me in the fashion you did," I said hotly, and thoroughly ashamed of myself for having been so careless. "1 reckon it might have puzzled an Injun to do the trick. If I couldn't beat them at movin' 'round, my head would have been bare these five years." It sounded much like boasting, his claiming to be able to beat an Indian at woodcraft, for at that time I believed the savages could out- wit any settler who ever lived; but before many weeks had passed I came to understand that I had been sadly mistaken. "Is that your cabin yonder under the big knoll " he asked, more as if by way of begin- ing a conversation than from curiosity. "Yes; have you been there" 'I looked it over; but didn't try to scrape acquaintance. Does your mother live there " SIMON KENTON. 9 "Yes; she and I alone." "What sent her down into this wilderness with no one but a lad like yourself " he asked, speaking as if he was twice my age, when, un- less all signs failed, he was no more than five years my elder. " Father was with us when we came, last year. He was killed by the murdering savage sneaks nearly two months ago." "W Why did you hold on here " the stranger asked, eying me curiously. " Surely the clearin' isn't so far along that it pays to risk your life for it." "' Mother would have packed off; but I couldn't leave." " Why " ' It's a poor kind of a son who won't at least try to wipe off such a score, and I'll hold on here till those who killed the poor old wan have found out who I am! " Tears of mingled rage, grief, and helplessness came into my eves as I spoke thus hotly, and I 10 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. wheeled around quickly lest this stranger, seeing them, should set me down for a younger lad than I really was. " It's quite a job you've shouldered," he said after a pause. " The Injuns nearabout here ain't to be caught nappin' every hour in the day, and the chances are your mother may find her- self alone on the clearin' before you have made any great headway in settlin' the score." "Because you crept up on me, there is no reason why the red snakes can do the same thing!" I cried angrily, whereupon he nodded gravely as if agreeing with me, after which he asked: "How old are you" "Must a fellow have seen so many years more or less before he can do the work of a man " I demanded, giving proof by my petulance that I was yet little more than a child. " It was not with anything of the kind in my mind that I asked the question. Perhaps I SIMON XEXTON4' wondered if you'd had the experience that'll be needed before your work is done." " I'm just turned sixteen," I replied, thoroughly ashamed of having displayed an ill-temper. "Where did you come from" "Pennsylvania." "Was your father a Tory " be asked. "Indeed he wasn't! " and now I grew hot again. " He believed we might better our con- dition by pushing into the wilderness, for when a man's land is overrun by two armies, as ours bad been, farming is a poor trade." Then he questioned me yet more closely until I had come to an end of my short story, which began with the day we set out from the colony founded by William Penn, and ended with that hour when I came across my poor father's mangled body scarce half a mile from our clearing, where the beasts in human form had tortured him. All this I told the stranger as if be had beqh an old friend, for there was something in his ii 12 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTiER. voice and manner which won my heart at once, and when the sad tale was ended I came to understand he had not questioned me idly. " My name is Simon Kenton,"' he said, after a time of silence, as if he was turning over in mind what I had told him. " The day I was sixteen I took to the wilderness because of- there is no reason why that part of it need be told. It was six years ago, an' in those years I've seen a good bit of life on the frontier, though perhaps it would have been better had I gone east an' taken a hand with those who are fight- in' against the king. But a soldier's life would ruffle my grain, I reckon, so I've held on out here, nearabout Fort Pitt, where there's been plenty to do." "Fort Pitt!" I exclaimed. "Why, that's a long distance up the river! " " Six hundred miles or so." " Are you down here trapping " I asked, now questioning him as he had me. " I'm headin' for Corn Island " SIMON KENTON. " Then you haven't much further to go. Its no more than a dozen miles down the river." " So I guessed. I left my canoe over yon- der, an' took to the shore partly to find some- thin' in the way of meat, an' partly to have a look around." Then it was, and before I could question him further, he told me why he had come, the sub- stance of which I have already set down in the language of another. At that time he did not give me the story complete as it was written by him whose words I quoted at the beginning of this tale; but I understood the settlers were making a move against the British and Indians, and it seemed to me a most noble undertaking, for, had not the king's officers incited the savages to bloody deeds, the frontier might have been a land of peace. When he was come to an end of the story, and Simon Kenton was not one to use more words than were necessary, I proposed that he go with me to my home, for by this time it was 13 14 ON THE XENTIC FRONTIER. near to noon, and I had suddenly lost all desire to continue the work of setting traps. He agreed right willingly, as if it favored his plans to do so, and we two went back to the clear- ing, he moving through the thicket more like a shadow than a stoutly built man whose weight seemed against such stealthy traveling. Never had I seen such noiseless progress; a squirrel would have given more token of his presence, and I wondered not that he had been welcomed at Fort Pitt as a scout, spy, or whatever one may please to call his occupation. My mother made the young man welcome, as she would have done any I might have brought in with me to our home in Pennsylvania, and out here in the wilderness, where we had not seen a strange, yet friendly, face since my poor father was murdered, she was rejoiced to meet one who might give us news of the outside world. Simon Kenton was not a polished man such as would be met within the eastern colonies; SIMON KENTON. but he gave every token of honest purpose, and it was impossible to remain long in his company without believing him to be one who would be a firm friend at all times. We enjoyed his visit more than can be told, and then without warning he broached that subject which had a great bearing upon all my life from that moment. " Why do you try to hold your mother here in the wilderness, Louis Nelson " he asked suddenly. "Surely a lad like yourself cannot hope to make a clearing unaided, and it is but keeping her in great danger of a cruel death." " What other can I do " I asked in surprise, having no inkling as to his true meaning. " Take her where she will at least be able to lie down at night without fear of being aroused by the gleam of the scalping knife, or the flames of her own dwelling," he replied decidedly. " All we have in the world is here," my mother said half to herself. " Then it will not be hard to leave it, for a 15 16 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. boy of Louis' age should be able to provide you with as good almost anywhere else." I looked at him in open-mouthed astonish- ment, whereupon he said in such a tone as forced one to believe he spoke only the truth: "We have every reason to believe there will be bloody scenes hereabout before Major Clarke has finished his work. You cannot hope to hold out against the painted scoundrels who will roam up and down the river in search cf white blood that can be spilled: Send your mother back to Fort Pitt by the boats that will soon be returnin', an' join me in this expedition. You can go to her in the fall with money enough to provide another home as good, or better, than this, an' what is of more account, you'll have the satisfaction of knowin' that she is in safety." There is no good reason why I should set down here all the arguments Simon Kenton used to persuade me to break up the home my father had established, although in poor shape, SIMON KENTON. at the cost of his life, nor yet speak of his efforts to make my mother believe I would be in less danger with Major Clarke's force than if I remained there struggling to make headway against the encroachments of the wilderness, at the same time that I would be forced to re- main on the alert lest a pitiless, savage foe take my life. It is enough if I say that before the shadows of night began to lengthen both my mother and myself were convinced he had given good advice, and were ready to follow it as soon as a new day had dawned. We decided to leave our poor belongings where they were, and set out with Kenton next morning. Mother should go to Fort Pitt where she would be protected, and 1, with the consent of Major Clarke, was to enlist in the troop which it was believed would drive out of the country those unscrupulous British officers who were constantly striving to stir up the savages against such of the settlers as believed the .3 17 18 ON T11E XENTtJUCY PRONTIER. colonists had good cause to rebel against the king. Until a late hour did Simon Kenton sit with us two, telling of the many adventures he had met with since the day he left his home in Fau- quier County, Virginia, six years before, and although the stories related to deeds of daring and hair-breadth escapes, there was in his speech nothing of boasting. It was as if lie spoke of what some other person had done, and without due cause for praise. Never once did he speak of his reason for leaving home, and there was a certain something in his manner which prevented me from asking any questions. He told so much of his life story as seemed to him proper, and we were content, believing him to be a young man of proven courage and honest purposes. Kenton and I slept on the skins in front of the fireplace, where I had ever made my bed, and so little fear had we the enemy might be near, that I never so much as looked out of SIMON KENTON. doors after mother wvent up the ladder which led to the. rough attic she called her cham. ber. It was the first time since my father's cruel death that I had not circled around the cabin once or more to make certain everything was quiet; the coming of this young man had driven from my mind all thought of possible danger. Those who live on the frontier sleep lightly, it is true ; but they do not waste much time in tossing about on the bed before closing their eyes in slumber-and I was in dream-land within a very few moments after stretching out at full length. It seemed as if I had but just lost conscious- ness when I awakened to find a heavy hand covering my mouth, and to hear Simon Kenton whisper: " There is need for us to turn out. The sneakin' redskins have surrounded the cabin. Are you awake " 19 20 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. I nodded, for it would have been impossible to speak while his hand was like to shut off my breath, and he rose softly to his feet. It is not necessary for me to say that we on the Ohio in 1778 thought first in the morning of our rifles, and never lay down at night without having the trusty weapons where we could grasp them readily. Thus it was that, when I followed Kenton's example, I rose up ready for a struggle. Not a sound could I hear, save the soughing of the wind among the trees; but I knew my companion had good cause for giving an alarm, and had probably been on the alert while I was composing myself to sleep. " Get word to your mother; but do not let her come down here," he whispered when I joined him at the shuttered window, where be stood with his ear to the crevice. " Make no noise, an' it may be we can take the painted snakes by surprise, which will be a fine turnin' of the tables," SIMON KENTON. I did as he directed, and heard my mother say in a low voice as I turned to descend the ladder: " Be careful, Louis, and do not expose your- self recklessly in order to give our visitor the idea that you can equal him in deeds of dar- ing." Under almost any other circumstances I could have laughed at the idea that I might even hope to equal such as Simon Kenton in bravery; but with death lurking close at hand one does not give way to mirth, and I hastened to the young man's side as a prayer of thankfulness went up from my heart because it had so chanced he was with us when an experienced head and arm were needed. It is not my purpose to belittle myself. While looking up to our visitor as an elder and one well versed in such warfare as was before us, I knew full well I should not have acted a stupid part had I been alone. I might fail to hold, my own against the savages; but death 21 22 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. would not have been invited by my own folly. The door, as well as the window shutters, was loop-holed, and here Kenton took his stand, stationing me at that side of the house nearest the knoll, from where we might. naturally ex- pect the enemy would come. My mother appeared before we had made all the arrangements for a fight, and at once set about supplying us with ammunition and food in order that we might not be forced to move from our posts in quest of either. Then she took up my father's rifle, which was leaning against the side of the hut nearest me, as if to show that it was her purpose to do whatsoever lay in her power toward the defense, whereupon Kenton shook his head disapprov- ingly, and might have made objection to being aided by a woman; but before he could open his lips to speak the painted fiends were upon Us. With whoops and yells they rose up close SIMON KENTON. 23 under the walls of the cabin, where we might not be able to draw bead upon them, and at the same instant a volley of rifle shots rang out as three bullets came inside between the crevices of the logs. 24 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. CHAPTER II. BESIEGED. THIS kind of warfare was new to me. Al. though living on the frontier so far from any other settlement, our cal)in bad never before been attacked by savages. My father was killed some distance away from home, and, judging from the signs near- about the place where he had been tortured to death, it seemed certain that no mnore than three Indians had captured him. Most likely it was a party of hunters, wb1"- had not really come omit for mischief, but seci an opportunity to take the life of a white inr seized upon it. If they had been on the war- path, then beyond a peradventure our cabin would have been attacked. BESIEGED. 25 To Simon Kenton, however, this sort of work was by no means new. He had been besieged many times, as we knew from the stories the young man told us a short time previous; but I ventured to say that never before had he been pitted against the painted foes with so small a force, and in a place where it was not probable any help could come. Our cabin was situated so far back from the river that those passing up or down the stream would not suspect a habitation was near at hand, and, unless well acquainted with the clearing, an hundred men might go back and forth, never thinking that a settler had ventured in this vicinity. Therefore it was that I, and most likely Simon Kenton also, realized how entirely alone we were. Unless we could beat off this foe which had so suddenly assailed us, within a comparatively short time, the end was near at hand for all, because no preparations had been made for a siege, and our store of provisions and 26 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. water, even with careful husbanding, must be exhausted within a few days. As all this came into my mind, and I learned that it was possible for the Indians to send their bullets inside, through the chinks between the logs, provided they were sufficiently good marks- men, my heart sank within me. I said to my- self that Kenton had come too late to be of service to us, and too soon for his own safety. As I have said, the savages had crept up under the cover of darkness close beneath the walls of the cabin, and were able to shoot at us with but little danger to themselves. Our only hope lay in dislodging them from their place of vantage, and this much I realized fully even though unexperienced in warfare. On reading what is here set down one may say that a boy of sixteen, situated as was I at that moment, would not thus calmly weigh the chances for and against a successful defense. In reply to such criticism, I would say that in my opinion any lad of ordinary intelligence 27 must perforce have had much the same thoughts, because of the ample time for reflection. After the first volley, and until perhaps ten minutes had elapsed, the Indians gave no sign of life. All was still as if we three were alone in the wilderness-as if it had been some hideous nightmare which awakened us. During such time, Simon Kenton stood like a statue; but in such attitude as gave me to understand that all his senses were alert. He was an experienced Indian fighter, listening for some token which should give him a clue as to how he might best protect his own life. My mother remained near one of the loop- holes at the rear of the house, also on the alert, and I had not movred from the position taken up when we made our first poor preparations for the defense. Suddenly, and when I had come to believe that our chances for a successful defense were slight indeed, Simon Kenton mnoved swiftly, yet noiselessly, to that side of the room opposite BESIEGED. 28 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. where I was standing, thrust the muzzle of his rifle between the logs near to the ground and fired. A cry of pain followed the report of the weapon, and it was as if the noise had but just died away, when the young man had his rifle charged once more, so rapid were his movements. One, two, three minutes, perhaps, passed in silence, and again, but in another quarter, did Kenton repeat his maneuver, although during this time I had heard nothing whatsoever save my own labored breathing. A second cry from without told that two of the painted snakes had received a more or less serious dose of lead without having inflicted injury upon us. I knew that Kenton's acts had been the re- sult of his keen sense of hearing, and said to myself that the man must have been fitted by nature for work like this, since it would be im- possible for ainy person to train his ears to such perfection. BESIEGED. 29 This thought was in my mind when I heard a rustling of the foliage on the outside near where I stood, and that instant I made as if to copy the example of my companion. "It is too late now," he said in a low tone. "The snakes are creepin' off satisfied that they are like to get the worst of such a game. They will hatch up some other plan before troublin' us again." " But surely we haven't bested them so soon as this," I replied like a stupid, and he laughed as if there was somewhat of humor in my re- mark. " They have come here to plunder this cabin, and are not like to draw off so soon. We wtill hlave enough of their company within the next four and twenty hours; but for a time I reckon we have got a breathin' spell. This is the way the British king wages wvar; provokin' the sav- ages against peaceful settlers ; but once Major Clarke has broken up the English nests, I'll venture to say the scurvy redcoats will turn 30 ON THE KENTUCKY FRONTIER. their attention to other matters than playin' the part of butchers." " If we had only started to meet Major Clarke's force when you first arrived," I said despond- ently, whereat Simon Kenton clapped me on the shoulder in a friendly fashion, as he cried: "This is no time to be thinking of what might have happened, Louis Nelson. Men on the frontier must ever look forward, else by gaz- ing backward their hearts may grow timorous. Until we have driven off these savages it should be to us as if Major Clarke's force had never set out." Mother had made no attempt to join in the conversation. Her pale face and quivering lips told that she was thinking of that time, only such a short distance in the past, when father had been in the clutches of those who at that moment thirsted for our blood, and grief over- shadowed all the fears which the future could present. Observing her, and knowing full well what 13ESIEGE. terrible memories had come trooping into her mind, I fell silent, striving as best I could to keep back the timorousness which threatened to overcome me as I thus realized what the wretches on the outside would do once our feeble defense was overcome. Simon Kenton moved here and there noise- lessly as a cat, intent only upon learning so much of what might be going on outside as his ears could tell him. While I remained motionless and silent at the post assigned me, he never ceased for an instant his stealthy movements, and the knowl- edge that he was so keenly on the alert did much towards strengthening my weak heart. When perhaps an hour had passed thus in silence, a great hope came to me, and foolishly I gave it words. " The savages, finding that we were prepared for them, have