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