|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 58
"Ay, a thousand times!" replied Ella, energetically, rising as she
spoke, into a sitting posture, and looking fearlessly upon the renegade,
her previously pale features now flushed with excitement. "I fear not
death, Simon Girty; I have done no act that should make me fear the
change that all must sooner or later undergo; but I could not join my
hand to that of a man of blood, without loathing and horror, and feeling
criminal in the sight of God and man; and least of all to you, Simon
Girty, whose name has become a word of terror to the weak and innocent
of my race, and whose deeds of late have been such as to make me join my
voice in the general maledictions called down upon you."
During this speech of Ella, Girty sat and gazed upon her with the look
of a baffled demon; and, as she concluded, fairly hissed through his
teeth:
"And so you would prefer death to me, eh? By ----! you shall have your
choice!"
As he spoke, he grasped Ella by the wrist with one hand, seized his
tomahawk with the other, and sprung upon his feet. His rapid movement
and wild manner now really frightened her; and uttering a faint cry of
horror, she endeavored to release his hold; while the warriors, aroused
by the noise, bounded up from the earth, weapon in hand, with looks of
alarm.
Turning to them, Girty now spoke a few words in the Indian tongue; and,
with significant glances at Ella, they were just in the act of again
encamping, when crack went some five or six rifles, followed by yells
little less savage than their own, and four of them rolled upon the
earth, groaning with pain; while the others, surprised and bewildered,
grasped their weapons and shouted:
"The Shemanoes!" "The Long Knives!" not knowing whether to stand or fly.
Girty, meantime, had been left unharmed; although the shivering of the
helve of the tomahawk in his hand, in front of his breast, showed him
he had been a target for no mean marksman, and that his life had been
preserved almost by a miracle. For a moment he stood irresolute--his
nostrils fairly dilated with fear and rage, still holding Ella by
the wrist, who was too paralyzed with what she had seen to speak or
move--straining his eyes in every direction to note, if possible, the
number of his foes and whence their approach. The whole glance was
momentary; but he saw himself nearly surrounded by his enemies, who
were fast closing in toward the center with fierce yells; and pausing
no longer in indecision, he encircled Ella's waist with his left arm,
raised her from the ground, and keeping her as much as possible between
himself and his enemies, to deter them from firing, darted away toward
a thicket, some fifty yards distant, pursued by two of the attacking
party.
Just as Girty gained the thicket, one of his pursuers made a sudden
bound forward and grasped him by the arm; but his hold was the next
moment shaken off by the renegade, who, being now rendered desperate,
drew a pistol from his belt, with the rapidity of lightning, and laid
the bold adventurer dead at his feet. Almost at the same moment, Girty
received a blow on the back of his head, from the breech of the rifle of
his other antagonist, that staggered him forward; when, releasing his
hold of Ella, he turned and darted off in another direction, firing a
pistol as he went, the ball of which whizzed close to the head of him
for whom it was designed; and in a moment more he was lost in the mazes
of the forest.
Meantime the bloody work was going forward in the center; for at the
moment when Girty darted away, the report of some three or four rifles
again echoed through the wood, two more of the red warriors bit the
dust, while the other two fled in opposite directions, leaving Boone and
his party sole masters of the field.
Eager, excited, reckless and wild, several of the young men now rushed
forward, with yells of triumph, to the wounded Indians, whom they
immediately tomahawked without mercy, and began to scalp, when the voice
of Boone, who had been more cautious, reached them from a distance:
"Beware o' the fire-light, lads! or the red varmints will draw a
bead[11] on some of ye."
Scarcely were the words uttered, ere his warning was sadly fulfilled;
for the two savages finding they were not pursued, and thirsting for
revenge, turned and fired almost simultaneously, with aims so deadly,
that one of the young men, by the name of Beecher, fell mortally wounded
and expired a moment after; and another, by the name of Morris, had his
wrist shattered by a ball. This fatal event produced a panic in the
others, who at once fled precipitately into the darkness, leaving Mrs.
Younker, who had by this time gained her feet, standing alone by the
fire, a bewildered spectator of the terrible tragedies that had so
lately been enacted by her side. To her Boone now immediately advanced,
notwithstanding the caution he had given the others; and turning to him
as he came up, the good lady exclaimed, in a tone of astonishment:
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|