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in
“glance he took in the ten grim forms of his guard,
"~ After this survey, it did not need more than half a
» tomahawks at - his
* ter diligent search, he
OT
” * renee NHN MARSHI ERATE
NUMBER 20,
OLMSTEAD & CO., PUBLISHERS.
‘
‘BOSTON, THURSDAY, MAY “14, 1863.:
22 SCHOOL STREET, BOSTON.
A RIDE FOR LIFE.
- In Gen, St. Clair’s ‘expedition against the In-
dians, in 1791, which resulted in fearful car-
nage, and terminated disastrously to the whites,
was a young Vermont soldier, named Isaac
Frost. On the morning of the attack of the
savages, Frost was one of the most advanced
’ sentries. The Indians had concealed themselves
in the dense cover that the neighborhood afford-
ed, and with no other warning than the shrill
warhoop, rushed upon the sentries, who gave
way panic-stricken, and fled to the camp. ‘So
cunningly had the Indians managed the attack,
that Scott had barely time to discharge his gun
before he was surrounded and made prisoner.
Ike was remarkable for his skill and daring
in all manly exercises. In horsemanship and
wrestling he had few successful rivals. He was
as broad-shouldered and muscular a fellow as
you would wish to see, He made strenuous ef=
forts to break away from the savages who sur-
rounded him. Several of them were killed by
a vigorous application of the but of his gun, but ©
at length overpowered and wounded, he was
bound, and led away towards the encampment
of the savages, which was about four miles from
the scene of his capture.
Wounded and bewildered, the young Ver- .
‘monter was a full mile on his way to the Indian
camp before he began to comprehend his criti-
cal position. He was not a man to despond, or
to throw away an opportunity of any sort, favorable
to his own interests, He knew the cruelty of his
captors, and saw before him a horrible death by
torture at their hands. “So he naturally began to
think how he could’ escape such a fate, At a
each armed with’ tomahawk and scalping knife.
thought on his own unarmed condition to convince
him that all idea of open revolt would be useless.
He was rapidly making up his mind to make
such a resistance as should compel the Indians to
knock him on the head at once,-when, as they de-
acended 2 hill, he noticed that their track would
lay near the edge of a precipice, at the base of
which, at a depth of about forty feet, ran a swift,
dark stream. The narrow ledge that skirted, or
rather overhung the, water, Was but just. wide
enough for two to walk abreast, and the prisoner,
knowing nothing of the depth or outlet of the rap-
id stream, resolved to have a plunge for it. This
chance of escape, meagre as itv was, was easily
enough hazarded. Nothing was further from the
gainds of his captors than that he meditated leaping
the awful depth. Great was their surprise and
rage when, having arrived at the middle of the
ledge, the prisoner, with a sudden side spring,
dropped like a stone into the dark water. .
The path to the bank of the stream was rugged
and tedious, nevertheless half of their number
scrambled down as quickly as they could, while the
others kept watch above, ready to launch their
head as soon as it appeared
e surface. They waited in -vain, for Ike
sor ie at home in the water. Though shaken
by the fall, he had enough of his wits tinshaken ou
of him to be aware of the danger of ee
he spot where he dropped. -
wet sentare to pop up his head for a mouthful of
air, he was too far off for their reach. Bo» : ‘er
waiting anxiously for his appearance oe Ne 7 :
hour, the red men marched off, consoling
selves with the idea that he was drowned. dow
Meanwhile Ike, having swum & long may | a
the river, thought he might safely land an pee
for the shortest cut ba to bead a eyond ee
sy matter. He was fa I
roandory of » ssdization, and had no more idea ie
his whereabouts than if he had been dropped in the
middle of the Great Desert. Cautiously sep
up the bank, he looked ansiously for some clue
the right track. For a time nothing but an une
broken forest met his gaze, skirting the neers
bank as far as the eye could reach. At lengt h, af
discovered what looked like a
slant
. A RIDE FOR LIFE.”
poi Beeb ra tla od
no mistaking it—it was the roll-call of the troops,’ thelanimal seized the halter between its teeth, and
and seemingly at no great distance. He redoubled , holding down its head,’ set off at its utmost speed,
his speed for a time, until he was checked by the , the hootings and yells behind tending in no smal!
tramp of a horse’s hoofs, and on looking for ‘the ; degree to increase its fright.
cause he discovered a horse tethered to a stake .
drivenin the ground. “As the animal wore ahempen stad him in good stead.’ He'still] held on 4o' the
bridle and had no saddle, he knew it to belong to i hempen reins, while his savage companion had cast
the Indians, and gladly . availed himself of : the, his arms round his waist, and was trying might and
chance fortune had thrown in his way, not only of main to dislodge him from bis seat, In the midst
arriving at the camp in ‘a quarter of the time he | of. his danger, Ike’s coolness did not forsake him.
otherwise could, but with the booty of a splendid | He saw the utter inutility of striving to guide the
steed. ‘ , “ | animal, and was fearful that the Indian would use
To release the impatient animal and leap on his : his knife—for the savage pressed close to him, and
back was but the work of an instant,’ True, he had he felt the weapon as it hung from the belt, against
neither curb nor rein, or any means of guiding ex- \his back. So, discarding the halter, he grasped
cept the kind of short loop he had made by fasten- | the Indian’s wrists as though they were in a vice,
ing the loose end of- the tether rope to'the other i this not only had the effect of rendering his enemy
side of the bridle.’ This inconvenience was hardly , powerless, but served very materially to . steady
felt, however; for by a miracle of good fortune, the | him on the back of the unruly steed." -*. =>
horse galloped off at once at his utmost speed to-| . For a moment the Indian seemed astonished at
wards the welcome sound that had greeted his rider’s | this sudden turning ‘of the tables, but speedily so
ears, and which grew louder and more: distinct at far recovered himself as to use a’ means of attack
every bound.» But Ike’s satisfaction was specdily | still left unembarrassed.. So making a savage snap
turned to dismay; for on breaking from the thick! at Ike's bare neck, he held on with his. teeth.
copse he found himself in full view of the’ Indian | Luckily the jolting of the horsé had prevented him
encampment, to which the sagacious animal he rode from taking a fair bite, or he would never have left
was gladly returning. Ike, in fact, had fallen into it till he had brought away the mouthful. As it was,
a little error: he had mistaken the Indian tum-tum ; he had merely caught the skin, and Ike, with a sud-
for the roll of the drum. ,
And now if ever did Tke’s skill as ‘a ‘horseman .
In less time than it takes me to write, twenty
words, he found himself in the midst of his san-
guinary enemies, nor did he have any difficulty in
recognizing among the foremost who greeted him,
some of his late body-guard. Te
It would seem they had already told the tale of
the escape of their prisoner, and savage joy lit up
every countenance as they saw him thus delivered
into their hands. Thanks to the horrible din, how-
ever, the horse reared and plunged, and. thus
avoided the many eager grasps that were made at
his bridle. War clubs, hatchets and knives were
hurled from every direction, one of which latter he
dexterously caught, as he put up his arm to avoid
the deadly shower; but the same cause that had
prevented them from catching the bridle, likewise
served to baulk their aim, -He still clung to his
reins, dealing many. a deadly blow with his friendly
knife when they ventured to grasp his clothes.» At
last, a gigantic savage advanced to the front, and
while Ike’s attention was directed to those behind,
aimed a tremendous blow at his head; but here
fortune favored him. ‘The animal seeing the up-
raised stick, reared to avoid the blow, and received
jt in full force across its mouth; in a moment it
darted madly forward, trampling: down its assail-
track, and into this he struck. os
Ne sound met his ear but the morning songs of
birds, or the sudden retreat of some somal carte?
. 3 born
is footsteps. At length a sound wat ;
ie the beeere. Tke stopped to listen. There was
ants, while, at the same moment, an Indian leaped
nimbly up behind with the intention of hurling him
offthe horse. © + = * . ee
But maddened by the repeated blows it had re-
ceived, and quite unmindful of its double burden,
den wrench, freed himself; then. suddenly jerking
| his head forward as low as he could, he threw it
| back ;with a crash, full in the face of the Indian.
The attack was not renewed, either that he did not
care for -a repetition, or because the blow had not
left him a tight tooth to gripe with.
Ike now perceived with joy that they were rapid-
ly traversing the very road his captors had brought
him along in the morning, and which he knew
must lead to camp. They came:upon one of two
knots of savages returning from the slaughter, who
paused and gazed in wonder after the swift horse
and the strange riders, undecided who was the cap-
tured and who thé captor. Both were bawling at
the top of their voices, the Indian for assistance,
savages heard his,call for help, it could only have
been given in the shape of a tomahawk, and from
that the body of the Indian effectually protected
Ike., On they dashed, till at length the Indian dis-
covered that further prosecution of ‘his ride‘waa
rather dangerous. Ike knew the signs, too; and
now, 80 far from being annoyed at the Indian's
companionship, he tightened his grasp on the dusky
wrists, hoping to carry a prisoner into his general's
camp, which could not be far off. At the ‘next
moment St. Clair’s shattered battalions came into
view, and the Indian desperately threw himself" off
the maddened 'steed.. Luckily for Isaac Frost, he
released the Indian’s hands at the moment when he
felt his lithe body swung over the horse’s ‘side;
otherwise, they must _both have fallen together,
comunaserys mr ened eee ee oe ee na ll
tine aed a
and Ike to drown his voice. ‘Indeed, ; had .the| °
As it was, his red companion fell to the ground
while, galloped in among his comrades, and had
the horse, if not the Indian, to vouch for the
truth of his story over the camp fire that eve-
(, ning; for though-Ike did go back in search of
his late foe, he was unsuccessful. There was a
: spot of blood to mark the. spot where he had
‘fallen; but the warrior himself had escaped to
give his account of the desperate ride. od
ave
aaa ecemanenn
uj. | UNCLE AARON’S TRAVELS.
_ The boys were playing under the shade of the
big butternut tree on a warm afternoon. They
had ‘pitched, and tumbled, and wrestled, and
rolled till they were heated and not a little tired:
Their stories were too few and short to’ last long,
" and they were wondering what to do next, when
Uncle Aaron came round the corner. .
~ O; Uncle Aaron, Uncle Aaron,” shouted they,
* “won’t you please to stop a few minutes? You
“are the very one we want.”
“Well, what do you want of me?” said the
good-natured, kind-hearted man. It’s only such
that acquire the title of “uncle” to all children
” of the neighborhood.
“We want you to tell us about your travels.
We know you have been a great way off—all the
way to. New Jersey—and you must have seen’
"strange things there.’ What did you find that’s
wonderful P ” We don’t want to hear anything that’s
not wonderful!” ~-°' ’
Uncle Aaron’s mouth drew down a very little,
and.his eyes seemed to laugh the least bit. ~
“Well, boy’, when I got down to Jersey, I did
sce some-things that were worth seving.” .
“We have heard that it’s a great place for mos- :
quitos, and all those kind of things.” !
“Yes, it is. Inow remember going down on the
salt marsh—"" °° ,
“What's a marsh P”
“It's a meadow.” "|? ,
“And what makes it salt?”
“Tt is so near the salt water and is so low, that
the waters overflowit at full tides. As I was saying,
I went down on the salt marsh, and the mosquitos
did come round,’ awful hungry. How they did
bite!» Iwas standing under a willow tree, when
.
some would run’ upon the tree and bark !—
and so large, too!’ A great many of them would
weigh a pound!’ Then I went down on the sand
beach and walked along till I came to some tall
grass, growing in the salt water. It was low tide,
and the grass was left, and every spear had a great
number of live fish hanging to it! Then I looked
into a little reek’ and saw fish swimming side-
wayg ls 2 be ped ad .
The boys had risen up and were standing round
Unele Aaron with their eyes open, and their mouths’
shut, as if breathing hard> , ne
“O, Uncle Aaron! what wonderful things! But
we can’t believe them! “Is all this truly and really
80% ~ :
“Yes, truly
believe ?” ~
and really ; but what is so hard to
and bark like a dog.” :
“I did not say that.” I said they ran up on the |
tree and on the bark of the tree. I said nothing
about their barking, or about a dog.” .
“Oho! we see through it! But you did say that
a great many of them would weigh a pound apiece.”
“No, I said no'such thing.’ I said a great many
of them would weigh’ a ‘pound—and I have no
doubt they would, but it would take a great many,”
» “Ab! we begin to see! ."But what about those
great live fish that’ you saw holding on to the
grass PP 2} vy . B: .
“Idid not sny they, were ‘great’ fish. On the
contrary, they were very small. They were young
oysters.” Te :
“And those fish that you. saw swimming side-
ways” ° ee uae - we a a
“Were crabs!”. said Uncle Aaron. ao
&. The boys looked at each other, as if to say, “Now
shall we laugh, ‘or be mad?” But in a moment
godd-nature prevailed, and they,shouted. ©’ *
“Now, my boys,” said’ Uncle Aaron, “you see I
have told you nothing but what was really true,
° 4
nM
a
with such force that he lay stunned. Ike, mean- -
they came upon me. Some would fly at me and !
a
a
od
4
|
|
: : .
““Why, that the mosquito would run up the tree