WHITE AND MCCLELLAND.

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sonant voices of the feminine elders. The arrival of every new war-party was greeted with terrific yells, which, striking the mural face of Mount Pleasant, were driven back by the various indentations of the bluffs beyond the valley, producing reverberations and echoes as if ten thousand fiends were gathered at a festival. Such yells would have struck terror to the hearts of those unaccustomed to Indian revelry. To our spies, however, they were but martial music; strains which waked their watchfulness, and newly strung their veteran courage. From their early youth they had been on the frontier, and were well practised in all the subtleties of Indian warfare. They were, therefore, not likely to be ensnared by their cunning, nor, without a desperate conflict to fall victims to the scalping-knife or tomahawk. On several occasions small parties left the prairie, and ascended the mount from the eastern side. At such times the spies secreted themselves in the deep fissures of the rocks on the west, coming forth from their hiding-places when their unwelcome visitors had disappeared.

For food they depended on jerked venison and corn-bread, with which their knapsacks were well stored. They dared not kindle a fire; and the report of one of their guns would have brought upon them the entire force of the Indians. For drink they used the rain water which stood here and there in the hollows of the rocks; but in short time this store was exhausted, and McClelland and White found that they must abandon their enterprise or obtain a new supply. McClelland, being the oldest, resolved to make the dangerous attempt; and with his rifle in

his hand, and their two canteens strung across his shoulders, he cautiously descended, by a circuitous route, to the prairie, skirting the hills on the north; under cover of the hazel bushes, he reached the river, and turning a bold point of a hill, found a beautiful spring within a few feet of the bank, now known by the name of "Cold Spring." He speedily filled his canteens and returned in safety to his companion. It was hereupon determined to have a fresh supply of water every day, and the duty of bringing it was performed alternately.

One day, after White had filled his canteens, he sat a few moments watching the limpid element as it came bubbling out of the bosom of the earth, when the light sound of footsteps caught his practised ear, and upon turning round, he saw two squaws within a few feet of him. Upon turning the point of the hill, the eldest squaw, seeing him, gave one of those far-reaching whoops peculiar to Indians. White at once comprehended his perilous situation. If the alarm should reach the camps or the town, he and his companion must inevitably perish. Self-preservation compelled him to inflict a noiseless death upon the squaws, and in such a manner, if possible, as to leave no trace behind. Rapid in thought, and prompt in action, he instantly sprang upon his victims, and, grasping the throat of each, jumped into the river. He thrust the head of the eldest under water; but while making strong efforts to submerge the other, who powerfully resisted him, what was his astonishment to hear her address him in his own language, though in almost inarticulate sounds. Releasing his hold, she informed him that she had been a captive

THE FEMALE CAPTIVE.

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for ten years, and was taken from below Wheeling; that the Indians had killed all her family, and that her brother and herself were taken prisoners, but that he succeeded in making his escape on the second night after he was taken. During this narrative White had drowned the elder squaw, and had let her float off with the current. He then directed the girl to follow him, and pushed rapidly for the mount. They had scarcely gone half-way, when they heard the alarm-cry a quarter of a mile down the stream. A party of Indians, returning from a hunting-excursion, had reached the river just as the body of the squaw floated by. White and the girl succeeded in reaching the summit, where McClelland had been no indifferent spectator of the commotion among the Indians. Parties of warriors had struck off in all directions; and White and the girl had scarcely arrived, before a band of about twenty had reached the eastern declivity of the mount, and had commenced the ascent, cautiously keeping under cover. The spies watched their swarthy foes as they glided from tree to tree, and rock to rock, until their position was surrounded, except on the perpendicular side to the westward, and all hope of escape was cut off. In this perilous condition nothing was left but to sell their lives as dearly as possible, and this they resolved to do; advising the girl to escape to the Indians and tell them that she had been taken prisoner. This, however, she refused to do, and insisted upon remaining with them, assuring them that she was a good shot, and begging to be furnished with a rifle, which, however, they were unable to supply.

The two spies, though so far outnumbered, werc

adinirably posted. The very rocky and broken surface of the summit of the hill, served to prevent the Indians from discovering the number of men that held it; while, from the nature of the ground below, no savage could advance beyond a certain line without becoming exposed to the aim of the unknown marksmen above. Beyond this space, the warriors availed themselves of the rocks and trees in advancing; but in passing from one side of it to the other, they must be exposed for a short time; and a moment was enough for the unerring rifles of the spies. The Indians, being entirely ignorant of the number of their adversaries in ambuscade, were the more cautious in their approach.

While bravely maintaining the fight in front, and keeping the enemy in check, the whites discovered a new danger. The foe were evidently preparing to attack them on the flank; which could most successfully be done by reaching an isolated rock lying in one of the ravines on the southern side of the hill. This rock once gained by the Indians, they could bring the spies under point blank shot of their rifles, without the possibility of escape. The two scouts saw the hopelessness of their situation; for only a brave companion and unerring shot could avert the peril. Nevertheless, with characteristic coolness, they continued their defence, and, calculating the additional chances against them, endeavored, as far as possible, to provide for the new emergency.

McClelland saw a tall and swarthy warrior preparing to spring from a covert, so near to the fatal rock that a bound or two would reach it, and all hope of life would then be gone. He felt that all depended

THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT.

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upon one successful shot, and although but an inch or two of the warrior's body was exposed, and that at a distance of eighty or a hundred yards, be resolved to risk all; and coolly raising his rifle to his face, and shading the sights with his hand, he drew a bead so sure that he felt confident it would do execution. He touched the trigger—the hammer came down-but instead of striking fire it broke the flint to pieces. Although he felt assured that the Indian must reach the rock before he could adjust another flint, he nevertheless coolly proceeded to the task, casting his eye towards the fearful point. Suddenly he saw the warrior straining every muscle for the leap, and with the agility of a panther he made the spring, but instead of reaching the rock he gave a hideous yell, and his dark body rolled lifeless down the steep into the valley below. He had received a death shot from some unknown hand. A hundred voices re-echoed from below the terrible shout. It was evident that they had both lost a favorite warrior and been disappointed in an important movement. The respite was of short duration. In a few minutes the spies caught a glimpse of another athletic savage cautiously advancing to the covert recently occupied by his companion. At the same time the attack in front was renewed with increased fury, so as to require the incessant fire of both spies to prevent the Indians from gaining the eminence. McClelland saw the warrior preparing for the fatal spring. The leap was made, and the Indian turning a somerset, his corpse rolled down the mountain side towards that of his companion. Again some unknown agent had interposed in their behalf. This second sacrifice