Daniel Boone by John Stevens Cabot Abbott : Chapter 8

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter eight of Daniel Boone by JohnS. C Abbott. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain, recordedby Alison Hester, chapter eight, Captivity
and Flight. The following, wellauthenticicated account of the adventures of a ranger
is so graphically described in Brown's Historyof Illinois that we give it in the

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words of the rider. Thomas Higgins, a native Kentuckian, was in the
summer of eighteen fourteen, stationed ina block house eight miles south of Greenville
in what is now Bond County,Illinois. On the evening of the thirtieth
of August eighteen fourteen, a smallparty of Indians having been seen prowling around

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the station, Lieutenant Journay, withall of his men twelve only in number,
sallied forth the next morning, justbefore daybreak, in pursuit of them.
They had not proceeded far on theborder of the prairie before, where
they were in an ambuscade of seventyor eighty savages. At the first fire,
the lieutenant and three of his menwere killed. Six fled to the

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fort under cover of the smoke,for the morning was sultry and the air
being damp, the smoke from theguns hung like a cloud over the scene,
but Higgins remained behind to have onemore pull at the enemy and to
avenge the death of his companions.He sprang behind a small elm, scarcely

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sufficient to protect his body. Whenthe smoke, partly rising, discovered to
him a number of Indians, uponwhom he fired and shot down the foremost
one concealed still by the smoke.Higgins reloaded, mounted his horse and turned
to fly when a voice apparently fromthe grass, held him with Tom,

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you won't leave me, will you. He turned immediately around, and,
seeing a fellow soldier by the nameof Burgess lying on the ground, wounded
it and gasping for breath, repliedno, I will not leave you.
Come along. I can't come,said Burgess. My leg is all smashed
to pieces. Higgins, dismounted,and taking up his friend, whose ankle

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had been broken, was about tolift him on his horse, when the
animal, taking fright, darted offin an instant and left them both behind.
This is too bad, said Higgins, But don't fear you. Hop
off on your three legs, andI will stay behind you and the Indians
and keep them off. Get intothe tallest grass and creep as near the

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ground as possible. Burgess did soand escaped the smoke which ch had hitherto
concealed. Higgins now cleared away,and he resolved, if possible to retreat
to follow the track of Burgess wasmost expedient. It would, however,
endanger his friend. He determined thereforeto venture boldly forward, and if discovered,

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to secure his own safety by therapidity of his flight. On leaving
a small thicket in which he hadsought refuge, he discovered a tall,
portly savage near by, and twoothers in the direction between him and the
fort. He started therefore for alittle rivulet near but found one of his
limbs failing him, it having beenstruck by a ball in the first encounter,

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of which till now he was scarcelyconscious. The largest Indian pressed close
upon him, and Higgins turned roundtwo or three times in order to fire.
The Indian halted and danced about toprevent his taking aim. He saw
that it was unsafe to fire atrandom, and perceiving two others approaching,

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knew he must be overpowered unless hecould dispose of the forward Indian first.
He resolved therefore to halt and receivehis fire. The Indian raised his rifle,
and Higgins, watching his eye,turned suddenly as his finger the trigger,
and received the ball in his thigh. He fell, but rose immediately

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and ran. The foremost Indian,now certain of his prey, loaded again,
and with the other two pressed onthey overtook him. He fell again,
and as he rose, the wholethree fired, and he received all
their balls. He now fell androse a third time, and the Indians,

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throwing away their guns, advanced uponhim with spears and knives. As
he presented his gun at one oranother, each fell back. At last,
the largest Indian, supposing his gunto be empty from his fire,
having been thus reserved, advanced boldlyto the charge. Higgins fired, and
the savage fell. He had nowfour bullets in his body, an empty

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gun in his hand, two Indiansunharmed as yet before him, and a
whole tribe but a few yards distant. Any other man would have spared,
not so with him. He hadslain the most dangerous of the three,
and having but little to fear fromthe others, began to load his rifle.

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They raised a savage whoop and rushedto the encounter. A bloody conflict
now ensued. The Indians stabbed himin several places. Their spears, however,
were but thin poles, hastily prepared, and which bent whenever they struck
a ribbery muscle. The wounds theymade were not therefore deep, though numerous.

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At last one of them threw histomahawk. It struck him upon the
cheek, severed his ear laid barehis skull to the back of his head,
and stretched him upon the prairie.The Indians again rushed on, but
Higgins, recovering his self possession,kept them off with his feet and hands.
Grasping at length one of their spears. The Indian, and attempting to

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pull it from him, raised Higginsup, who, taking his rifle,
dashed out the brains of the nearestsavage. In doing this, however,
it broke the barrel, only remainingin his hand. The other Indian,
who had heretofore fought with caution,came now manfully into the battle. His

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character as a warrior was in jeopardy. To have fled from a man thus
wounded and disarmed, or to havesuffered his victim to escape, would have
tarnished his fame forever. Uttering thereforea terrific yell, he rushed on and
attempted to stab the exhausted ranger,but the latter warded off his blow with
one hand and brandished his rightful barrelwith the other. The Indian was as

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yet unharmed, and under existing circumstances, by far the most powerful man.
Higgins's courage, however, was unexhaustibleand inexhaustible. The Savage at last began
to retreat from the glare of hisuntamed eye to the spot where he had
dried his rifle. Higgins knew thatif he recovered that his own case was

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desperate. Throwing therefore his rifle barrelaside and drawing his hunting knife, he
rushed upon his foe. A desperatestrife ensued. Deep gashes were inflicted on
both sides. Higgins, fatigued andexhausted by the loss of blood, was
no longer a match for the Savage. The latter succeeded in throwing his adversary

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from him, and went immediately inpursuit of his rifle. Higgins, at
the same time rose and sought forthe gun of the other Indian, Both
therefore bleeding and out of breath,were in search of arms to renew the
combat. The smoke had now passedaway, and a large number of Indians
were in view. Nothing, itwould seem, could now save the gallant

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ranger. There was, however,an eye to pity and an arm to
save, and that arm was awoman's. The little garrison had witnessed the
whole combat. It consisted of butsix men and one woman. That woman,
however, was a host, aMissus Pursley. When she saw Higgins
contending single handed with a whole tribeof savages, she urged the rangers to

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attempt his rescue. The rangers objected, as the Indians were ten to one.
Missus Pursley therefore snatched a rifle fromher husband's hand, and, declaring
that so fine a fellow as TomHiggins should not be lost for want of
help, mounted a horse and salliedforth to his rescue. The men,

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unwilling to be outdone by a woman, followed at full gallop, reached the
spot where Higgins had fainted and fellbefore the Indians came up, And while
the savage with whom he had beenengaged was looking for his rifle, his
friends lifted the wounded ranger up andthrowing him across a horse before one of
the party reached the fort in safety. Higgins was insensible for several days,

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and his life was preserved by continuedcare. His friends extracted two of the
balls from his thigh. Two,however, yet remained, one of which
gave him a good deal of pain. Hearing afterwards that a physician had settled
within a day's right of him,he determined to go and see him.
The physician asked him fifty dollars forthe operation. This Higgins flatly refused,

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saying that it was more than halfa year's pension. On reaching home,
he found that the exercise of ridinghad made the ball discernible. He requested
his wife, therefore, to handhim his razor. With her assistance,
he laid open his thigh until theedge of the razor touched the bullet.
Then, inserting his two thumbs intothe gash, he flirted it out,

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as he used to say, withoutit costing him a cent. The other
ball yet remained. It gave him, however, but little pain, and
he carried it with him to thegrave. Higgins died in Fayette County,
Illinois, a few years ago.He was the most perfect specimen of a
frontier man in his day, andwas once assistant doorkeeper of the House of

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Representatives in Illinois. The facts abovestated are familiar to many whom Higgins was
personally known, and there is nodoubt of their correctness. This narrative gives
one a very vivid idea of thenature of the conflict in which Boone,
through so many years of his life, was engaged. The little fort,

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whose feeble garrison he commanded, wasliable at any time to be assailed by
overwhelming numbers. Daniel Boone, duringhis occupancy of the fort at Boonsborough,
manifested the most constant vigilance to guardagainst surprise. He was, however,
struggling against a foe whose cunning andstratagems were such as not to allow him

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an hour of quiet. One morning, two men laboring in the field were
shot at by the Indians. Notbeing hit, they ran for the fort.
They were pursued by the savages,and one was tomahawked and scalped within
a few hundred feet of the gate. Boone, hearing the alarm, inconsiderately,

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rushed out with ten men upon themiscreants. They fled before him,
hotly pursued. In the eagerness ofthe chase, Boone had not counted the
number of his foes, some ofthem, rushing from their ambush, cut
off his retreat. At one discharge, six of his men fell wounded.
Boone's leg was shattered by a ball. As he fell to the ground,

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the tomahawk of a savage was overhis head. Simon Kenton, who was
one of Boone's party, with sureaim, pierced the heart of the savage
with a rifle bullet, and hefell dead. Reinforcements rushed from the fort
and fortunately succeeded in rescuing the adventurousparty the wounded at all. It is

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said of Boone that, though asilent man and not given to compliments,
he manifested very deep gratitude to hisfriend Kenton for saving his life. The
very peculiar character of Boone is vividlypresented in the following sketch from the graphic
pen of mister Peck. As dangersthickened and appearances grew more alarming, as

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scouts came in with rumors of Indiansseen here and there, and as the
hardy and bold woodsman sat around theircamp fires with the loaded rifle at hand,
rehearsing for the twentieth time the talesof Noble Daring or the hair breadth
Escapes. Boone would sit silent,apparently not heeding the conversation, employed in

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repairing the rents in his hunting shirtand leggins, and molding bullets, or
cleaning his rifle. Yet the eyesof the garrison were upon him concerning Indian
signs. He was an oracle,sometimes with one or two trusty companions,
but more frequently alone. As nightclosed in, he would steal noiselessly away

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into the woods to reconnoiter the surroundingwilderness. And in the daytime, stealthily
would he creep along with his trustyrifle resting on his arm, ready for
the least sign of danger, hiskeen piercing eyes glancing into every thicket and
cane brake, or watch intently forsigns of the wily enemy. Accustomed to

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range the country as a hunter anda scout, he would frequently meet the
approaching travelers on the road and pilotthem into the settlement while his rifles supplied
them with provisions. He was evermore ready to aid the community or to
engage in public services, than toattend to his private interests. The want

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of salt had become one of thegreatest privations of the garrison. It was
an article assential to comfort and health, and yet in the warfare then existing
was almost impossible of attainment. Uponthe Sicking River, nearly a hundred miles
north from Boonsboro, there were valuablesprings richly impregnated with salt. Animals from

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all quarters frequent in these springs,licking the saturated clay around them, hence
the name of salt licks. Evaporatingthe water by boiling in large kettles,
salts of a good quality was easilyobtained. The necessities of the garrison became
so great that Colonel Boone took awell armed party of thirty men, and,

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threading their way through the wilderness atlength, reached the springs unassailed.
It was one of the boldest adventures. It was certain that the watchful Indians
would learn that a party had leftthe cover of the fort and would fall
upon them with great ferocity. ColonelBoone, who desired to obtain salt for

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all the garrisons, deemed it consequentlynecessary to work night and day with the
greatest possible diligence. They could neverventure to move a step beyond the grasp
of their rifles. For nearly fourweeks, the salt makers pursued their work
unassailed. The news of so strongand well armed a party having left the

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fort reached the years of the Indians. They had a very great dread of
Boone, and knew very well hewould not be found sleeping or unprotected at
the springs. They shrewdly inferred thatthe departure of so many men must greatly
weaken the garrison, and that theycould never hope for a more favorable opportunity

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to attack Boonsborough. This formidable fortresswas the great object of their dread.
They thought that if they could layin at ashes, making it the funeral
pyre of all its inmates, theweaker forts would immediately be abandoned by their
garrisons in despair, or could easilybe captured. An expedition was formed,

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consisting of more than a hundred Indianwarriors and accompanied, it is said by
two frenchmen. Boone had sent threemen back to the garrison loaded with salt,
and to convey tidings of the goodcondition of the party at the springs.
On the morning of the seventh ofFebruary, Boone, who was unequaled
in his skill as a hunter andalso when the sagacity by which he could

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avoid the Indians, was out insearch of game as food for the party.
Emboldened by the absence of all signsof the vicinity of the Indians,
he had wandered some distance from thesprings, where he encountered this band of
warriors attended by the two frenchmen onthe march for the assault on Boonsboro.
Though exceedingly fleet afoot, his attemptto escape was in vain. The young

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Indian runners overtook and captured him.The Indians seemed to have great respect for
Boone. Even with them, hehad acquired the reputation of being a just
and humane man, while his extraordinaryabilities both as a hunter and a warrior
had won their admiration. Boone wasnot heading a war party to assail them.

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He had not robbed them of anyof their horses. They were therefore
not exasperated against him personally. Itis also not improbable that the Frenchmen who
were with them had influenced them notto treat their prisoner with barbarity. Boone,
whose spirits seemed never to be perturbed, yielded so gracefully to his captors

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as to awaken in their bosoms someemotions of kindness. They promised that if
the party at the springs would yieldwithout resistance, which resistance, though unavailing,
they knew, would cost them thelives of many of their warriors,
the lives of the captives should besafe, and they should not be exposed
to any inhumane treatment. Boone wasmuch perplexed. Had he been with his

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men, he would have fought tothe last extremity, and his presence,
not improbably might have inspirited them evento a successful defense. But deprived of
their leader, taken entirely by surprise, and outnumbered three or four to one,
their massacre was certain, and itwas also certain that the Indians,

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exasperated by the loss which they wouldhave encountered, would put every prisoner to
death through all the horrors of fiendliketorture. Under these circumstances, Colonel Boone
very wisely decided upon surrender. Itwould have been very impolitic and cruel to
do otherwise. He having thus givenhis word, the Indians placed implicit confidence

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in it. They were also perfectlyfaithful to their own promises. Boone was
allowed to approach his men and representthe necessity of a surrender, which was
immediately affected. The Indians were soelated by this great victory, and were
so well satisfied with the result ofthe campaign, that instead of continuing their

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march for the attack of Boonsborough,they returned with their illustrious captive and his
twenty seven companions to their headquarters onthe Little Miami River. The modest,
unaffected account which Boone himself gives ofthese transactions is worthy of record here.
On the seventh of February, asI was hunting to procure meat for the

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company, I met a party ofone hundred and two Indians and two Frenchmen
on their march against Boonsborough, thatplace being particularly the object of the enemy.
They pursued and took me and broughtme the eighth day to the Licks,
where twenty seven of my party were. Three of them having previously returned

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home with the salt. I,knowing it was impossible for them to escape,
capitulated with the enemy, and ata distance in their view, gave
noticed to my men of their situation, with orders not to resist, but
to surrender themselves captives. The generalusage the Indians had promised before in my
capitulation was afterwards fully complied with,and we proceeded with them as prisoners to

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the old Chillicothe, the principal Indiantown on Little Miami, where we arrived
after an uncomfortable journey in very severeweather, on the eighteenth of February,
and received as good treatment as prisonerscould expect from savages. On the tenth
of March following, I and tenof my men were conducted by forty Indians

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to Detroit, where we arrived onthe thirtieth day, and retreated by Governor
Hamilton, the British commander at thatpost, with great humanity. During our
travels, the Indians entertained me well, and their affection for me was so
great that they utterly refused to leaveme there with the others, although the
governor offered them one hundred pounds sterlingfrom me on purpose to give me a

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parole to go home. Several Englishgentlemen, there being sensible of my adverse
fortune, and touched with human sympathy, generously offered a friendly supply for my
wants, which I refused with manythanks for their kindness, adding that I
never expected it would be in mypower to recompense such unmerited generosity. The

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British officers in Detroit could not ventureto interfere in behalf of Colonel Boone in
any way which would displease their savageallies, for they relied much upon them
in their warfare against the colonies.There was much in the character of our
hero to win the affection of thesavages. His silent, unboastful courage.

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They admired. He was more theirequal in skill in traversing the pathless forest.
His prowess as a hunter they fullyappreciated. It was their hope that
he would consent to be incorporated intheir tribe, and they would have gladly
accepted him as one of their chiefs. The savages had almost universally sufficient intelligence

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to appreciate the vast superiority of thewhite men. The Indians spent ten days
at Detroit and surrendered for a ransomall of their captives to the English,
excepting Colonel Boone. Him. Theytook back on a long and fatiguing journey
to old Chillicothee on the Little Miami. The country they traversed, now so

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full of wealth, activity, andall the resources of individual and social happiness,
was then a vast wilderness, silentand lonely still in its solitude.
It was very beautiful, embellished withfertile plains, magnificent groves, and crystal
streams. At Chillicothee, Colonel Boonewas formerly adopted, according to an Indian

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custom, into the family of Blackfish, one of the distinguished chiefs of the
Shawanese tribe at chillicothe writes Boon,I spent my time as comfortably as I
could expect. I was adopted,according to their custom, into a family
where I became a son and hada great share in the affection of my
new parents, brothers, sisters,and friends. I was exceedingly familiar and

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friendly with them, always appearing ascheerful and satisfied as possible, and they
put great confidence in me. Ioften went hunting with them, and frequently
gained their applause for my activity atour shooting matches. I was careful not
to excel them when shooting, forno people are more envious than they in
their sport. I could observe intheir countenances and gestures the greatest expressions of

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joy when they exceeded me, andwhen the reverse happened, of envy.
The Shawnees king took great notice ofme and treated me with profound respect and
entire friendship, often trusting me tohunt at my liberty. I frequently returned
with the oils of the woods,and as often presented some of what I

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had taken to him, expressive ofmy duty to my sovereign. My food
and lodging were in common with them, not so good, indeed, as
I could desire, but necessity makeseverything acceptable. The spirit manifested by Boone
under these circumstances, when he wasapparently a hopeless prisoner in the hands of
the Indians, was not influenced byartifice alone. He had real sympathy for

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the savages. Being fully conscious ofthe wrongs which were often inflicted upon them,
and which goaded their untamed natures tofearful barbarities, he had always treated
them, not only kindly, butwith fraternal respect. The generous treatment he
had received in return won his regardshis peculiarly placid nature was not easily disturbed

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by any reverses. He never allowedhimself to complain or to worry, thus
making the best of circumstances. Healways looked upon the brightest side of things,
and was reasonably happy even in thisdireful captivity. Still he could not
forget his home, and was continuallyon the alert to avail himself of whatever

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opportunity might be presented to escape andreturn to his friends. The ceremony of
adoption was pretty severe and painful.All the hair of the head was plucked
out by a tedious operation, leavingsimply a tuft three or four inches in
diameter on the crown. This wascalled the scalp lock. The hair was

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here allowed to grow long, andwas dressed with ribbons and feathers. It
was to an individual warrior what thebanner is to an army. The victor
tore it from the skull as histrophy. Having thus denuded the head and
dressed the scalp lock, the candidatewas taken to the river and very thoroughly
scrubbed that all the white blood mightbe washed out of him. His face

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was painted in the most approved styleof Indian taste. When he was led
to the council lodge and addressed bythe Chief in a long and formal speech
in which he expatiates upon the honorconferred upon the adopted son and upon the
corresponding duties expected of him. ColonelBoone, having passed through this transformation,

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with his Indian dress and his paintedcheeks, his toughed scalp lock, and
his whole person embrowned by constant exposureto the open air, could scarcely be
distinguished from any of his Indian associates. His weary captors, however, notwithstanding
all the kindness with which they treatedhim, seems to be conscious that it
must be his desire to return tohis friends. They therefore, habitually,

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but without a remark suggestive of anysuspicions, adopted precautions to prevent his escape.
So skillful a hunter as Boone could, with his rifle and a supply
of ammunition, traverst the solitary expansearound for almost any length of time,
living in abundance, but deprived ofhis rifle or of ammunition, he would

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soon almost inevitably perish of starvation.The Indians were therefore very careful not to
allow him to accumulate any ammunition whichwas so essential to sustain him in a
journey through the wilderness. Though Boonewas often allowed to go out and hunt
alone, they always counted his ballsand the charges of powder. Thus they

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could judge whether he had concealed anyammunition to aid him should he attempt to
escape. He, however, withequal sagacity, cut the balls and halves,
and used very small charges of powder. Thus he secretly laid aside quite
a little store of ammunition. Asever, undismayed by misfortune, he serenely

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gave the energies of his mind tothe careful survey of the country around.
During the time that I hunted forthem, he writes, I found the
land for a great extent about thisriver, to exceed the soil of Kentucky,
if possible, and remarkably well watered. Upon one of the branches of
the Scioto River, which stream runsabout sixty miles east of the Little Miami,

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there were some salt springs. Earlyin June, a party of Indians
set out for these licks to makesalt. They took Boone with them.
The Indians were quite averse to anythinglike hard work. Boone not only understood
the process of manufacture perfectly, butwas always quietly and energetically devoted to whatever

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he undertook. The Indians, inspiredby the double motive of his desire to
obtain as much salt as possible andto hold securely the prisoner whom they so
highly valued, kept him so busyat the kettles as to give him no
opportunity to escape. After an absenceof about a fortnight, they returned with
a good supply of salt to theLittle Miami. Here. Boone was quite

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alarmed to find that during his absence, the chiefs had been marshaling a band
of four hundred and fifty of theirbravest warriors to attack Boonsborough. In that
fort were his wife and children.Its capture would probably insure their slaughter.
He was aware that the fort wasnot sufficiently guarded by its present inmates,
and that, unapprehensive of impending danger, they were liable to be taken entirely

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by surprise. Boone was sufficiently acquaintedwith the Shawanese dialect to understand every word
they said, While he very sagaciouslyhad assumed from the moment of his captivity
that he was entirely Ignorant of theirlanguage, Boone's anxiety was very great.
He was compelled to assume a smilingface as he attended their war dances.

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Apparently unmoved, he listened to thedetails of their plans for the surprise of
the fort, indeed, to hisarmed suspicion, and to convince them he
had truly become one of their number, he cooperated in giving efficiency to their
hostile designs, against all he heldmost dear in the world. It had
now become a matter of infinite momentthat he should immediately escape and carry to

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his friends in the fort the tidingsof their peril. But the slightest unweary
movement would have led the suspicious Indiansso to redouble their vigilance as to render
escape utterly impossible. So skillfully didhe conceal the emotions which agitated him,
and so successfully did he feign entirecontentment with his lot, that his captors,

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all absorbed in the enterprise in whichthey were engaged, remitted their ordinary
vigilance. On the morning of thesixteenth of June, Boone rose very early
to take his usual hunt with hissecreted ammunition and the amount allowed him by
the Indians for the day he hopedto be able to save himself from starvation.
During his flight of five days throughthe pathless wilderness, there was a

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distance of one hundred and sixty milesbetween Old Chillicothe and Boonsborough. The moment
his flight should be suspected, fourhundred and fifty Indian warriors, breathing vengeance
and in perfect preparation for the pursuit, would be on his track. His
capture would almost certainly result in hisdeath by the most cruel tortures, for

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the infuriated Indians would wreak upon himall their vengeance. It is, however,
not probable that this silent, pensiveman allowed these thoughts seriously to disturb
his equanimity. An instinctive trust inGod seemed to inspire him. He was
forty three years of age, inthe knowledge of woodcraft and in powers of

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endurance. No Indians surpassed him,though he would be pursued by sagacious and
veteran warriors and by young Indian braves, a pack four hundred and fifty savages
following with keener scent than that ofthe bloodhound. One poor victim, yet
undismayed, he entered upon the appallingenterprise. The history of the world perhaps

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presents but few feats so difficult andyet so successfully performed. And yet the
only record which this modest man makesin his autobiography of this wonderful adventure is
as follows. On the sixteenth beforesunrise, I departed in the most secret
manner, and arrived at Boonsborough onthe twentieth, after a journey of one

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hundred and sixty miles, during whichI had but one meal. It was
necessary, as soon as Boone gotout of sight of the village to fly
with the utmost speed, to putas great a distance as possible between himself
and his pursuers before they should suspecthis attempt at escape. He subsequently learned

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that as soon as the Indians apprehendthat he had actually fled, there was
the most intense commotion in their camp, and immediately a large number of their
fleetest runners and keenest hunters were putupon his trail. He dared not fire
a gun. Had he killed anygame, he could not have ventured to
kindle a fire to cook it.He had secretly provided himself with a few

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cuts of dried venison, with whichhe could appease his hunger. As he
pressed forward by day and by night, scarcely allowing himself one moment for rest
or sleep. His route lay throughforests and swamps, and across many streams
swollen by recent rains. At lengthhe reached the Ohio River. Its current

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was swift and turbid, rolling ina majestic flood half a mile in width,
feeling the bed of the stream withalmost fathomless waters from shore to shore.
Experienced as Colonel Boone was in woodcraft, he was not a skillful swimmer.
The thought of how he should crossedthe Ohio had caused him much anxiety.
Upon reaching its banks, he fortunately, may we not say, providentially

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found an old canoe which had driftedamong the bushes upon the shore. There
was a large hole at one end, and it was nearly fueled with water.
He succeeded in baling out the waterand plugging up the hole, and
crossed the river in safety. Then, for the first time he so far
indulged in a feeling of security,as to venture to shoot a turkey and

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kindling a fire. He feasted abundantlyupon the rich repast. It was the
only meal in which he indulged duringhis flight of five days. On his
arrival at Boonsborough, he was welcomedas one risen from the grave. Much
to his disappointment, he found thathis wife, with his children, despairing

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of ever seeing him again, hadleft the fort and returned to the house
of her father in North Carolina.She supposed that the Indian had killed him,
oppressed, writes Boone, with thedistresses of the country, and bereaved
of me her only happiness. Shehad undertaken her long and perilous journey through

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the wilderness. It is gratifying torecord that she reached her friends in safety.
Boone found the fort, as hehad apprehended, in a bad state
of defense. His presence, hismilitary skill, and the intelligence he brought
immediately inspired every man to the intensestexertion. The gates were strengthened, new

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bastions were formed, and provisions werelaid in to stand a siege. Everything
was done which could be done torepel an assault from They knew not how
many savages. Aided by British leadersfrom the band of Old Chillicothe, was
to be joined by warriors from severalother tribes. In ten days, Boonsborough
was ready for the onset. Thesearduous labors being completed, Boone heroically resolved

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to strike consternation into the Indians byshowing them that he was prepared for aggressive
as well as defensive warfare, andthat they must leave behind them warriors for
the protection of their own villages.Selecting a small party of but nineteen men,
about the first of August, heemerged from Boonsboro, marched boldly to

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the Ohio, crossed the river intothe valley of Skioto, and was within
four miles of an Indian town,paint Creek, which he intended to destroy,
when he chanced to encounter a bandof thirty savages painted, thoroughly armed
and on the war path to jointhe band advancing from Old Chillicothee. The

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Indians were attacked with such vehemence byBoone that they fled in consternation, leaving
behind them three horses and all theirbaggage. The savages also lost one killed
and two wounded, while they inflictedno loss whatever upon the white men.
Boone sent forward some swift runners asspies, and they speedily returned with the

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report that the Indians, in apanic, had entirely abandoned Paint Creek.
Aware that the warriors would rush tojoin the four hundred and fifty from Old
Chillicothe, and that they might cutoff his retreat or reach Boonsboro before his
return, he immediately commenced a rapidmovement back to the fort. Every man
would be needed there for an obstinatedefense. This foray had extended one hundred

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and fifty miles from the fort.It greatly alarmed the Indians, It emboldened
the hearts of the garrison, andgave them intelligence of the approach of their
foes. After an absence of butseven days, Boone, with his heroic
little band, quite triumphantly re enteredthe fort. The approach of the foe
was described in the following terms byBoone. On the eighth of August,

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the Indian army arrived, being fourhundred and forty four in number, commanded
by Captain der Kaisney, eleven otherFrenchmen and some of their own chiefs,
and marched up in view of ourfort, with British and French colors flying,
and having sent a summons to mein his Britannic Majesty's name to surrender

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the fort. I requested two daysconsideration, which was granted. It was
now a critical period with us.We were a small number in the garrison,
a powerful army before our walls,whose appearance proclaimed inevitable death, fearfully
painted and marking their footsteps with desolation. Death was preferable to captivity, and

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if taken by storm, we mustinevitably be devoted to destruction. In this
situation, we concluded to maintain ourgarrison if possible. We immediately proceeded to
collect what we could of our horsesand other cattle and bring them through the
posterns into the fort. And inthe evening of the ninth I returned the

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answer that we were determined to defendour fort while a man was living.
Now, said I to their commander, who stood attentively hearing my sentiments.
We laugh at your formidable preparations,but thank you for giving us notice and
time for our defense. Your effortswill not prevail, for our gates shall
forever deny you admittance. Whether thisanswer affected their courage or not, I

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cannot tell, But contrary to ourexpectations, they formed a scheme to deceive
us, declaring it was their ordersfrom Governor Hamilton to take us captives,
and not to destroy us. Butif nine of us would come out and
treat with them, they would immediatelywithdraw their forces from our walls and return

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home peaceably. This sounded grateful inour ears, and we agreed to the
proposal end of Chapter eight.