Hannah of Kentucky - James Otis |
Colonel Boone was much aided by Elizabeth's trail, and never once did he lose sight of it for more than a few moments at a time, and at daybreak of the third morning after the girls had been captured, Colonel Boone and his party saw in the distance the smoke of a camp fire.
There could be no question but that they had come to an end of the chase, and Flanders described how cautiously the men crept up, for there was every reason to believe the Indians would kill their captives if they saw our people in time to commit such a terrible crime.
The Shawnees were cooking breakfast, and a dozen paces away sat the three girls, Elizabeth upright like the brave woman she is, and the other girls with their heads in her lap.
You can fancy how carefully our men looked to the priming of their rifles, when Colonel Boone whispered that each was to select his target, and with what care they took aim. The first the poor girls knew that friends were near at hand was when the reports of five guns rang out.
One of the Indians fell forward upon the fire, but quickly scrambled to his feet and disappeared in the cane brush as if badly wounded; no one could say whether the others were hurt or not. At all events, they disappeared amid the thick canes, leaving behind them guns, moccasins, knives, and tomahawks, all of which were in a pile near a log where a shelter of boughs had been put up.
Colonel Boone would not listen to the proposal of a chase. The cane was so thick that it would have been an easy matter for the savages to remain in hiding, and no one could say how many might be around. Besides, the first thoughts of all were for the girls, and by the time it had been learned that they were not injured, the Indians had had ample chance to get away.
Little of anything save the rescue was talked about during that evening after the girls were brought home; but the next morning our men began to wonder whether the Shawnees might not be making ready to attack Boonesborough, or why was that party of five skulking around so near the fort? Our people were not the only ones who were alarmed just at that time.