In the meantime, the other villagers in small parties continued to ramble through the woods within the vicinity of the town, endeavoring to discover some trace of the retreating party of Indians. As Emmett and another townsman were strolling through the rich bottoms near a place called the Indian fields, a little below Mount Vernon on the south side of the river, the conversation naturally turned upon the incidents of the preceding night. Emmett turned to his companion with a hearty laugh, requested him to sit down on a log nearby, and said he would disclose to him the whole cause of the alarm. When his companion was seated, Emmett proceeded to tell him about the logrolling and the boastings of Crawford as to his personal courage. “Believing that his heart would quail if put to the test, notwithstanding his pretensions of bravery,” continued Emmett, “another man and I entered into conspiracy against him. Our object was to play a joke upon him and to put his fortitude to a trial. We accordingly waited until he had started homeward. Then, having in some small degree disguised ourselves, and having taken a hasty circuitous route, we came into the road some distance before him and concealed ourselves behind the clump of trees on the margin of Dry Creek. Our plan succeeded beyond our expectation. We gave the poor fellow a greater fright than was intended. The joke succeeded so well that when we discovered the course it was about to take, we determined to enjoy it longer.” [Illustration: and he would disclose to him the whole cause of the alarm] This disclosure being made, the two enjoyed some merriment at the expense of Crawford and the deluded villagers. Then they laid themselves down in the shade to await the arrival of the appointed time for making their report. In the evening the different parties returned, bringing the joyful intelligence that the enemy had certainly fled from the settlement, as no trace of them could be found. The inhabitants returned to their places of residence and again enjoyed peaceful slumber. And it was not until after the lapse of several weeks that the deception and trick that had been so successfully played upon Crawford, and, indeed, upon the whole village, became generally known. But as the ruse was intended more particularly for one person, and as the excitement had passed, most of the inhabitants joined in the enjoyment of the joke. By common consent the affair was dubbed “Crawford’s Defeat,” under which name the circumstance, with all the incidents herein related, is yet well remembered by the old residents of this place. INDIANA STATE GAZETTE, November 19, 1829 Transcriber’s Notes —Silently corrected a few typos. —Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. —In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.