Time rolled on, and the Panther continued to occupy his hut in the wilderness, on the banks of the Illinois River, a general favorite among the savages and exercising a great influence over them. At last the tide of white population again overtook him, and he found himself once more surrounded by white neighbors. Still, however, he seemed loth to forsake the noble Illinois, on whose banks he had been so long a fixture, and he held on, forming a sort of connecting line between the white settlers and the Indians. At length hostilities broke out, which resulted in the memorable Black Hawk war, that spread desolation through that part of the country.--Parties of Indians committed the most wanton and cruel depredations, often murdering old friends and companions, with whom they had long held conversation. The white settlers, for some distance round, flocked to the cabin of the Panther for protection. His cabin was transformed into a sort of garrison, and was filled with more than an hundred men, women and children, who rested almost their only hope of safety on the prowess of the Panther, and his influence over the savages. At this time a party of about nine hundred of the Iroquois were on the banks of the Illinois, about a mile from the garrison of Myers, and nearly opposite the present town of La Salle.--One day news was brought to the camp of Myers, that his brother-in-law and wife, and their three children, had been cruelly murdered by some of the Indians. The Panther heard the sad news in silence. The eyes of the people were upon him, to see what he would do. Presently they beheld him with a deliberate and determined air, putting himself in battle array. He girdled on his tomahawk and scalping knife, and shouldered his loaded rifle, and, at open mid-day, silently and alone, bent his steps towards the Indian encampment. With a fearless and firm tread, he marched quietly into the midst of the assembly, elevated his rifle at the head of the principal Chief present, and shot him dead on the spot.--He then deliberately severed the head from the trunk, and holding it up by the hair before the awe-struck multitude, he exclaimed, "You have murdered my brother-in-law, his wife and little ones; and now I have murdered your Chief, I am now even with you. But now mind, every one of you that is found here to-morrow morning at sunrise, is a dead Indian!" All this was accomplished without the least molestation from the Indians. These people are accustomed to regard any remarkable deed of daring as the result of some supernatural agency and doubtless so considered the present incident. Believing their Chief had fallen a victim to some unseen power, they were stupefied with terror, and looked on without a thought of resistance. Myers bore off the head in triumph to his cabin, where he was welcomed by anxious friends, almost as one returning from the dead. The next morning not an Indian was to be found anywhere in the vicinity.