Wetzel, the Scout; or, The Captives of the Wilderness — John Shaqi
Wetzel, the Scout; or, The Captives of the WildernessEllis, Edward Sylvester
General
Wetzel, the Scout; or, The Captives of the Wilderness
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Dime novels; Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction; Ohio River Valley -- Fiction; Shawnee Indians -- Fiction
All such artifices were but artifices indeed, which the prisoners had
learned long before, and which could not take them by surprise. The
Shawnees had learned much from the Mingo Logan, as their attempts of
conducting the attack were similar in several cases; but, as we have
shown, they met with such poor success that they finally ceased, and for
a long time not a shot was exchanged between the two parties. The whites
believed that their silence was a ruse to give the impression that they
had withdrawn, and thus threw them off their guard. For over an hour,
not the slightest sound or movement betrayed the presence of the
Shawnees.
Suddenly the combined yell of over a hundred throats rent the air, with
such horrid force as to make the blood of every one tingle, and as many
bullets rattled against the pickets and block-houses. But the settlers
were not thrown off their guard; they cocked their rifles and held them
pointed toward the wood. But no Indians made their appearance. This was
another stratagem, the meaning of which could hardly be divined, if it
had any meaning at all.
Finally the settlers saw with glad hearts that the day was at hand. The
east was fast becoming gray and light and there would soon be an
opportunity of resting their harassed and weary frames. Edwards and
Captain Parks would not suffer one of the men to withdraw until the sun
had risen above the wilderness, and its broad dazzling light showed the
perfect day. Then, as nothing could be seen of their vindictive enemies,
and it was pretty certain they had returned to a man, the majority of
the settlers left the block-houses and their stations for refreshment
and rest. It was found that three of the whites had been killed, and
some half dozen slightly wounded. During the day the former were buried
with appropriate and solemn ceremony. Several were so disfigured and
mangled that the white sheet which had been thrown over them was not
removed when they were placed within the ground.
It was in the afternoon that most of the settlers gathered in the corner
of the settlement which had been set apart for the resting-place of the
dead, to witness and participate in the ceremonies. The minister read,
in a subdued and feeling voice, a short hymn, which was sung in low and
mournful tones, and then all knelt upon the earth, and his clear, rich
voice ascended to heaven. As they rose to their feet, he made a few
remarks upon the solemn scene, and then the three bodies, one by one,
were lowered into separate graves. In a short time they were covered
with the sod, and their forms blotted forever from the face of the
earth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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