The Spirit of the Border and the Last Trail Read Online Free PDF Page A

knowingly.
    â€œI wanted to come West because I was tired of tame life. I love the forest; I want to fish and hunt; and I think I’d like to—to see Indians.”
    â€œI kinder thought so,” said the old frontiersman, nodding his head as though he perfectly understood Joe’s case. “Well, lad, where you’re goin’ seein’ Injuns ain’t a matter of choice. You has to see ’em, and fight ’em, too. We’ve had bad times for years out here on the border, and I’m thinkin’ wuss is comin’. Did ye ever hear the name Girty?”
    â€œYes; he’s a renegade.”
    â€œHe’s a traitor, and Jim and George Girty, his brother, are p’isin rattlesnake Injuns. Simon Girty’s bad enough; but Jim’s the wust. He’s now wusser’n a full-blooded Delaware. He’s all the time on the lookout to capture white wimen to take to his Injun teepee. Simon Girty and his pals, McKee and Elliott, deserted from that thar fort right afore yer eyes. They’re now livin’ among the redskins down Fort Henry way, raisin’ as much hell fer the settlers as they kin.”
    â€œIs Fort Henry near the Indian towns?” asked Joe.
    â€œThere’s Delawares, Shawnees, and Hurons all along the Ohio below Fort Henry.”
    â€œWhere is the Moravian Mission located?”
    â€œWhy, lad, the Village of Peace, as the Injuns call it, is right in the midst of that Injun country. I s’pect it’s a matter of a hundred miles below and cross-country a little from Fort Henry.”
    â€œThe fort must be an important point, is it not?”
    â€œWal, I guess so. It’s the last place on the river,” answered Lynn, with a grim smile. “There’s only a stockade there, an’ a handful of men. The Injuns hev swarmed down on it time and ag’in, but they hev never burned it. Only such men as Colonel Zane, his brother Jack, and Wetzel could hev kept that fort standin’ all these bloody years. Eb Zane’s got but a few men, yet he kin handle ’em some, an’ with such scouts as Jack Zane and Wetzel, he allus knows what’s goin’ on among the Injuns.”
    â€œI’ve heard of Colonel Zane. He was an officer under Lord Dunmore. The hunters here speak often of Jack Zane and Wetzel. What are they?”
    â€œJack Zane is a hunter an’ guide. I knowed him well a few years back. He’s a quiet, mild chap; but a streak of chain-lightnin’ when he’s riled. Wetzel is an Injunkiller. Some people say as how he’s crazy over scalp-huntin’; but I reckon that’s not so. I’ve seen him a few times. He don’t hang round the settlement ’cept when the Injuns are up, an’ nobody sees him much. At home he sets round silent-like, an’ then mebbe next mornin’ he’ll be gone, an’ won’t show up fer days or weeks. But all the frontier knows of his deeds. Fer instance, I’ve hearn of settlers gettin’ up in the mornin’ an’ findin’ a couple of dead and scalped Injuns right in front of their cabins. No one knowed who killed ’em, but everybody says ‘Wetzel.’ He’s allus warnin’ the settlers when they need to flee to the fort, and sure he’s right every time, because when these men go back to their cabins they find nothin’ but ashes. There couldn’t be any farmin’ done out there but fer Wetzel.”
    â€œWhat does he look like?” questioned Joe, much interested.
    â€œWetzel stands straight as the oak over thar. He’d hev to go sideways to git his shoulders in that door, but he’s as light of foot an’ fast as a deer. An’ his eyes—why, lad, ye kin hardly look into ’em. If you ever see Wetzel you’ll know him to onct.”
    â€œI want to see him,” Joe spoke quickly, his eyes lighting with an eager flash. “He must be a great fighter.”
    â€œIs