THE FRONTIER ANGEL

CONTENTS.


CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Night before the Departure 9

II. The Fate of the Flat-Boat 21

III. The Two Scouts 46

IV. The Faint Hope 59

V. The Mysterious Warning 70

VI. The Frontier Angel--The Shawnees 83

VII. The Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties 90

VIII. A Man in Trouble 105

IX. Peter Jenkins--A Couple of Speeches 127

X. In which there is a Future Account of the Shawnees,
the Speakers, and Jenkins 139

XI. A Prize Gained and Lost 151

XII. A Mingling of Fear, Doubt, and Hope 174

XIII. Dark 189

XIV. The Attack in the Wood 201

XV. "All's Well that Ends Well." 225


CHAPTER I.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DEPARTURE.


IN the western part of Pennsylvania, near the commencement of the Ohio
river, stands a small town, which, at the close of the last century,
numbered about thirty dwellings. Although properly a border settlement
at the time mentioned, there were so many others beyond, that it was
hardly regarded as being in the "Mighty West." The inhabitants were
mostly farmers, possessed of large and beautiful farms, who commenced
their labors in the morning, and retired to rest in the evening, without
much fear of the molestation of their savage brethren. True, a few years
previous, the latter had committed murders and depredations even farther
east than this, and the settlers never allowed themselves fully to give
way to an undue sense of security. But, unless a most unexpected triumph
should crown the struggles of the Indians, there was little occasion for
apprehension upon the part of the whites.

The time on which we visit this village, is an evening in the spring,
toward the close of the last century. The night is dark and cloudy, and
the houses are invisible in the deep gloom; but there are numerous
twinkling lights in the different dwellings, which give it the
appearance of a constellation set in the vast sky of darkness around.
Broad fields of cleared land stretch for a long distance into the
background, while there are numerous other dwellings further eastward,
toward Pittsburg, and many cabins further westward in Ohio and Virginia;
so that they are not without neighbors, and may properly be said still
to be in the land of civilization.

Near the western end of the village, stood a large frame house, in the
lower story of which a bright light was burning. Within, and seated
around a large, crackling fire, were four individuals engaged in
conversation. The first was a pleasant, middle-aged man, rather portly
and good-natured; the second was his wife, a few years younger, with an
equally pleasant face, and a cheerful, musical voice. Upon the opposite
side of the fire sat a young man, of a hardy, muscular frame, and a
rather handsome appearance. Beside him was a maiden of eighteen or
twenty years, who, without the least exaggeration on our part, might be
pronounced beautiful.

The first couple, as said, were man and wife. The second two intended to
be at some future time--that is, they were lovers.