Show GENERAL SCOTT AND THE MAIDEN How a Fine Battle Came Near Never lieiiijr Loujlit By E J Edwards One of the famous battles between United States and British soldiers was fought on the 4th of July 1814 and the victory then won by a young brigadier general made him so famous that he was afterward for nearly fifty years the commanding com-manding officer of the American army and was once a candidate for president Yet but for a most trivial accident it is highly probable that General Scott might have found his career ended that day and he certainly would not have won the battle of Chippewa as a 4th of July celebration cele-bration In his old age General Scott became of prodigious size but in the war of 1812 where he won his first laurels he was avery a-very slender man the thinness of his figure being all the more striking because II he was very tall nearly six feet four inches in height He commanded a brigade brig-ade in that campaign and it was encamped en-camped upon one side of a creek near Chippewa while the British troops were I upon the other both getting ready for the battle I In a finel mansion within the British lines there lived a wealthy family who I were very loyal to the British flag as they had the right to be since they lived in British territory There came to this family as a guest a fair young girl and I with her a young officer deeply in love He was a relative of those who occupied this house and thus had frequent chance to see his sweetheart On the day that General Scott brought his brigade into bivouac within sight of the mansion the young officer having a brief furlough of course spent it in happy courtship with his betrothed and he said to her There may be a battle tomorrow tomor-row and if there is who knows whether I shall live to see you again Ah but you will the girl replied and I think that yon will do some brave act so that I shall very proud of you Would it be a brave act she continued if you should capture this General Scott and make him prisoner U A brave act Why it would make mea captain it would make me famous Who knows what honors it would not bring to me and I should come and lay them all at your feet sweetheart Then you shall capture him the girl said and she looked upon the young officer with such earnestness that he knew she had already thought of scme plot and it seeming to him ridiculous that a girl who never saw a battle or any soldiers excepting on parade should think herself able to plan a strategy by which a commanding general could be captured he laughed heartily and then he said Come now sweetheart tell me what this plot of yours is bo sue tooK mm into the garden being fearful that some one might hear and in a few words told him what she had in mind and he was mightly impressed and said to her that perhaps the thing was possible and as he left her he declared If we capture him as you say General Scott will be your captive and not mine A few hours after General Scott being in his marquee a messenger approached him bearing a note from the mistress of I the house where the young girl was a guest In this note the mistress asked General Scott to place a sentinel at the bridge that crossed the creek so that she might be protected from his soldiers she said the British general had placed a guard around tho house to protect her from Tough British troops General Scott sent a message back that it would give him joy to grant so simple a request re-quest Next morning the 4th of July the messenger appearedagain The message this time contained the ladysthanks and J > r an invitation to breakfast with her and her family General Scott replied that he would be delighted and with two members of his staff went over soon after to the house She seemedsurprised for an instant that he should have two staff officers with him for she had not included any others in the invitation General Scott was introduced to the fair young maiden who had made the plot I and most courteous was he to her sitting by her at the table ana she asked him once what he would do if he was made captive and he replied with great gallantry gal-lantry Ah 1 am a captive now for you have made me one She smiled most sweetly so that General Scott thought Why GENERAL WINFIELD SCOIT hero is the most beautiful and nost innocent in-nocent maiden whom I have ever seen A moment later she rose and went to the window no one noticing particularly partic-ularly such action and then took her seat again beside the general A few moments after that one of the Generals aides feeling for his silk handkerchief hand-kerchief in his pocket and not finding it there rose and went to the hall to get it remembering he had put it in His hat As he passed the window he saw that which gave him a great start A band of Indians In-dians were coming from the woods in one I direction while a company of redcoats commanded by a young officer were approaching ap-proaching in haste from another Instantly the aide returned to the table and without asking excuse whispered to General Scott We are surrounded and mustrunJJ General Scott cast one reproachful glance at the matron whose guest he was and then looking at the girl saw both joy and anxiety manifested upon her face she tried for a moment to detain him with some pleasant coquetry but he said to her Ah there was plotting behind your innocence and fled Swift was the pace which he and his aides made back to the bridge But for the accident which made it neCessary essary for his aide to go for his handkerchief hand-kerchief General Scott would have been a prisoner within five minutes and the battle of Chippewa would not have been fought as he intended and he might have been forgotten from that day Years after he met an officer of the British army the one who was the ladys lover and this gentleman told General Scott of the plot i I CO U RtRr EN J I J l t 7 ELJZAYU J J I J NO tON I DER M KC 1tr CQkUY ARQ YOU1 613 DrVJIow LEAS6 gg ND t 5t RB A REAL i C f C C LV f B ROWNrEj h h ty1 T PAC SliULIK OF CHILDS LETTER I It was a story which General Scott himself him-self never revealed until he was nil old nan then he narrated it to Thurlow Weed who in his old age was fond of telling tell-ing it to his intimates BAKOTlS STORY The Goat the Lion and the Serpent By Henry M Stanley Author How I Found Livingstone In Dirkest Africa Etc Copyright 1S93 by Henry M Stanley A Goat and a Lion pairing for company com-pany were traveling together scirting a forest at the end of which there was a community of mankind comfortably hutted within a village fenced round with tall and pointed stakes The Goat said to the Lion I Well now where do you come from this day I I have come from a feast that I have given many friends of minethe leopard hyena lynxwolf jackalwild cat buffalo buffa-lo zebra and many more The long necked giraffe and dewlapped eland were also there as well as the springing antelope an-telope That is grand company you keep indeed in-deed said the Goat with a sigh As for poor me I am alone No one cares for me very much but there is abundance of grass and sweet leafage and when my belly becomes round and large with nil ness I seek a soft spot under a tree and chew my cud dreanily and contentedly And of other sorrows save an occasional pane of huneer in my wanderings I know of none Do you mean to say that you do not envy my real digtity and strength I do not envy it because as yet I have been ignorant of it What Know you not that I am the strongest of all who dwell in forest or wilderness That when I roar all who hear it bow down their heads and shrink in fear Indeed I did not know all this nor am I very sure that you are not deceiving deceiv-ing yourself because I know many whose offensive powers are much more dangerous my friend than yours True your teeth are large and your claws are sharp and your roar is loud enough and your appearance is imposing impos-ing Still I know a tiny thing in these woods that is much more to be dreaded than vou are and I think if you matched yourself against it in a contest that same tiny thing would become victor vic-tor Bah said the lion impatiently you anger me Why even today at the feast all who were there acknowledged that they were but feeble creatures compared com-pared with me and you will own that if Fared t claw you once there would be no i life in you What yon say in regard to mole true enough and l as I said before I do not I pretenu lO lliu jjuosesaiuu ui xDncuym But this tiny thing that know is not likely to have been at your feast What may this tiny thing be that is so dreadful asked the Lion sneeringly The Serpent answered the Goat chewing his cud with an indifferent air The Serpent said the Lion as toun ed What that crawling reptile which feeds on mice and sleeping birds that soft vinelike crawling thing that coils itself in tufts of grass and branches of bush Yes that is its name and character clearlyWhy my weight alone would tread it like a smashed egg I would not try to do so if I were you Its fangs are sharper than your great corner teeth or claws Will you match it against my strength Yes And if you lose what will be the forfeit for-feit If you survive the fight I will be your < f slave and you may command mefor any purposeyou please But what will you give me if you lose Whatyou please Well then I will take 100 bunches of bananas andyou had better bring them here alongside me before you begin Where is this serpent that will fight with me Close by When you have brought the bananas he will be here waiting for youThe Lion stalked proudly away to procure pro-cure the bananas and the Goat proceeded into the bush where he saw Serpent drowsily coiled in many coils on a slender slen-der branch Serpent said Goat wake up Lion is raging for a fight with you He has laid a hundred bunches of bananas that he will be the victor and I have pledged victoril my life that you will be the strong one and hark you obey my hints and my life is safe and shall be provided with food for at least three moons Well said F Serpent languidly what do you wish me to do Take position on a bush about thre > cubits high that stands near the scene where the fight is to take place and when Lion is ready raise your crest high and boldly and ask him to advance ad-vance near you that you may see him well because you are shortsighted you know And he full of his conceit and despisingyour slight form will advance towards you unwitting of your mode of attack Then fasten your fangs in his eyebrows and coil yourself round his neck If there is any virtue left in your venom poor Lion will lie stark before long And if I do this whatwill you do for me I am thy Servant and friend for all time II timeIt It is well answered the Serpent Lead the way Accordingly Goat led Serpent to the scene of tho combat and took position as Goat had advised on the leafy top of a young bush Presently Lion came with a long line of servile animals bearing one hundred bunches of bananas and after dismissing I dismiss-ing them turned to Goat and said Vell Goatee where is your friend I that is stronger than I am I feel curious to see him Are you Lion said a sibilant voice from the top of a bush I Yes I am and who are you that does not know me I am Serpent friend Lion and short of sight and slow of movement Advance nearer to me for I see you not Lion uttered a loud roaring laugh and went confidently near the serpentwho had raised his crest and arched his neck so near that his breath seemed to blow the slender form to a tremulous movement move-ment yon shake already said Lion mockingly Yes 1 shake but to strike the better my friend said Serpent as he darted forward and fixea his fangs in the right eyebrow of Lion and at the samemoment its body glided round the neck of Lion buried out of sight in the copious mane Like the pain of fire the deadly venom was felt quickly in the head and body When it reached the heart Lion fell down and lay still and dead Well done cried Goat as he danced around the pile of bananas Provisions for three moons have 1 and the doughty I roarer is of no more value than a dead goat Goat and Serpent then made friends Serpent said 4 Now follow me and obey I have a little work for vou Work What work O Serpent It is light and agreeable Follow that path you will find a village of mankind Proclaim what I have done show this carcass to the people In return re-turn for this the people will make much of thee and you will find abundance abund-ance of food in their cardens tender leaves of manioc and arachide mellow bananas and plenty of rich greens daily True when thou art fat and a feast is to be made they will kill you and eat you but for your kind better comfort plenty and warm dry housing than cold damp jungle and destruction by the feral beasts Nay neither the work nor the fate is grievous and I thank you 0 Serpent but for you there is no home but the bush and the tuft of grass and you will always be a dreaded enemy of all that come near thy resting place So they parted The Goat went along the path andcame to the gardens of a village lage where a woman was chopping fuel Looking up she saw a creature with grand horns coming near to her bleating fJ tAL M I 1 I I r4 4 HE FIXED HIS FANGS II I I Her first impulse wits to run away but seeing as it bleated that it was a fodder eating animal with no means of offence she plucked some manioc greens and coaxed it to her upon which the Goat fame and spoke to her Follow me for I have a strange thing to show you a little distance off The woman wondering that a four footed animal could address her in intelligible I in-telligible speech followed and the Goat trotted gently just before her to where Lion lay dead which when she saw the I woman asked What is the meaning of this thisThis was once the king of beasts the fear for him was upon all that lived in the woods and in the wilderness But he too often boasted of his might and became be-came too proud Itherefore dared him to fight a tiny creature of the bush and 101 the boaster w slain And howdo yon name the victor The Serpent Ah you say true Serpent is king over all except of man answered the woman You are a wise kind Serpent confessed con-fessed that man was his superior ands and-s 1t me to become mans creature Henceforth man shall feed me with greens tender tops of plants and house and protest me but when the feast day r5 j IJJf < q comes man shall kill and eat of my flesh These are the words of Serpent The woman harkened to all Goats words and retained them in her mem ory Then she unrobed the lion of his furry spoil and conveyed it to the village where she astonished her folk with all that had happened to her From that day to this tho Goat kind has remained with the families of man and mankind are grateful to the Serpent for his gift to them for had not the Serpent commanded com-manded to seek the presence of man it brother had remained wild like the antelope its I |