Show TALES OF THE TH E OLD 0 FRONTIER 3 by sy I 1 ELMO SCOTT WATSON i e e G laoni efiem huloa A RESCUE AND A ROMANCE 0 ONE NE baring evening in 1774 a oung girl named rebeeca murtin martin veua us paddling a binh bark canoe along the ohio river she was mus to her home at the mouth of grove groe creek after visiting i a ft alstin 50 miles up the river her re relatives latles had tried to persuade lier not to attempt the trip alone but ehe she laughed ut at their fears shortly after bundow n blie ap preached pro ached a clearing where here she expected pee ted to spend the night in the cabin of a friend but as she site drew near ahe she saw a war party of indians dancing and yelling around the blazing blitzing cabin the river was mas brightly illuminated by the flames and at ut aej an moment she might be dasco discovered ered if bhe she attempted either elther to advance e or retreat so she sl lenti paddled close to the bank and hiding as best she could beneath the overhanging brush breathlessly waited I 1 finally the fire died down and the indians departed some soine of them thein going upstream in ip their canoes by this time the moon had risen and made traveling dangerous but slie she knew che rhe must try to escape she did not try to paddle but trusted to the current to carry her out of danger after thiv eling several miles thus slie felt safe to begin paddling again suddenly like a drifting shadow another canoe emerged from the opposite shore followed immediately by three others seeing that she was discovered rebecca began to paddle desperately bullets began begun to sing over her head and to whip the water around her lier finally one of them thein struck her paddle and shattered it the girl tried des pera tely to guide gulde her bark toward the shore but its progress was nas agonizingly slow the savages had almost surrounded her tier when there uns a blinding lightning flash and a roar us as of thunder one of the indian ranous was as torn to pieces and its occupants thrown struggling into the river mier A biff big canoe swept out into the stream and from the swivel gun mounted on its prow a enking fire was poured into the other indian boats As the survivors frantically paddled paddle out of range the big boat drew up alongside rebeccas canoe and n brawny arm swept her from whore where she abe crouched half unconscious in the bottom of the bark her savior was capt isaac williams the noted hunter and scout and as nn an appropriate aftermath to this rescue a few weeks meeks later a wandering minister performed a wedding ceremony at nt which rebecca martin rebecca Wili williams lains |