Peaceful Valley
In a beautiful little valley of some three miles in length by perhaps a
little less width, several farmers were at work. They were plowing up
the ground and getting ready to plant a crop.
Over at one side was a little group of log houses, ten in number, these
being the homes of the families living in Peaceful Valley. The settlers
had built the houses near together, for protection against the Indians.
And in the center of the settlement was a very strong log building,
surrounded by a thick stockade wall, with a strong gate, and the
building in question was intended as a sort of fort, to retreat to, in
case of an overwhelming attack by Indians. In the building there was
kept constantly a goodly supply of provisions, so that it would have
been possible to stand quite a siege.
When we introduce the scene to the reader’s notice, the farmers were
working steadily, and quietly, and while they were on the alert, as was
their custom, they were not expecting trouble, for they had not heard of
any Indians being in their immediate vicinity, though there had been
depredations fifteen or twenty miles farther south.
But suddenly a party of Indians numbering thirty or forty put in an
appearance and made an attack on the settlers, who seized their
rifles--which they always took to the field with them--and firing at the
redskins a few times, they ran to the settlement as fast as possible,
the Indians following, yelling in a blood-thirsty manner.
The women and children at the houses had seen what was going on, and had
hastened to the fort, carrying such of their household goods as they
could manage handily, and they held the gate open for the men to enter.
Then, when all were within, the gate was closed quickly, and fastened.
The women and younger children entered the building, while the men
climbed to a platform that was built along the stockade-wall, on the
inside, and perhaps five feet from the top of the wall. From here they
could fire over the top of the wall, at the redskins, and then drop down
to avoid the arrows of the Indians.
The redskins, finding that to attempt to break down the gate, or to
scale the wall would be to lose a number of their braves, turned their
attention to the houses, and began helping themselves to the contents.
When they had taken everything that they cared for, they set the houses
on fire, and the settlers were forced to stand there and see their homes
go up in flames.
“The fiends!” growled James Holden, the leader of the colony. “Why
couldn’t they have let the houses stand? They got most of our goods.
They might have been satisfied with that.”
“They’ll stay till after dark and try to get in here at us, likely,”
said Henry Perkins. “I know these Cherokee Injuns. They are mean when
they get their mad up, and these seem to be very much in earnest.”
“Yes,” said Holden. “We wounded several of them when they were chasing
us into the settlement. This naturally aroused their anger.”
“It was bad enough to have to live in a neighborhood where there are a
good many Tories, without having to be bothered with the Injuns too,”
said another of the settlers.
“The redcoats have put them up to going on the war-path,” said Perkins.
“It was a mean trick to do, to get them started.”
“You’re right,” agreed Holden, “but look at that terribly black cloud
over to the north. There is going to be a storm and that right quick or
I miss my guess.”
The Indians, having finished setting fire to all the houses, retired to
a little distance, squatted down on the ground, and watched the
structures burning.
Then, when the buildings had burned down, the redskins began dividing
the plunder they had secured from the houses, and when this was
finished, they advanced as close to the fort as they dared. Here they
stopped and held a council, of some sort, evidently trying to decide
upon some plan for getting into the fort and at the settlers.
They talked and gesticulated at a great rate, and were apparently not
agreed, or at a loss to determine upon any further procedure.
“I don’t think there is much danger of their making an attack during
daylight,” said Holden, when they had watched the redskins a while.
“No, but they’ll try to get into the stockade to-night, without any
doubt,” said Perkins. “Unless,” he added “that storm drives them away.
Somehow the Indians don’t seem to notice its coming at all.”
“They are lower down in the gulch and perhaps do not see about as well
as we do up here,” said another.
The other men all thought the same, but while they did not expect an
attack before nightfall, yet they did not relax their vigilance. They
kept their eyes on the enemy.
“I wish that General Greene would come down this way, with his army,”
said another of the settlers.
“Mebby he will come down here,” said another. “I heerd that he is up in
North Caroliny.”
“There are going to be terrible times around in the neighborhood of
Ninety-Six, pretty soon, I think,” said Holden. “And it would be a good
thing if General Greene came here.”
“He’d put a stop to the Injuns’ doin’s, mighty quick,” said another.
The others agreed that General Greene’s army would be able to put a stop
to the depredations of the Indians, and then make it exceedingly hot as
well for the redcoats in Ninety-Six and vicinity.
Then they ceased talking for a few minutes, while they watched the
redskins, who had taken seats on the ground, with their faces toward the
fort. They were about three hundred yards distant, and behind them, at
about the same distance, was rough, broken country, with a deep gulch
running through it, the mouth of the gulch being almost opposite the
Indians’ backs.
Suddenly, one of the settlers, who happened to glance toward the mouth
of the gulch, exclaimed, excitedly: “Look yonder! Look at the mouth of
the gulch!”
The others turned their eyes in that direction, and saw a sight that
made them all give vent to exclamations of astonishment. They saw,
indeed, an avalanche of water at least ten feet in height coming
sweeping down the gulch, foaming and, as it neared the end of the gulch,
roaring at a great rate.
The Indians heard the sound, and leaped to their feet and turned, and
when they saw the wall of water rushing toward the mouth of the gulch,
they gave utterance to wild yells and started to run, to get out of the
path of the flood.
They could not succeed, however, for the torrent came pouring out of the
mouth of the gulch and dashing on across the level, spreading as it
came, and before they could get out of reach, the water was upon them,
and had them in its swirling embrace.
Some of them were struck by the logs and knocked senseless, and two or
three were drowned. Others were swept onward and landed against the
stockade-wall around the fort, while others still were carried past and
went on across the valley, with the waters.
The settlers and the women and children, had watched this strange
happening with wondering eyes, and with a kind of pleasure, too, for it
had put an end to a problem that had been bothering them, had put the
Indians to utter rout, at least for the time being.
“There must have been a cloud-burst up the gulch,” said one of the men.
“Yes, that was what happened,” said Holden. “Well, it was a good thing
for us, for it has put the redskins to flight.”
“It has put some of them to death,” said Perkins. “I see three bodies,
yonder.”
“They were hit by the logs, and then drowned afterwards,” said another.
“Yas. Well, it saved us the trouble of shooting them.”
“So it did,” said Holden.
“But, our houses are burned down!” murmured one of the women. “They have
burned our homes, and the flood has spoiled the ground that had been
fixed for planting.”
“Oh, well, we can do the work over again,” said Perkins. “And we can
build new houses.”
“Yes, that’s so,” said Holden. “I’m mighty glad the flood happened along
and drowned a few of the redskins and scared the others away.”
By the middle of the afternoon the ground was dry again, the sun having
come out and shone brightly, and the settlers went out and buried the
three dead Indians. Then they returned to the fort, and when nightfall
came, they placed two men on guard, for they thought it possible that
the Indians might come back again.