e yells; and pausing
no longer in indecision, he encircled Ella's waist with his left arm,
raised her from the ground, and keeping her as much as possible between
himself and his enemies, to deter them from firing, darted away toward
a thicket, some fifty yards distant, pursued by two of the attacking
party.

Just as Girty gained the thicket, one of his pursuers made a sudden
bound forward and grasped him by the arm; but his hold was the next
moment shaken off by the renegade, who, being now rendered desperate,
drew a pistol from his belt, with the rapidity of lightning, and laid
the bold adventurer dead at his feet. Almost at the same moment, Girty
received a blow on the back of his head, from the breech of the rifle of
his other antagonist, that staggered him forward; when, releasing his
hold of Ella, he turned and darted off in another direction, firing a
pistol as he went, the ball of which whizzed close to the head of him
for whom it was designed; and in a moment more he was lost in the mazes
of the forest.

Meantime the bloody work was going forward in the center; for at the
moment when Girty darted away, the report of some three or four rifles
again echoed through the wood, two more of the red warriors bit the
dust, while the other two fled in opposite directions, leaving Boone and
his party sole masters of the field.

Eager, excited, reckless and wild, several of the young men now rushed
forward, with yells of triumph, to the wounded Indians, whom they
immediately tomahawked without mercy, and began to scalp, when the voice
of Boone, who had been more cautious, reached them from a distance:

"Beware o' the fire-light, lads! or the red varmints will draw a
bead[11] on some of ye."

Scarcely were the words uttered, ere his warning was sadly fulfilled;
for the two savages finding they were not pursued, and thirsting for
revenge, turned and fired almost simultaneously, with aims so deadly,
that one of the young men, by the name of Beecher, fell mortally wounded
and expired a moment after; and another, by the name of Morris, had his
wrist shattered by a ball. This fatal event produced a panic in the
others, who at once fled precipitately into the darkness, leaving Mrs.
Younker, who had by this time gained her feet, standing alone by the
fire, a bewildered spectator of the terrible tragedies that had so
lately been enacted by her side. To her Boone now immediately advanced,
notwithstanding the caution he had giv