to beat him.
Butler, who instantly recognized in Girty the quondam companion and
playmate of youth, at once made himself known to him. This sacramental
tie of friendship, on recognition, caused the savage heart of Girty to
relent. He raised him up, and promised to save him. He procured the
assemblage of a council, and persuaded the savages to relinquish Butler
to him. He took the unfortunate man home, fed, and clothed him, and
Butler began to recruit from his wounds and torture. But the relenting
of the savages was only transient and momentary. After five days they
repented of their relaxation in his favor, reclaimed him, and marched
him to Lower Sandusky to be burned there, according to their original
purpose. By a fortunate coincidence, he there met the Indian agent from
Detroit, who, from motives of humanity, exerted his influence with the
savages for his release, and took him with him to Detroit. Here he was
paroled by the Governor. He escaped; and being endowed, like Daniel
Boone, to be at home in the woods, by a march of thirty days through the
wilderness, he reached Kentucky.

In 1784, Simon Kenton reoccupied the settlement, near Washington, which
he had commenced in 1775. Associated with a number of people, he erected
a block-house, and made a station here. This became an important point
of covering and defence for the interior country. Immigrants felt more
confidence in landing at Limestone. To render this confidence more
complete, Kenton and his associates built a block-house at Limestone.
Two men, of the name of Tanner, had made a small settlement the year
preceding at Blue Lick, and were now making salt there. The route from
Limestone to Lexington became one of the most general travel for
immigrants, and many stations sprang up upon it. Travellers to the
country had hitherto been compelled to sleep under the open canopy,
exposed to the rains and dews of the night. But cabins were now so
common, that they might generally repose under a roof that sheltered
them from the weather, and find a bright fire, plenty of wood, and with
the rustic fare, a most cheerful and cordial welcome. The people of
these new regions were hospitable from native inclination. They were
hospitable from circumstances. None but those who dwell in a wilderness,
where the savages roam and the wolves howl, can understand all the
pleasant associations connected with the sight of a stranger of the same
race. The entertainer felt himself stron