cassin,
by the breaking of twigs, laying of the grass, etcetera, and in the
practice of the rifle he is very superior. As a proof of Fink's
dexterity with his rifle, he is said one day, as they were descending
the Ohio in their boat, to have laid a wager, and won it, that he would
from mid-stream with his rifle balls cut off at the stumps the tails of
five pigs which were feeding on the banks. One story relative to Mike
Fink, when he was employed as a scout, will be interesting to the
reader.

"As he was creeping along one morning, with the stealthy tread of a cat,
his eye fell upon a beautiful buck browsing on the edge of a barren
spot, three hundred yards distant. The temptation was too strong for
the woodsman, and he resolved to have a shot at every hazard. Repriming
his gun, and picking his flint, he made his approaches in the usual
noiseless manner. But the moment he reached the spot from which he
meant to take his aim, he observed a large savage, intent upon the same
object, advancing from a direction a little different from his own.
Mike shrunk behind a tree with the quickness of thought, and keeping his
eye fixed on the hunter, waited the result with patience. In a few
moments the Indian halted within fifty paces, and levelled his piece at
the deer. In the meanwhile Mike presented his rifle at the body of the
savage, and at the moment the smoke issued from the gun of the latter,
the bullet of Fink passed through the red man's breast. He uttered a
yell, and fell dead at the same instant with the deer. Mike re-loaded
his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes to ascertain
whether there were more enemies at hand. He then stepped up to the
prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was
extinguished, turned his attention to the buck, and took from the
carcase those pieces suited to the process of jerking."

As the country filled up the Indians retreated, and the corps of scouts
was abolished: but after a life of excitement in the woods, they were
unfitted for a settled occupation. Some of them joined the Indians,
others, and among them Mike Finn, enrolled themselves among the
fraternity of boatmen on the Mississippi.

The death of Mike Fink was befitting his life. One of his very common
exploits with his rifle was hitting for a wager, at thirty yards
distance, a small tin pot, used by the boatmen, which was put on the
head of another man. Such was his reputation, that no one