The Story of Young Abraham Lincoln | Page 3

for
them times, as he had property worth seventeen thousand dollars; but
Mr. Boone he told Father he could make a good deal more by trappin'
and tradin' with the Injuns for valuable pelts, or fur skins.
"You know, Dan'l Boone he had lived among the Injuns. He was a sure

shot with the rifle so's he could beat the redskins at their own game.
They took him a prisoner oncet, and instead of killin' him, they was
about ready to make him chief--he pretended all the while as how he'd
like that--when he got away from 'em. He was such a good fellow that
them Injuns admired his shrewdness, and they let him do about what he
pleased. So he thought they'd let Father alone.
"Well, your grandfather was a Quaker, you see, and believed in treatin'
them red devils well--like William Penn done, you know. He was a
man for peace and quiet, and everything was goin' smooth with the
tribes of what we called the Beargrass Country, till one day, when he
and my brothers, Mordecai--'Mord' was a big fellow for his age--and
Josiah, a few years younger--was out in the clearin' with the oxen,
haulin' logs down to the crick. I went along too, but I didn't help
much--for I was only six.
"Young as I was, I remember what happened that day like it was only
yesterday. It come like a bolt out of the blue. We see Father drop like
he was shot--for he was shot! Then I heard the crack of a rifle and I saw
a puff of smoke floatin' out o' the bushes.
"Injuns!" gasps Mord, and starts on the run for the house--to get his gun.
Josiah, he starts right off in the opposite direction to the Beargrass
fort--we called it a fort, but it was nothin' but a stockade. The way we
boys scattered was like a brood o' young turkeys, or pa'tridges, strikin'
for cover when the old one is shot. I knowed I'd ought to run too, but I
didn't want to leave my father layin' there on the ground. Seemed like
I'd ought to woke him up so he could run too. Yet I didn't feel like
touchin' him. I think I must 'a' knowed he was dead.
"While I was standin' still, starin' like the oxen, not knowin' what to do,
a big Injun come out o' the brush, with a big knife in his hand. I
knowed what he was goin' to do--skelp my father! I braced up to 'im to
keep 'im away, an' he jist laffed at me. I never think what the devil
looks like without seein' that red demon with his snaky black eyes,
grinnin' at me!
TOM LINCOLN CHASED BY INDIANS

"He picked me up like I was a baby an set me on the sawlog, an' was
turnin' back to skelp Father, when--biff!--another gun-crack--and Mr.
Big Indian he drops jist like your grandfather did, only he wriggles and
squirms around, bitin' the dust--like a big snake for all the world!
"I was standin' there, kind o' dazed, watchin' another puff o' white
smoke, comin' out between two logs in the side of our house. Then I
knowed 'Mord' had shot my Injun. He had run in, got the gun down
off'n the wall, an' peekin' out through a crack, he sees that Injun takin'
hold o' me. Waitin' till the ol' demon turns away, so's not to hit me,
'Mord' he aims at a silver dangler on Mr. Injun's breast and makes him
drop in his tracks like I said. Your Uncle 'Mord' he was a sure
shot--like Cousin Dan'l Boone.
"Then I hears the most blood-curdlin' yells, and a lot o' red devils jump
out o' the bushes an' come for me brandishin' their tomahawks an'
skelpin' knives. It was like hell broke loose. They had been watchin' an',
of course, 'twas all right to kill Father, but when 'Mord' killed one o'
their bucks, that made a big difference. I had sense enough left to run
for the house with them Injuns after me. Seemed like I couldn't run half
as fast as usual, but I must 'a' made purty good time, from what 'Mord'
an' Mother said afterward.
"He said one was ahead o' the rest an' had his tomahawk raised to brain
me with it when--bing!--an' 'Mord' fetches him down like he did the
fellow that was goin' to skelp Father. That made the others mad an' they
took after me, but 'Mord' he drops the head one jist when he's goin' to
hit me. But all I knowed at the time was that them red devils was
a-chasin' me, and I'd got to 'leg it' for dear life!
"When I gits near enough to the