“As for myself, I had some very narrow escapes. Although I was a pretty good runner, I had been singled out by an ambitious young warrior, who, in a race of about two hundred yards, had almost caught up with me. With a good reach of his arm, he might have sunk his tomahawk in the back of my head. A glance over my shoulder showed him about to strike, and instinctively I threw myself down to avoid the blow. As fortune would have it, he struck his foot against one of mine and pitched headlong over me. His weapon flew from his grasp. Before he could recover himself, I was upon him, driving my hunting knife through his throat and severing his jugular vein.
“As I again sprang to my feet, I beheld three other savages close at hand, bounding toward me with yells of rage. I had no hope of escaping from them; but still I ran, straining every nerve to its utmost. Fortunately, they were not as fleet-footed as the one I had killed, and to my unspeakable joy, I found that I was outdistancing them. Each Indian carried a gun in his hand, but I had thrown mine away during my first race. This probably gave me some advantage. Seeing that they could not overtake me, they suddenly stopped; one of them took deliberate aim and fired. The ball sung loudly in my ear, the outer portion of which felt as if it were touched with a live coal. A small portion of my ear had been shot away.
“As I neared the creek, I discovered another small party of Indians in front of me. Turning quickly to the left, I crossed the stream at a bend thirty or forty rods higher up; and by making a broad circuit, I came into camp from the right.
“Here I found a scene of the wildest confusion. Two or three hundred women and children were gathered together in a state of excitement bordering on distraction. Some were running to and fro, wringing their hands and shrieking out their terrors; some were standing speechless, like statues of horror, with their hands clasped and their eyes fixed upon the not very distant scene of strife; some were kneeling and calling on Heaven for protection; some were sobbing and groaning in each other’s arms; and several who had swooned from fright lay as if dead upon the ground.
“I did not tarry even to answer the questions that many eager voices put to me but hurried forward to the raging battle. As yet I had no rifle, but I soon supplied myself with one from an old comrade who had been shot through the heart. Thinking I could do quite as well alone as by attaching myself to any company, I hastened to a tree that looked suitable for my purpose. I began to load and fire as fast as possible, and I brought down a savage with nearly every shot.