Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/93

DELAWARE COUNTY. 69 acted upon, and together with liis family he made hasty pre- parations for their journey. An able address upon the Pioneer/' thus does justice to the memory of this settler. Referring to the incident related above, he says : The reminiscences of this old gentleman I have oftened listened to with intense pleasure : had they been preserved and recorded, they would fill an interesting chapter in the history of those eventful times. But I fear, as I said at the commencement, that the record of his battles has never been preserved. Aye, he did battle ! He contended singly and alone with foes, before whose formidable front many a valiant hero would have quailed. He had settled in Delaware county ere the Revolution broke forth— ere the fierce tempest of political discord, with its mighty thunderings shook the very sphere to its centre, and the mighty surge of war sent its echo to the remotest log-cahin in the wilderness. But he lived far back from the haunts of civilization, a hermit in the wilderness ! Surely the home of the pioneer will escape the blood-thirsty vengeance of war. Its solitude will form a shield ! But hark ! In the still, solemn hour of the night, a chieftain warrior leaves his dusky band in the strong embrace of their midnight slumbers, and by a path unknown to any footstep but his own, he winds his way through the dark frowning forest, until he reaches the little clearing of the pioneer; he approaches the log-cabin. His knock arouses the slumberers from their sleep ; and in reply to the demand of the settler, ^ Who's there ?^ the well known voice of his Indian friend is recognised. The mission of the chieftain is speedily performed, and lest his presence from his comrades be missed, he quickly disappears in the dark forest and returns to the camp-fire of his dusky mates, by the same blind trail. But he has made revelations which will banish sleep from the eyelids of the occupants of that house that night. He has told the pioneer that, ere to-morrow's sun shall finish his diurnal