152 The Winning of the West 



in the forest, and they hunted high and low, and 

 finally heard the sound of horse-bells in a thicket. 

 Running joyfully forward they fell into the hands 

 of four Indians, who had caught the horses and 

 tied them in the thicket, so that by the tinkling of 

 their bells they might lure into the ambush any man 

 who came out to hunt them up. Young Wetzel 

 made a dash for liberty, but received a shot which 

 broke his arm, and then surrendered and cheerfully 

 accompanied his captors ; while his companion, total 

 ly unnerved, hung back crying, and was promptly 

 tomahawked. Early next morning the party struck 

 the Ohio, at a point where there was a clearing. 

 The cabins on this clearing were deserted, the set 

 tlers having taken refuge in a fort because of the 

 Indian ravages ; but the stock had been left running 

 in the woods. One of the Indians shot a hog and 

 tossed it into a canoe they had hidden under the 

 bank. The captive was told to enter the canoe and 

 lie down ; three Indians then got in, while the fourth 

 started to swim the stolen horses across the river. 

 Fortunately for the captured boy three of the 

 settlers had chosen this day to return to the aban 

 doned clearing and look after the loose stock. They 

 reached the place shortly after the Indians, and just 

 in time to hear the report of the rifle when the hog 

 was shot. The owner of the hogs, instead of sus 

 pecting that there were Indians near by, jumped to 

 the conclusion that a Kentucky boat had landed, 

 and that the immigrants were shooting his hogs 

 for the people who drifted down the Ohio in boats 



