120 THE PAXTON MEN. [1763, Dec. 



larity among his associates, and was not without 

 pretensions to education ; while he shared a full 

 proportion of the general hatred against Indians, 

 and suspicion against the band of Conestoga. 



Towards the middle of December, a scout came 

 to the house of Smith, and reported that an In- 

 dian, known to have committed depredations in 

 the neighborhood, had been traced to Conestoga, 

 Smith's resolution was taken at once. He called 

 five of his companions ; and, having armed and 

 mounted, they set out for the Indian settlement. 

 They reached it early in the night ; and Smith, 

 leaving his horse in charge of the others, crawled 

 forward, rifle in hand, to reconnoitre ; when he saw, 

 or fancied he saw, a number of armed warriors in 

 the cabins. Upon this discovery he withdrew, 

 and rejoined his associates. Believing themselves 

 too weak for an attack, the party returned to Pax- 

 ton. Their blood was up, and they determined to 

 extirpate the Conestogas. Messengers went abroad 

 through the neighborhood ; and, on the following 

 day, about fifty armed and mounted men, chiefly 

 from the towns of Paxton and Donegal, assembled 

 at the place agreed upon. Led by Matthew Smith, 

 they took the road to Conestoga, where they ar- 

 rived a little before daybreak, on the morning of 

 the fourteenth. As they drew near, they discerned 

 the light of a fire in one of the cabins, gleaming 

 across the snow. Leaving their horses in the for- 

 est, they separated into small parties, and advanced 

 on several sides at once. Though they moved with 

 some caution, the sound of their footsteps or their 



