202 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [1764. 



warriors, a boy of the same tribe, his own wife and 

 two children, and another Indian woman. The 

 young provincial, who came with him to the set- 

 tlements, was also of the party. In the middle of 

 the night, Owens arose, and looking about him 

 saw, by the dull glow of the camp-tire, that all 

 were buried in deep sleep. Cautiously awakening 

 the young provincial, he told him to leave the 

 place, and lie quiet at a little distance, until he 

 should call him. He next stealthily removed the 

 weapons froin beside the sleeping savages, and 

 concealed them in the woods, reserving to himself 

 two loaded rifles. Returning to the camp, he knelt 

 on the ground between two of the yet unconscious 

 warriors, and, pointing a rifle at the head of each, 

 touched the triggers, and shot both dead at once. 

 Startled by the reports, the survivors sprang to 

 their feet in bewildered terror. The two remaining 

 warriors bounded into the woods ; but the women 

 and children, benumbed with fright, had no power 

 to escape, and one and all died shrieking under the 

 hatchet of the miscreant. His devilish work com- 

 plete, the wretch sat watching until daylight among 

 the dead bodies of his children and comrades, un- 

 daunted by the awful gloom and solitude of the 

 darkened forest. In the morning, he scalped his 

 victims, with the exception of the two children, 

 and, followed by the young white man, directed 

 his steps towards the settlements, Avith the bloody 

 trophies of his atrocity. His desertion was par- 

 doned ; he was employed as an interpreter, and 

 ordered to accompany the troops on the intended 



