CXXXvi LIFE OF WILSON. 



but he said he would sleep on the floor, and desired the ser- 

 vant to bring the bear skins and buffalo robe, which were im- 

 mediately spread out for him; and it being now dusk the wo- 

 man went off to the kitchen, and the two men to the barn, 

 which stands about two hundred yards off. The kitchen is 

 only a few paces from the room where Lewis was, and the wo- 

 man being considerably alarmed by the behaviour of her guest 

 could not sleep, but listened to him walking backwards and 

 forwards, she thinks, for several hours, and talking aloud, as 

 she said, " like a lawyer." She then heard the report of a 

 pistol, and something fall heavily on the floor, and the words 

 " O Lord/" Immediately afterwards she heard another pistol, 

 and in a few minutes she heard him at her door calling out 

 " O madam! give me some water, and heal my wounds.'' 

 The logs being open, and unplastered,. she saw him stagger 

 back and fall against a stump that stands between the kitchen 

 and room. He crawled for some distance, and raised himself by 

 the side of a tree, where he sat about a minute. He once more 

 got to the room; afterwards he came to the kitchen door, but 

 did not speak; she then heard him scraping the bucket with a 

 gourd for water; but it appears that this cooling element was 

 denied the dying man! As soon as day broke and not before, 

 the terror of the woman having permitted him to remain for 

 two hours in this most deplorable situation, she sent two of her 

 children to the barn, her husband not being at home, to bring 

 the servants; and on going in they found him lying on the bed; 

 he uncovered his side, and showed them where the bullet had 

 entered; a piece of the forehead was blown off, and had ex- 

 posed the brains, without having bled much. He begged they 

 would take his rifle and blow out his brains, and he would 

 give them all the money he had in his trunk. He often said, 

 " I am no coward; but I am so strong, so hard to die." He 

 begged the servant not to be afraid of him, for that he would 

 not hurt him. He expired in about two hours, or just as the 

 sun rose above the trees. He lies buried close by the common 

 path, with a few loose rails thrown over his grave. I gave 



