rivulet, that turned a large sawmill situated a little lower down the
stream. The garden was well stocked with fruit-trees and vegetables,
among which the magnificent pumpkins were already conspicuous, though
as yet they were wanting in the golden hue which adorns them in
autumn. On the hillside was an orchard, facing the south, filled with
peach and cherry-trees, the latter now richly laden with their crimson
fruit. In that direction also extended the larger portion of the farm,
now in a high state of cultivation, bearing heavy crops of grass, and
Indian corn just coming into ear. On the north and east, the cottage
was sheltered by extensive pine woods, beyond which were fine
hunting-grounds, where the settlers, when their harvests were housed,
frequently resorted in large numbers to lay in a stock of dried
venison for winter use.

At that time the understanding between the whites and the Indians, was
not good; and they were then far more numerous than they are at the
present time, and more feared. It was not often, however, that they
came into the neighborhood of the cottage which has been described,
though on one or two occasions a few Minateree Indians had been seen
on the outskirts of the pine forests, but had committed no outrages,
as that tribe was friendly with the white men.

It was a lovely evening in June. The sun had set, though the heavens
still glowed with those exquisite and radiant tints which the writer,
when a child, used to imagine were vouchsafed to mortals to show them
something while yet on earth, of the glories of the New Jerusalem. The
moon shed her silvery light all around, distinctly revealing every
feature of the beautiful scene which has been described, and showed
the tall, muscular figure of William Sullivan, who was seated upon the
door-steps, busily employed in preparing his scythes for the coming