tribes of those parts, had, after the long and desperate siege of
Fort Pitt, made peace with us upon finding that his friends, the
French, had given up all thought of further resistance to the
English, and had entirely abandoned the country. Mr. Welch thought,
therefore, that a permanent peace was likely to reign on the
frontier, and that he might safely establish himself in the charming
location he had pitched upon, far removed from the confines of
civilization.

The spot was a natural clearing of some forty acres in extent,
sloping down to the water's edge, and a more charming site could
hardly have been chosen. Mr. Welch had brought with him three farm
laborers from the East, and, as time went on, he extended the
clearing by cutting down the forest giants which bordered it.

But in spite of the beauty of the position, the fertility of the
soil, the abundance of his crops, and the advantages afforded by the
lake, both from its plentiful supply of fish and as a highway by
which he could convey his produce to market, he had more than once
regretted his choice of location. It was true that there had been no
Indian wars on a large scale, but the Indians had several times
broken out in sudden incursions. Three times he had been attacked,
but, fortunately, only by small parties, which he had been enabled to
beat off. Once, when a more serious danger threatened him, he had
been obliged to embark, with his wife and child and his more valuable
chattels, in the great scow in which he carried his produce to
market, and had to take refuge in the settlements, to find, on his
return, his buildings destroyed and his farm wasted. At that time he
had serious thoughts of abandoning his location altogether, but the
settlements were extending rapidly toward him, and, with the prospect