Outdoor Life and Indian Stories / Making open air life attractive to young Americans by telling them all about woodcraft, signs and signaling, the stars, fishing, camping, camp cooking, how to tie knots and how to make fire without matches, and many other fascinating open air pursuits. Also, stories of noted hunters and scouts, great indians and warriors, including Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, General Custer, Pontiac, Tecumseh, King Philip, Black Hawk, Brandt, Sitting Bull, and a host of others whose names are famous; all of them true and interesting

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

"I will tell you. If what has been told us is true, we have not a single friend among the Americans; therefore, we are the enemies of every white man and can look upon you as coming to us only to put us off our guard that our enemies may take us by surprise."

Heckewelder strongly denied the charge, declaring that if he was not the friend of the Delawares, he never would have come among them. White Eyes fixed his piercing gaze upon the missionary, and in the hush that fell upon the throng, asked:

"Will you tell me the truth as to what I shall ask you?"

"I always strive to speak the truth and I shall not deceive you," was the reply.

"We are told that the American armies have been cut to pieces, that General Washington has been killed, that there is no more Congress, and that those that have not already been hanged will be taken to England and hanged by the king, that all the country beyond the mountains is in possession of the English, and the few thousand Americans who have escaped are gathered on this side of the mountains to kill us and our women and children. Now, tell me the truth; are all or any of these things true?"

With all the solemnity he could command, the visitor replied that there was not a word of truth in the rumors that had been brought to the Delawares. The Americans had not been defeated, Washington was unharmed, the cause of patriotism was making the best of progress, and he carried with him the proof that one of the greatest of the British armies had surrendered to the Americans only a few months before. Heckewelder then unfolded and displayed a newspaper which told of the capture of General Burgoyne and his troops. Then the visitor added that he had with him also the friendly messages which the Americans wished him to deliver to the Delawares as a sign of their good will.

MASSACRE AT FORT MIMMS.
This fort in Alabama was attacked by eight hundred Creek warriors,
August 30, 1813, led by the noted half-breed and Chief Weathersford.
The fort held five hundred soldiers, men, women and children, but
being taken by surprise, over two hundred people were scalped.

DEATH OF TECUMSEH THE GREAT INDIAN CHIEF.
Tecumseh was one of the most famous chiefs and Indian warriors of
the eighteenth century. He organized many expeditions against the
whites but lost his life at the Battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813.
He was an ally of the British in the War of 1812.