VOLU3IE 56. NEW SERIES. rpHE BEDFORD GAZETTE, a IS PUCLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING BY I?. F MEYEftS, At the following terms, to wit: $1.50 per annum, CASH, in advance. $2.00 " " if paid within the year. $2.50 " " if m.t paid within the year. QS""No subscription taken for less than six months. paper discontinued until aii arrearages are paid,utiles# at the option of the publisher, jt has Oeen decided by the United States Courts that the stoppage of a newspaper without tne payment oi ar rearages, is prima Jucif evidence or fraud and is a criminal ofTence. CtyThe courts have decided that persons are ac countable for the subscription price of newspapers, jif the) take them from the po 3 t office,whether they subscribe for them, or not. , 1 (except old maidsand old bachelors,} Isuppose j because lam old myself, and once had an old i coat which had grown white in service, and an i old horse, whose teeth were worn down to j the slumps fiom the length of time they hail i been in action ; 1 had, too, in my possession, once upon a time, long, long ago, a half cent, grown green from age, of which a v ri'.able crone declared oracularly, that if I always carried it about me, I would never be without money ;. and,truer than most modern prophe cies was it ; for, as long as I carried it in tile bottom of my pockel, ] was never without that half cent at least, though it would not lay the egg which was to be hatched into more half pennies, Again in after years, I collected eight old copper coins, which were carefully kept in a soda powder box, until my g r and children, discovering the hidden treasury coaxed tliem from me to buy ginger nuls. On these ancient possessions, which have long sine*- "gone the way of ail flesh," I set great store, and if the facts Jdo not establish my claim lo the title, antiquarian, I have only to say, "the, proofs are all in, arid here I rest my case."— Well, one of these old patents reads as follows : **Said land was surveyed to E M in pursuance ola warrant, dated Feb. 2filh, 1787, and includes Wilktlm'i Gap , in Bi-dlurd county." IVilfielni's Gap, in Bedford county ! where is it? for hereby "hangs a tale !" There is a mountain ridge, rising up from the Juniata, adjoining the boiough of Bedfjrd, and extending Northward to Dunning's creek, near which it, (the ridge aforesaid) draws itself backwards to the East, and stretching out its great arms, receives into its boson, and shelters there, a piece of beautiful, heavily timbered levef land, having an open and extensive pros pect to the Westward. Within the Gap thus formed, lived Wilhelm Van Bergen and his fair daughter Mlifeline.— Wilhelm, like many others, coming to the new land, stopped at the good city of the Quakeis, where the mother of Madeline, having finished her earthly journey ings, left her orphan daugh ter to the care of her father. A Iter the loss of his wife, Wilhelm, in order to mend his world ly estate, joined a company of pioneers-, who Were pushing westward to seek their fortunes. Around Foi Bedford, they pitched their tents. 1 Here he remained for a time, and until his [ daughter was grown almost to woman's estate ; : when lie determined to settle at a distance in the coun'ry BO as to remove hpr from tbeassoci- j Ation* within the fort, from the example which tba tense what lax moral discipline of a frontier Poat, would render dangerous to her inexperi om. For, without a mother's watchful guar* dianship and prudent advice, as the world wags, ■ t is a critical tune, that budding into womau nood, for one beautiful as she knew she was, '"aving been told so eve:y dav. Hot, brought jp amid privations and dangers, Madeline's fa culties v. ere fully developed in all that, then constituted excellence in woman ; besides she could load and fire her rifle a,- we || as any man about the tort, and could bring down a deer in its rapid course with as uneiring an aim as the mast skilful hunter in the province. She was brave and daring, endowed with an unusu al degree ol courage and presence of mind, and had seen too many red-skins to be easily fright ened at the sight of a tomahawk or scalping knil'e. Ttiough she did not like to leave the protection of the fort, yet she would not suffer her fathei to go out into the forests aione; for site had always his faithful companion and was, besides, an obedient and dutiful daughter. Moreover she had a lover there, near to whom she would have preferred to remain ; but when duty called, like many another noble woman, she sacrificed self to that duty. She knew too well the risks her father run in his design to live without the protection of the blockhouse, a.ol when danger threatened, she must be be side hitn to share it. There are many noble women now, too, as good, and better,than was Madeline ; but, where there is one equal, in faithlo! devotion to duty, to the women of "those days days which tried men's soul-," and women's hearis and souls too, there are just six, (the number has been carefully calculated.) who are i,.,t worth the powder that would send a quarter ounce bullet through a red-skin's scalp! With the assistance of the settlers the logs were soon cut down and trimmed ; a log cabin, the palace of the pioneer, erected, and Wiihelm and his daughter took up their residence in the sequestered nook which has ever since borne the name, "Wilhelm's Gap."' It was a de lightful spot, surrounded by the majestic oak, • 'he silvpr-h-aM) maple, while in the hack ground, thedaik, evergreen foliage of the pine tree, lose up against the Eastern skv, casting over it a protecting shadow. They soon had their lilt le patch cleared and planted with corn and vegetables, such as (hey would need, de pending upon their rifles for their meat. Tliev aiways went out to hunt together, for jdvan cing civnt'-firdi i R d refinement ha-i not jet taught the women of that day how vulgar it was to aid their lathers or husbands in the eve ry day labours of life. She was heathen e nough to he able to cook his meals, to knit and darn his stockings, make anil mend his shiils, sew the buttons on and \va f h them, and to do many little tilings ot a similar sort, which are now permitted to he mentioned only in the kitchen,(they had no kitchens then: that is tiie reason 1 suppose.) or at the millinery shops, and these were scarce. * Things went on swimmingly in the gap for a time. Father and daughter rich in each other's love, fjr \V ilhelm love,! his daughter, not onlv for herself, but for the sake of her dear mother, whose image was yet as bright in his weather beaten heart, as the day when lie first called het his own. Often he thought that, in the hour of danger, her spirit hovered near them as their Angel ; for their many escapes were to him otherwise inexplicable. Though the settlers had been startled at the recent murder, by the Indians, of' Glass, whose bones std! whiten an adjoining field, yet \Vil helm an i Madeline were unmolested. They weie under the protection of a chief named .Vlukiindwa, (pillager, as the name is translated.) This chief used to often come to the f>rt when IVilhelm was there, and being captivated by the beauty ol Madeline, loved her with all the energy ot his uncultivated nature. She did not then dream of the passion with which she had inspired him ; but, in the Gap, his visits became so frequent, and his admiration so marked, that a modern belle, with all he refinement of the beau monde, would hardly be expected to ig nore it. Madeline was a simple child, and, when a man made love to her with his eyes and actions, every thing but words, she could not help understanding it. If she had had the advantage of amodern hoarding school education, her intellect would have been belter tiained. Nothing slioit of, "wiil you have me, pretty maid," would have made her wide awake. The discovery of Mukundwa's love, caused Madeline no little uneasiness. She loved Ed ward Shippen, the gallrut young soldier, hun ter, and farmer, by turns, and had promised to wed tiim whenever her father would give his consent. Now, that she was an ohjr-ct ot love to this chief whose passion she knew opposition would only inflame, maybe cause him to use violence to obtain possession of her if he could not do BO "otherwise, she had good reason to dread the future. What would that future be ? Death, likely to her father and lover, perhaps to herself! The fate of Glass was fresh in her memory. Often to the sensitive, nprvous, temperament, the temperament of all who are eminently good BEDFORD, PA., FRIDAY MOUSING, APIIIL 6, 1800. , I and noble, there whispeis in the silent hours iof the night, a siil! s:r.a! 1 voice, whence it , I comes we know not, warning at an approach ing calamity. From the depths of her heart Ma! el ine sent up her prayers to her heavenly lather, tu avert it. She was neither too proud nor too fashionable to pray. No, she had by her dead mother's lu;ee, learned to pray, and at the dawn and close of each day, she repealed j on bended knee, the little child-prayers site had • hus learned, and often besides during the day. At home or in the forest, these early pioneers 1 had to offer up their petitions. There were no j churches then where the people could, having donned their holy day attire, come up at stutej : periods to pray, giving to their God one seventh ior less, of their time and thoughts ; but these were the great templrs, not made 'with hands whic.r he himself had reared, whose arches were liie loototool of his omnipotence arid whose columns the giant hills, born centuries ago.— Here the humble worslii, pets, feeling that their whole dependence was on his watchful care, had j daily ana hourly need to turn their thoughts to him with sincerity and truth. Fully aw are ol the danger which hovered j around her, Maaeiine endeavored to avoid Mukundwa—to show hiin if possible, by her acts, that his admiration was displeasing toiler, i She did not dare to tell her father of it, lor, though a good, he was a passionate man, and it the past were known to him lie would not hes ; itate to forbid the chief ever seeing her again. Her eflorts to avoid, only hastened the caias ! trophe, for Mukundwa, seeing that she avoid*d him, and fV-ai ing she might escape from him, determined to have her at once. He demanded ! her from VVilheim with tr.oie impetuosity than | modern lovrrs would use when tlmy a.-lt I'a, particularly if there was the contingency of a big pocket foil of cash hanging on the ans wei. VVilheim was confounded at the assurance of the savage, and a thousand little acts, the bringing olchoice pieces of venison, fish, game corn ; the special protection afforded himself and daughter, from ail other Indians ; ali these flashing suddenly across his mind, bewildered him because ol his hitherto blindness. But calmly as he could he told Mukundwa she could never become the squaw of a forest chief but must wed a pale face. The chief m a rag**,. demanded that she lie delivered to bi*i atv~~~ threatening vengeance on both it he was refu sed. lie had protected them hitherto, and pre vented their falling victims to the resentment of his brethren—they wouid feel that he could punish as well as protect. But Wilhelm, ta king down his rifle liom its pegs, ordered the savage to depart at once, promising that i; would be used if ever he came within its reach again. With muttered curses, for even an un tutored savage could cuise, Mukundwa glided into the forest and disappeared. The threats which lie uttered, w*>re heard by Madeline and she knew they vreie no idle words. When Edward Shippen came to the Gap next day, and was informed of the facts, his entreaties were joined with hers to induce Wilhelm to return to the fori, and thus avoid llie danger to which they were now too certain ly exposed. He refused to leav ihe little crops he had planted and which were growing finely, trusting to his well known courage, and his rifle; and again, because the beauties of the ever varying landscape, the sombre arches, the fa miliar presence of the denizens of the f>rest ; I lie budding beauties of the spring, with ill ■ songs of the hiids, and the golden hues of autumn inspired hiin with an attachment to the solitude of his home pven stronger than seems now lelt for the homes of civilization. It was his own where lie enjoyed a freedom which knew no bounds. Everything around, spoke ol peace to hi 3 wearied heait. Here were no petty jeal ousies, no rankiing animosities, no envy, no calumny, the handmaidens of modern refine ment and modern intelligence. With the sweet smile of his beautiful daughter, shedding light upon his pathway, and her cheerful compan ionship, to while awav the loneliness ot his re tirement, is it wonderful that he should refuse to leave it ? or that his dislike to depart from it should delude him into the belief, that with his trutv rifie and the logs of his cabin for a breast work, lie was more than a match for his foe, if foe his former friend had become. He had, hovvc-ver, to deal with a man more wary than himself, whose well earned name of pillager, proved him 100 cautious to risk an open attack ant! whose wits were doubly sharpened by dis appointment, and a thirst fur revenge. Two months had passed, since Mukundwa i had been either seen or heard of. Wilhelm I was certain that he had gone to return no more. One evening, just as he and Madeline had sea ted themselves at their frugal meal, Mukundwa suddenly entered the cabin, having with hiin a saddle of venison as in former friendly times.— At Ins rrque-d, Madeline was soon at work broil ing some of the delicious steaks, which the ; chief cut off for her. The three sat down to j enjny them together, as if no shadow had ever passed between them ; for, though surprised at i bu sudden reappearance, both father and daugb- Freedom of Thought and Opinion. judged it more prudent to show no evidence of it. Scarcely, however, had they finished ea ' tno, when a shrill whi.-lle from the chief, brought three stalwart savages into the cabin at a bound, and so suddenly, that neither Wil hH:n or Madeline could offer the least possible resistance. They were seized and bound se curely almost in a moment. With their arms tied behind them with thongs of deer skin, thev were led out of the cabin which was, in a few moments, enveloped in llames. This was done with a view to conceal tfie fact that its firmer inmates were alive ;as it would, most likely, T-e supposed that they had been murdered and their bodies burned wills their residence. Such | was the usual result of an Indian attack. As soon as the cabin was reduced to a pile of coals , Mukundwaand his companions with ; fheir captives, took up their line of march to join their tribe West of the mountains, where they had removed the year before. On Ih is night, the brigiit glare from the burn ing of Wilhelir.'s cabin, had illumined the sky northward of fort, where it was distinctly seen. Edward Shipped saw it, and judged correctly, that it was in the direction of the home of his betrothed, inay.be that home, and herself and father prisoners in the hands ot the revengeful savages, perhaps murdered by them. The ag ony of suspense which he endured during that long night cannot be described. Brave even to rashne>, he entreated to be permitted a lone to their rescue, or at least to learn the cause of the conflagration. The discipline ol the Fort forbade that any one should leave af ter it had been closed for tfie night, unlil the regular hour in the morning. As soon as the bolls were drawn, armed with his rifle and an abundance of amunition for any emergency, and his keen hunting knife in his belt, lie, w.th rapid strides hurried around to the Gap, As lie stood a moment among the pine trees which darkened the woods on the hill above, he strained his eves to catch a glimpse of the cab in. He saw only its smoking embers. Had Mukundwa been near at that moment, lie might have easily made another prisoner, for that strong man, overcome by the thought of what lie had lost, grew weak as a child. Hastening dbwn as well as he could he s-aiched for the tokens which were to assure liiin that Madeline * ' i> r father were alive. Stie and mi . - .... Jv'Tti* kundwa would return, and from their experience of Indian character,judging what would be the result of that leturn, they had endeavoured to prevail on Wilhelm to remove to the Fort ; as we have seen, they failed to alter bis determi nation to lemain in the lorest, and Madeline loved her lather, her only nurse and companion from tiie years of her childhood, too well to leave him in such an emergency : besides, it she were absent and her fatiier alone, he might be murdered from pure revenge. All that could be done was to provide for the worst. She and £ |ward prepared two little sticks, around the one end of each of which, thev tied a small piece ol brown clotil. If their home should be attacked and burned, and both father and daugh ter were alive ami in tiie hands of Mukundwa, then, the two sticks were to be dropped ar near to the cabin as possible, so that he might find them. It the father was murdered, one of the sticks was to be stripped of its clntb. for mre than an tiour, did Eiward hunt t>r the tokens agreed upon, of the safety of her in whose life his was bound tip; and, while disappointed, he circled round, looking beneath every chip and leaf, many a diretul threat of vengeance against everv red-skin who might come within the range of his rifle, escaped Ins lips. Worn down with anxiety, almost despairing, the far that Madeline had been murdered and burned, crept around his heart closer and closer: —colder and colder ; amid the agony of his grief, his dimr.ed eyes wondered to the ruins of tiie home in which he had spent many a iianpy hour with Made inehy his side, her loved hand resting confi dingly in his ; would he ever see her lace again! As Ins eyes wandered back again to the ground at his feet, they rested upon something between two maplesapiings a tew yards from where he i stood. With a bound he sprang forward and there were the two sticks with the cloth wrap ! ped around both, iust as he had last seen tiiein. Madeline and her lather were alive—now for (lie trail and death to Mukundwa, for Edward was determined alone to rescue the dear ones or | perish in the attempt. Could you have seen him, as he strode forward to hunt that (mil, you would not think that man's sinewy limbs could ; be weak as limy were a lew moments ago. Madeline had provided many small pieces ;of the same brown cloth, which, from their colour ami size, would attiact no eye but Lo ward's,to be dropped along the trail as chance oflered. These were intended to guide him aright, and without loss of time. Tiie Indians, when they desired to baffle pursuit, were in the habit of making several trails, also of covering the main trail with leaves or grass, or of trav eling as long as possible beds of small streams; thus they would mislead their pursuers and gain, I limp. They resorted to the same stratagem in this instance and had gained the summit of the mountain before they relaxed watchful ness. Expecting no further necessity for cau tion, from !he conviction that no white man could tiack them so iar, until they had advan ced days beyond the reach of any pursuer, they ielt a wide trail. All their precautions however were of no avail,for they had to cope with an experienced woodsman, and a woman's wit sharpened by being torn from him she loved and in tianger horn hiin she hated. The little strips of cloth were angel me.-sengeis, bearing glad ti dings to Elvvard of her whom he so eagetly sought. He easily found the right trail as in dicated by these tokens ; when it diverged or was concealed, the pieces of cloth guided him like a thread through the labyrinth of the wil derness. !• our whole days he followed it and he knew by the ashes of their camp fires, which he had passed, that he had gained on the lugitives so that lie must now be near them, and caution became douuly necessary. Every night he had climbed into a tree and slept among ils branches, thus resting himself from the fatigues of his lonely and rapid march, so as to husband all his strength for the ' our wnen it would be needed. On the night o! the fifth day, he had mounted to his bed among the thick and wide spreading blanches of a giant oak, only a. few yards removed Irom the edge of a steep bank, near to which, in the valley below, flowed the waters of the picturesque Loyalhanna* The night had set in dark and threatening, and he j was in no hurry to sleep, fur he .eSrpected a drenched skin before morning. While planning how fjt--hotild actio case he came in sight of and his party on the morrow, recalling aiNie knew oflndian sliatagem and Indian his attention was suddenly arrested at the sight ola feebie blaze of a fire just buijt, struggling through the brushwood not many hundred yards in advance of turn and close by the stream. Faster and faster it bounded upward crackling through the dry twigs ; higher and higher, wider and wider, it gleamed until its broad light revealed the outlines ot the forms of six persons ; four were reclining and two attending to the fire, evident ly getting ready the evening meal. Presently one of tjiose who had been restingon the ground, ways a ", d changing side the face of his beloved Madeline. "God in Heaven, (here they are; aid me now to save them!" His joy and anxiety rendered him un fit either to act or think. Give the high met tled steed, when he is startle!, the rein for a while; let him run, in a little while he will quiet down anil be gentle and tractable again. Soon Edward regained his accustomed composure ot mind and confidence in himself, in the presence of danger. Judging the dis tance that the fire was from him, he found that it was beyond the range of his rifle and that he must contrive to get vet nearer. To do so and vet to not alarm the Indians, became a vital ne cessity. It he should be discovered, all would be lost. Descending carefully to the ground, he proceeded, with a step as stealthy as a pan ther's, forward to another heavy branched tree, which the light of the fire revealed to him a lit tle farther away from the bank and about a hundred yards from the party. The darkness and the wind blew ing pretty loudly, and crack ing the dead branches around, favoured him, and any noise he might have made was attributed-to this. He was" soon in his watch-tower with rifle in hand and prepared lor whatever might happen. Faithful and trusty companion in ma ny a chase, and many a bloody skirmish, fail lum not now ! He hid not been long in his resting place when he saw that which made his blood boil and nerved his arm for the terribie vengeance that he was about to inflict. Mukundwa stool belore Wilhelm with Madeline in his arms, taunting him, while she was struggling to free herself from his caresses. Wilhelm must have said something to him which roused his savage ire ; for, dropping her from his arms like a hot shot, the fearful tomahawk whirled round his head and was dashed at the brain of his hapless victim. But it fell short of ils mark, for, whiz zing through the air, a well aimed bu'.iet from Edward's rifle, went crashing through the sava ge's skull and he tumbled back ward, dead, into the darkness. Consternation sat on the faces of the three remaining Indians, lor the death had fallen where they little expected, and Wilhelm and Madeline could scarce prevent a shout of joy which rose up in their very throats and had to be gulped down again; for, as a mother knows the voice of her own child even in the din of a thousand child voices, so they knew the ring of E I ward's rifle, for many a time before had they heard its music. It spoke to them now of a speedy delivery. While two of the Indians rushed out to search the woods for the cause of this unexpected attack, the other re mained to guard the prisoners. His watch was not so strict, for be was constantly peering into V.'lior,*: ATHIJEK, 2896. Ibe darkness after his companions, but that Madeline who had been unbound as soon as the march commenced from Wiihelm's cabin, riraw i"'* tier hunting knife from her bosom, where , ue always carried it prepared for any emer j gcndj-, noiselessly severed the thongs which | bound her father's arms. Benumbed as he was j hope drove the blood and r.erve power through him like an electric charge : he seized the tom ahawk of Mukundwa hich had fallen so nerr iirr, ai d u e.. nigh caused his death, and conceal ei 11 bt " hmd him read >* 'or the moment of ac tion, which he felt must be near. Soon the two —>u!s returned, for they ban found nothing, no, it was not light enough to find tracks or see men up trees; nor if it had been did they think of such a thing. They did not see the powder i ash and the wind hid carried away its smok". After a hurried consultation, one of them be 2 an !o extinguish the fire which had enabled "the marksman to take so sure an aim. But scarce had he seized the second brand, ere he followed h.s clue/ (o the Indian hunting grounds beyorol the g,ave ; for. the clear .ing of that fatal mes senger of death thai never missed its mark, start led the wild deer and the owls Irom their coverts. The two remaining Indians, turning their backs to (heir prisoners, for (hey feared no danger Irom them, looked intently into the darkn°es3 whence the sound had proceeded, trying to dis cover its cause. While they stood t!i il paral yzed with fear, ar.d unceitain which way to lurr, Madeline, brave as her lover, with a strong right arnt plunged.her keei: knife into the side of the Indian next-htr, up to the han dle, while Wilhelovs tomahawk- went down -.i.c igh tae skul! of the.other even.fo-tbe neck. W hen he had discharged his fast spof, EJ ward hastily descended to the gtdund as he ran down the he feared that the n'rnain i g^a Agbt turn upon and murder ;iie %s> t® cause uf the death" ui their prevent it-*- 1 o lose a:! vWcrTuif gained, there., was m id ness in the thought.' face two stalwart sav- J c es desperate now, was no fight enter- Pise. He coula shoot one, but the other might master hi*n in fhe moment pi success ; and Wil helm, bound as he was, could not aid bim. But brave men do not stop to weigh pros and cons, when danger is before them. Onward he hastened : but, what was his astonishment to find the fiefd already won.' EtfwarJ! Alarte while thelHTßlnfl 4 TfiA,his Jbosam. the necks of his f wo children, and they mingled their tears of joy together, (for their foes "lay dead around tliem,) tears, gushing up from the full spring of their glad hearts. And there be side that tamp hre in the wilderness, they knelt down together, the father and his two children, to thank God for their deliverance! Within ten das WiiheJm, Edward and Madeline, arrived safely at the fort, and great were the rejoicings on their return, for they had been given up for lost. E-Jward had won his bride as few, even in those days, could have do ie, and Wilhelm gladly placed her hopes on earth, may be in Heaven, in his keeping, bles sing him with a father's blessing. They lived close by the fort, from that time forth, Wiihelm going out in the day time to cultivate liis little patch of ground, though he never rebuilt his cabin. The war of the Rev olution soon alter this, broke out. Wilhelm and Edward, after many a hard fought field fell, with their faces fo the foe, at Brandy wine, and they sleep their long last sleep in the grave \ arrl of the oU church there, where fell many a brave man on that bloody day. Madeline did not long survive them, she sleeps beside her fatfier, and in the same grave with her hus band, faithful in life and i.i death ! A fair young giri is leaning pensively on the casement, gazing with thoughtful brow" up on the scene below. The bloom of fifteen sum mers tints her cheeks ; the sweets of a thou sand flowers are gathered upon her rosy hps and tall upon her neck of perfect grace ; the soft swimming eyes seem ligtited by the ten derest fires of poetry, and'beauty hovers over her own most favored child. What are her thoughts ? Love cannot stir a bosom so young ; sorrow cannot vet have chosen her for its own. Alas! has disappointment touched that youth ful heart ? Yes, it must be so ; but hist ! she -tarts—her lips part— sh- speaks—listen ! "Jim, j,on na-tv tool! Q lit scratching that pig's back, or I'll tell marm." ELECTION OF COUNTY SUPCK INTENDENTS.— The triennial elections for County Superin tendents of I tie Common Schools, take place in the several counties of the State on the first Monday in May next. The Jaw provides that these elecSions shall b- held at the county seat of each county: and we call the attention of Directors to the fact, that merely a maj>rity of the Duectors in Convention lor the purpose of election is required, and not a majority of the Directors of the county. the middle of geography, stand up. "What's a pyramid ?"—"A pile of men in a circus one on top of the other." "Where's Egypt 7 " —"Where it allers was." "Where is Wales?" "All over the sea."—"Very weil; stay there till 1 show you a spcciej of birch , well known in this country." VOL. 3.K0.36.