"Grey, Zane - Betty Zane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grey Zane)

Penn. He was prominent for several years in the new settlement founded by
Penn, and Zane street, Philadelphia, bears his name. Being a proud and
arrogant man, he soon became obnoxious to his Quaker brethren. He therefore
cut loose from them and emigrated to Virginia, settling on the Potomac river,
in what was then known as Berkeley county. There his five sons, and one
daughter, the heroine of this story, were born.

Ebenezer Zane, the eldest, was born October 7, 1747, and grew to manhood in
the Potomac valley. There he married Elizabeth McColloch, a sister of the
famous McColloch brothers so well known in frontier history.

Ebenezer was fortunate in having such a wife and no pioneer could have been
better blessed. She was not only a handsome woman, but one of remarkable force
of character as well as kindness of heart. She was particularly noted for a
rare skill in the treatment of illness, and her deftness in handling the
surgeon's knife and extracting a poisoned bullet or arrow from a wound had
restored to health many a settler when all had despaired.

The Zane brothers were best known on the border for their athletic prowess,
and for their knowledge of Indian warfare and cunning. They were all powerful
men, exceedingly active and as fleet as deer. In appearance they were
singularly pleasing and bore a marked resemblance to one another, all having
smooth faces, clear cut, regular features, dark eyes and long black hair.

When they were as yet boys they had been captured by Indians, soon after their
arrival on the Virginia border, and had been taken far into the interior, and
held as captives for two years. Ebenezer, Silas, and Jonathan Zane were then
taken to Detroit and ransomed. While attempting to swim the Scioto river in an
effort to escape, Andrew Zane had been shot and killed by his pursuers.

But the bonds that held Isaac Zane, the remaining and youngest brother, were
stronger than those of interest or revenge such as had caused the captivity of
his brothers. He was loved by an Indian princess, the daughter of Tarhe, the
chief of the puissant Huron race. Isaac had escaped on various occasions, but
had always been retaken, and at the time of the opening of our story nothing
had been heard of him for several years, and it was believed he had been
killed.

At the period of the settling of the little colony in the wilderness,
Elizabeth Zane, the only sister, was living with an aunt in Philadelphia,
where she was being educated.

Colonel Zane's house, a two story structure built of rough hewn logs, was the
most comfortable one in the settlement, and occupied a prominent site on the
hillside about one hundred yards from the fort. It was constructed of heavy
timber and presented rather a forbidding appearance with its square corners,
its ominous looking portholes, and strongly barred doors and windows. There
were three rooms on the ground floor, a kitchen, a magazine room for military
supplies, and a large room for general use. The several sleeping rooms were on
the second floor, which was reached by a steep stairway.