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The next settlement in Ohio, and the first within the Virginia Military District, was at Massie's Station, now Manchester, where Colonel Nathaniel Massie, with thirty families, arrived in 1790.
"We can keep a regiment of them at their distance," and he acted much as if he believed all he said. It was about two hours after Ralph and the lawyer drove away, when Bob was honored with another visit from Mr. Massie's messengers, but this time they did not come in sufficient force to cause any alarm.
For two hours, during which Bob had made his rounds four times, nothing had been seen to indicate that any one had even a desire to enter the Simpson farm, and then, while Bob was talking with the old man, trying to force him to remember all he had done while at Mr. Massie's office, three wagons filled with men were seen down the road coming directly toward the place.
Simpson had remained in the same dazed condition he had fallen into when Massie's attorney first appeared, and had been unable to repeat a single word of the interview he had had with the money-lender when he paid off the mortgage, or to remember what had been done at the time. The records had been searched, however, and no release had been found; therefore, it was plain that Mr.
Simpson neither knew nor did he know of any one else who might be acquainted with Mr. Thompson's whereabouts. "If we can find this man, and if he heard what Mr. Simpson thinks he did, then the case will be clear enough, for we shall have a witness to the payment of the money, which, I think, will be sufficient to explode Massie's claim." "We must find him," was Bob's reply.
All of them feared that Massie's next attempt to gain admittance would be made under the cover of darkness, and to prevent this from being successful Bob went to work. First he sent one of the men on his horse to Sawyer to purchase a number of lanterns, and while the messenger was gone he got from Mrs. Simpson all the blankets and comfortables she had.
As the officer sat there near the engine-house, doing no more than was absolutely his duty, Bob looked upon him as simply Mr. Massie's representative, and the temptation to vent his anger by some act of violence was very great.
This order was given none too quickly, for almost before Bob had given his directions to the last man, Massie's party clambered into their wagons, and started down the road at a sharp gallop. "Come on, every one of you!" shouted Bob, as he forced his horse to leap the fence.
They afterwards built a new town on the opposite side of the river, but soon abandoned it, and removed to the plains of the Scioto and Paint creek, where they established themselves, on the north fork of the latter stream. They had also several other villages of considerable size in the Miami valley. One was "Chillicothe," standing near the mouth of Massie's creek, three miles north of Xenia.
They had come out there in Mr. Massie's employ, believing that there might be some little difficulty about entering, which their very numbers would dispel at once, but by no means anticipating such a vigorous resistance. It did not suit them to measure strength with these who at last appeared to have right on their side, and they fled before Bob's charge with the greatest precipitation.
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