The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-02-24

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|" Alb, the Indian that shot me lives there,
does he? said |, nodding towards the distant
smoke.
Squaw live dere. Him nowhere live, now.
He shoot you. John shoot him. &c. He no
kill, cause Great Spirit blind him, much. John
see berg straight
" As ne said this, he took a fresh scalp from
his belt, and dangled it before my eyes. The
blood was scarcely dry upon it.
80 Oh, john said /, turning away from the
sickening sight, that was very wrong; and |
trembled, as | thought that here was. another
life that had been forced to succumb before the
dark destiny that seemed to render my contin-
ued existence imperative.
90 No. You good to John John see him
shoot. What for him shoot yon? SO John
kill he, and take he scalp. Then, come save
you, all de same as ever. If not kill he, not
save you, nohow. Come Mus 90. Plenty
lnjpn here, very bad. Not like John. link
white man devil. Kill him sartain, when ketch
him here. Come. John take you safe
'tHe motioned me to rise, at the same time
offering me his rifle by way of support.
managed to get on my feet, but the pain was
so great that | tainted. ] recovered almost i'm
mediately, however, but was too feeble, stiff,
and crippled, to be able to walk told John
this, and advised him to leave me, and save
himself, if there was any danger. He laughed.
''' Spose Ltell goa dat, when de rope round
my neck, you run away, den? l reckon you
stay more'n ever, den. So, l stay moren ever,
now'
I" he then told me that he would carry me
out of the valley by a way known only to him
self and the two families that dwelt there, at
the same time picking me up bodily and bear
ing me towards the source of the brook.
noticed that, soon after leaving the spring the
stream branched, one of its arms coursng
along through the valley, and the other seem
ingly going back to the base of the cliff from
which it originally flowed The intense pain
that every motion caused me distracted my at
tentiOn great deal from what | saw but
John put me down again when we got to the
spring, and glanced around, apparently to see
if we were observed. just as he was about to
take me up again, saw some shining specks
in the sand over which the stream flowed, and
punched at them with his rifle. AS | had
imagined, they were gold, and in large quanti-
ties too; for the rifle barrel removed some of
the black sand, and showed me a plain stripe
of the beautiful metal, like piece of tape, run
ming through the rock that formed the bed of
the stream. | wanted to get at it immediate
ly; but it was impossible for me to stoop, so
stiff and sore was /, and John absolutely re-
fused to touch it, saying with expressive panto-
mime, that nobody dared to take that gold, as
it was the property of the evil spirits, and was
guarded by legion of devils. He was entirely
impregnable to persuasion, and, despite my en-
treaties, picked me up, and bore me on towards
the place where the right-hand branch of the
stream disappeared into the cliff.
As we approached this, ] was struck with
wonder at the prodigious wealth displayed every
where around me. The base of the rock was
streaked throughout with veins Of gold, and the
!, black sand fairly sparkled with dust. Within
Tor urvusuirrr urrs; Mrtn
had come SO far and risked so much to win,
was beyond my power of grasping. The stream
descended into sort Of cavern, perhaps ten
feet square, incining downwards at an angle
of nearly thirty degrees, and walled on both
sides, as far as | could see with the same rich
| gold bearing quartz. Into this cavern John
descended, with me on his shoulders, carefully
and noiselessy stepping from one slippery
| ledge to another, until we were completely in
| the dark. We had gone down into the cavern,
with the stream, as near as | could Judge about
an hundred yards, when John suddenly stopped
seemed to listen for moment and then, ma
king quick but noiseless step to one side
clapped his hand over my mouth, and forced
me to lie down with him in the stream which
was here about knee-deep, and very rapid.
was much alarmed, thinking he wished to
drown me, and was preparing to resist, as much
as l could, in my helpless condition, when
heard noise in advance, the sound of voices
| paused, and listened, breathless, hearing the
harsh cultural Of Indians, talking in low tones
but tones that were reverberated from the hol-
low sides of the cavern, till they sounded fear.
fully distinct. / found also that they were APP
preaching. Slowly they came nearer, while
John held me tighter almost convusively.
heard the slipping of their feet over the oozy
rocks, the echo of their tread on the Hat lodges
and their muttered 'ughs! as they stumbled
! in their course. Never have | suffered such
/ terrible suspense as | then experienced. At
last they were right upon us; l could hear
their heavy breathing, as if they carried some
| thing weighty, and could almost feel the brush
! of their clothes against me, as | counted them
going slowly by, in single file, six Indians, one
4 after another. | cannot describe my sensations
/ then. A loud breath from us, slip by one OF
them and all was over with us. At last they were
all by, and could hear the retreatiHg sound OF
| their footsteps up the cavern's steep ascent.
The sense of being once more in comparative
safety, the chill of the water, the damp and
darkness of the cavern, and the pain of my
wound, together, overcame me, and ! tainted
again.
"When came to myself, was lying in the
sunshine, on a broad rock, and above me
stretched the bleak rocky hill which had niadly
traversed the night before, with the glaciers
/ beyond while by my side was well-trodden
|, path, and at my feet stream dubbed up, like
| a large spring, from beneath the rock lay on.
~ was wet to the skin, and so was Indian John,
who was bending over me, chahng my temples,
and examining my bruises and wounds.
! b How did get here, John ? | asked,
! (" He pointed to the spring at my feet.
I 81 Is that where the river has its source?
u /" ',Yes: and you come out dere, and me too,
like muskrat out he hole. OATS de way lnjuns
j hides heselves.'
i g was too weak and confused to wonder
| much or, indeed, to think at all and, besides,
| John was exceedingly anxious to get away
! from a locality so evidently dangerous as he
| said:
! "'You all right now. Go home me. Squaw
| Glib something. You be well next day. Go
white mans Come wild me-.
z So saying, he took me again upon his back,
| and trotted on for mile or two, until he got
/ into the pines again, when he turned into Sc
cure thicket, and sat me down on a fallen tree,
saying he was very tired, fact of which his
face was sufficient proof. He told me, while
we rested here, that he had seen me going to-
wards the mountains, and had followed me, fear
ing that | would be lost that he had seen my
mule stolen, and had stolen it back for me /;
that he had seen an Indian follow me, and had
put off attacking him, in order to find out