Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1869-03-05

that beauty perfect by the graces Of
mind pure and highly cultivated. IHe1
voice was melody, ner smile burst q
tpure and living light, and her calm, put
Eeyes theTsweet eKpositors OF SIN
less affection. To speak no more OF hel
perfections, suffice it to say that loye9
| her. with my whole soul She was my
idol; her happiness was the center OF my
every WISH. and she wassthe~ object oo1
eyery aspiration - ~ v,
| ,"We were married; time went on, and
brought me bud from the rose l had
established in my, green bower AT home
We were indeed happy then. Aloof from
society, though we missed few OF Its
luxuries, we suffered. ,non none Of Its vexa'
| tions and deInoralizing cQrruptioons.s On
Sundays we rode many miles through the
wildernessito attend a place Iof worship
established by the missionaries, and to
hear the word Of God read and revealed,
! son the day my dear little Sarah
had attained her second year, Ashe was
seated near to my counter, and her mother
was standing by, when three fierce looking
Indians entered the store. 4'Fhey had
evidently travelled a long way, for their
feet were almost bare. / recognized one
of them instantly as the ;Crouching Wolf,
a desperate being who hung alternately
around the skirts of settlements, begging
for rum, or getting itin barter for the furs
of wild animals. Just a year previous TO
this he had visited me for the purpose Of
procuring g6the fire water; u had refuse
him. and he left me Y with thjlg the HgW VOW Of future
vengeance. 80 -
D "FHoogh J said he, as he reeled up with
his gruff- looking, companions toward the
counter where my child was-pIaying and
my wife stood, 'the Crouching Wolf said
he would come back. He wants the talk.
ing water; he wants that, or revenge. He
will have one. ....
"I tried to reason with him, but he was
deaf to reason. He had tasted from the
fiagon of one of his red companions, and
the fumes were in his brain.g7 s IN
90 Come, emedicine.man, @said4 he,s the
Wolf wants the fire-milk. Where is it'?
He cannot wait. His spirit IS up, and his
forehead, is warana ~ u
81 saw that ne grew desperate; but my
resolution was taken. I sternly denied
him; it 'was2a fataIdeniaL esTOTT
"During the colloquy my wife and child
had gone outeon the, green swards and the
latter was picking wild flowers and ;string-l
ing them The Crouching Wolf left me,
growing some gutteral sentences to his
companions; and, tohi perciful Heavens!
1 saw them advance toward my child. l
was motionless, and paralyzedW with terror,
AS the Wolf approached my little girl, he
drew tonahawk, from his belt, and
flourished it on high I~sprang toward
him, but was pushed back by his com
panionst The dear, innocent, unaffrighted
child smiled in the face of the Crouching
Wolf, and it seemed as if, the cheerful
purity of her look stayed his vengeful arm.
He paused, until scream from the mother
aroused the terror of her little girl. She
then shrunk back from the relentless
savage, while her mother, like myself, was
kept at bay, and the dear little, innocent,
quivering with dismay, said, in childish
simplicity, Naughty Indian! if he hurts
Sarah, ma viii be angry, and punish him.
Gas she said this she burst into tears ;
her last for ever y i LEs- 81 + n
"In one instant the trenchant weapon
of the infuriated Indian Glove asunder the
head of my babe; in the next his excited
comrades, of whom now there were five,
had murdered the wife OF my bosom. /
have an indistinct and horrid remen-
brance Of my burning storeAthe' red
fends. Yelling over the consuming roof
and walls-and my escape to the forest.
The rest was but silence. and oblivion. /
was madman! = @-'+s5 'S.','t -. ii
'"Ten months after that I found myself
in New Orleans. had reached the city,
no one knew how--had been conveyed to
hospital, kindly treated, and discharged
as cured, but an outcast and q beggar.
Misfortunes seldom come. alone. / found
that during nay seclusi6n from the wor Id
my father had died, and as / had already
received my share of his property, Che
residue melted away among. several
brothers and sisters. My inheritance
on this side of the Atlantic being destroyed
by Indians, was without home or "a
friend. -raao. "oa ies"1iaE 'fs
i"How subsisted I scarcely know; AT
last, as was one day walking moodily
along, l saw a group collected around an
Indian who was performing tricks from a
box with a rattlesnake. The Indian WIS
the Crouching Wolf. ~ ola'so 'eral ~
&. "t The murderer, Of my wife and child
exclaimed, as penetrated through the
ring, and with one fierce blow feAed the
vile monster to the earthsi / seized him
by the throat. I placed my knee upon
| his breast. In few moments he was
a distorted and CHASTITY corpse beneath my
| feet.
"My award Of retribution was consid-
cred Just, and no effort was made to arrest
me. Awaiting myself of the box belong
| ing to the Crouching Wolf which,I con
tended was mine as a debt, L soon learned
the mystery of his art, as if by intuition.
An upper drawer of the box Contained the
real rattlesnake; an under drawer merely
the skin of one, which could be inflated
by the breath at will The motion Of the
tongue, which was dried, and had wires
within, was produced by load-stone; the
movement Of theratt1es by the same cause
Filled from the lungs, it could readily be
taken-into themouth and compressed into
1 a very small compass, and while re-passl
| ing outward, inflated again. / bought ID
new snake from the museum, whichiI
killed and prepared according to the
1uodef before me. / could not endure the
Thought of even using the same instru.
ments employed by the, destroyer of all
| that I most loved on earth, and turned
from his trickery with feeling Of almost
nositiye loathipg yet in the end i did
not see why / should not make capital
out of it. ,r.~ so,eters .,t, Ia g,f,srt 7qis-,
| GA little practice made me an adept in
the mystery of snake-eating, and l have
since wandered in loneliness from town to
town, attempting this curious enterprise.
NV pecuniary success has been sufficient
for NV comfort and convenience, and the
danger of the feat is only in appearance.
With slight exertion I can turn my face
into. the cOloIs and contortions you wit
ness this evening, and which, heighten the
interest of the spectacle. But these things