The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-04-04

was shining brightly. r-
/ was lying upon blanket, and, upon
attempting to move, discovered that my
limbs were stiff and sore.
I was bewildered, but in few min
utes the events of the previous night
came to my mind, and my first thoughts
were of my comrade. With an effort L
raised my head and glanced around,
when, to my great relief, l saw Brady
sitting near me. His first expression
was:
"By the holy Saint Patrick, the red
skins have got us this time
cit would have been far better FOR
u.s." replied, if we had been com
pletely frozen before they discovered
us"
"Away with such stuff" he cried.
"That is not the kind of talk for one
who has been SO long accustomed to the
life of frontiersman.
While the lamp holds out TO burn,
The vilest sinner may return,
SAYS your sacred poet, and we will escape
those dogs yet.
"Do be cautious. There may be some
of them who understand enough of our
language to know of what We are talk
ing" l replied.
mot a bit of it" he responded; "but
they mean mischief, and we must be on
the alert.
The chief of the band then indicated
to us that our conversation must stop,
and mt the same time one of the warriors
came and bound Brady's hands. L sup
pose they considered me too powerless
to escape, so they left me unbound.
How it was that had not escaped as
well as my comrade, and how we had
been discovered by the Indians, was
more than we could tell and more than
we were ever able to find out. Brady's
first knowledge was of being dragged
along in the snow, before daylight, and
placed before the fire. He was not froz-
en- except his feet and hands, slightly;
while nv lower limbs to my knees, and
my hands, arms, nose and ears were Sc
verely frostbtten. But my limbs had
been placed in snow, and / was recover
ing very well, though exceedingly sore
and in much pain.
Brady had considerable knowledge of
the Navajo language, and felt satisfied
he had learned something regarding
IntlT lultnllOHS bpMuii ~ hAh'tt
several efforts during the day to get
something from him, but he would not
answer question.
They gave us roast meat, and although
they were very cruel, their treatment was
much better than / expected.
When night came, Brady was tied
hand and foot, and my arms and legs
were tied, but | was not confined any
further, so L rested pretty well during
the night.
In this way they kept us for one week,
making us do mental service during the
day and binding us during the night, and
all this time | could get nothing from
my comrade. He would not talk to me
at all. | knew he had reason for it,
and felt contented, SO far as he was con-
cerned, but | could not keep from chat
ing under my savage yoke.
On the evening of the eighth day,
Brady, by the use of the deaf and dumb
alphabet, communicated to me the fol-
lowing: ." We must make or escape to-
Moqui villages lay about forty-five miles
north of where we then were, and the
inhabitants have always been friendly to
the whites.
Night came on, and the horses, twenty
four in number, were brought up and
tied near the camp. We were bound as
usual, but there were no more commu-
nications between Brady and myself. My
anxiety was such as | never felt before.
1t seemed to me the Indians would
never retire, and when they did lay
down they. were a long time getting
quiet. But as soon rs | was sure they
were all asleep | began working to free
myself. My hands were tied behind my
back, and my feet bound close together.
| My wrists and arms were yet much
swollen from the effects of the frost, and
by exerting every effort, and suffering
intensely, 1 succeeded in drawing my
right hand through the thong, lacerat-
ing my hand and ttearing away portions
of the flesh as | did SO. Having loosed
my hands, it was but small matter to
unite my feet. AS soon as that was
done, L raised myself to reconnoiter.
One of the Indians moved uneasily.
sank down and placed my feet and hands
in the proper position almost instantly.
The Indian got up, stirred the fire, and
again laid down. Great drops of sweat
stood upon my forehead, but lay as
still as death. After half an hour /
again made the attempt. Brady lay
perfectly quiet. Ny situation was such
that it became necessary for me to step
over one of the warriors to get to him,
and as l cautiously did SO / saw the
handle of his knife projecting from the
scabbard. L reached down and drew ii
forth without disturbing him. In a
moment l was at my friend side, and had
cut the cords which bound him. He arose
and we approached the horses as quietly
as possible. Selecting what we thought
TO be the two swiftest, we arranged the
lariats about their heads so as to guide
them, and L mounted mine rs he stood.
Brady, before mounting, motioned for
my knife, which l threw in the snow at
his feet. He then commenced cutting
the remainder of the horses loose. He
had succeeded in loosing about two
thirds of them, when one of the Indians,
aroused by the unsual commotion among
the horses, sprang up. Brady was upon
the back of his horse instantly, and
yelling like savage, and using the knife
as a spur, he hashcd away, myself and
most of the herd following at a break.
neck speed.
The Indians fired after us. but we Law