The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-04-19
VOLUME Y.

nay face Where's the suaAcg' said |.
4 throw mm out oi doors, said John.
Hes dead enough; You br'he his back
while ! WAS hunting Tor stick
My my : and what a narrow escape
Nou had, anyhow l don't know, but #
snakes by So plentiful as that, | think III
~ back to Ireland. / believe II one a.
them would set ou me lddivot fright; |
have such "a droad Of the ugly monsters. "
SAID ban.
Chatting thus 10 while away the time.
we arrived at the uutSA,gt, of the Iudiun
vucampmcut, when | said a. Dan. Now
don't .vt these fellows see that YOU are
gn any manner afraid ot them, for. al
though l dyu. 10 believe theywould do YOU
any harm, Yet they might be disposed ~
play some tricks uu YOU. They are pref
" keen fellows, aui up 10 all kinds of
NeNi,mgnL Keep along with me all the
time, and, - they nearly all know me.
they Won't modest you, Wen give them
those three pruue chickens that yuu are
carrying, aud You can see hew quickly
they Will pick and cook them.
DO they Just pick ol the feathers an
cook them wlthou; taking ont the IN
sldes 2 asked Dan.
Yes, l answered; they are not
iaStidiuus in their uppeutcs. believe
am Indian v..n eat ami digest anything
AZ tins moment tall rrdsktu. wrap
ped in a dirty blanket, stepped from be-
hind a ,rre, and stood directly in front Of
Dan. Neither Of us heard Hmm, as he
had h0casAIn mcCcs.~!us ON his feet, and
Lis tread was as light as a cats
Dan started rs though he had seen
one ui his iayur,ye ghosts, and, clutchlng
NE hy the arm, he exclaimed: "Huwly
mother. Mr. Charles, l. that the
livilr"
No, its only an Indian; now, don't
be a fool, and he won notice You.
knew TINS fellow night well. lie Was
one Of the hunters ui the tribe. and had
his rife IN his arms, while the blanket
concealed everything except hls face.
tie had been asleep, and Was covered up
10 keep of the mosquitoes and h.vs lie
was very friendly and could speak pretty
good English. ana IS we walked toward
the camp lie informed me that he had
been out hunting all the morning, and
had not Is vet killed anything for his
dinner. l knew what he was after He
had seen the chickens that Dan carried.
and was talking FOR them. l gave hIm
one, and We we're not troubled any longer
with his company, rs he hurried of -
cook 10.
In about five minutes We reached the
camp, and found about fifty men.
women, and children louuglng around
on the ground, some smoking, some
playing cards and talking, while others
were stretched out asleep. and not one
of the whole gang engaged N anything
useful, except ysuug grl, who had
rude frame IN front of her, and was shay
ing the hair from a deer skin. Dan
didn't know what % make Of them: he
looked from one 70 the other. then a. me.
but spoke not a word At length one OF
them came up To him and held out his
hand To shake hands with him. but Dan
ia int reached that degree of familiarity
vet, ard shrnk away from him | took
the Indians hand. and the first ques-
tion he asked was: Some C-tawba p
,vhisky.l
/ answered: No"
At that time the penalty for giving or
selling an Indian intoxicating liquor WAS
800 tne and three months imprison-
ment; they would ge. drunk whenever
All opportunity offered. and when in that
condition were not unlike their white
DretLren-they would tight aui some
times Kill each other. This tribe 81
Wmnehagos were miserable set OF
yagabonds: they had sold their land To
the United State, government, and spent
the money, and subsIstet by hunting
and stealing They occupied a small
reservation on the south side Of Buffalo
lake.
There was another tribe some twenty
miles t. the northwari-the Meuoml.
uses-whUse condition and general APP
pearaace was superior To the Wiuneba-
gOs. They We're protected 10y the gov
erument, and received regular anuui-
. ties of food, blankets and money About
the first Of September they would come
down 10 the lake and encamp there q
couple OF weeks for the purpose Of
gathering the Wild rice that grows in
the marshes along the lake. and it not
unfrequeutly happened that they aud
the Wuuebagos would have a fight, es-
pecially If either party we're drunk
The last fight they had was about two
years before / was there, when four were
killed and a number badly wounded
with knives and clubs.
Dan and walked around among them.
but | saw that Inc Was anything but
comfortable, and kept close 10y me all
the time. | gave my two remaining
chickens to an old squaw, who was very
profuse in her thanks, and proposed to
Dan that we catch few fish and start
for home Dan was very glad to get
away from them, and we walked down
to the bridge which spans the channel
and commenced fishing, and in an hour
We had more bass than we could carry
homo. and after giving some to the In
dian boys who had accompanied rs, we
started for home
Dan had not said much while we we're
among the Indians, but he had made
good use Of his time taking observations
After we had walked on for about a
quarter OF an hour in silence. he looked
cautiously about him on either
side, and said so, them's Injuns,
hey? Well, / must say they're the
ugliest and dirtiest set Of beings / ever
saw. / don't like them, an | tell We,
Mister Charles, if you hadn't been along
with me I'd been afeared o. my life. an
! don't think I'll ever go see them again.
/ seen that chap with the chicken, an
sure 1t was just as You said, he pulled
the feathers off by the handful, aud
without ever cuttin' it open, Just held it
over the fire on a long stick, an when
it began 10 fry little on one side. he
turned it round an fried it on t'other
side, an then began eatin' it, Sure,
but it made me sick TO look at him.
TrOth, ! believe he'd ate n man as quick
US he would a chicken"
Dan gave vent TO his disgust OF the
whole race Of red men, and was sorry he
was not thousand miles away from
them, and he chatted away until we
reached the end Of the woods and
emerged on 10 the prairie.
Can fellow get a drink Of water
about here 2" said he.
Yes" said /, "there is n spring
under that oak tree over there to our
left. l often stop there on my way TO
and from the lake"
I We turned off to the left, and crossing
a marshy place Of about hundred yards
/ IN width, came TO the tree, where there
was beautiful spring bubbling up from
the ground, the waters Of which formed
/ themselves into a small pond in low
place a few yards beyond. This was
/ favorite resort for the cattle that grazed
7 on the prairie, and they had cropped the
\ grass very close around the spring. /
lald down my gun, and we each took n
drink OF the cool and refreshing water.