The Red Cloud chief., 1880-01-01

pated by the light currents that eddied
above the grove. Hating. the eager
A~thabascas, who had already scented
blood, carefully scanned the hut and it,
surroundings. McAlpine, the cold. hard
Scot, with the prudence okbis race.
scanned more carefully thar COM
panions. Though il was in I'd terri
tory Of the Hudson Bay Company, and
he was a factor, long observation had
Taught him that as important person As
a factor could be killed a easily A. an
Indian. So he was discreet a Ia hos
tile arrows. Careful observation Of
many keen eyes failed 10 discover any
sign, excepting the smoke, that the
house was inhabited. There was an
absence OF dogs, those scayengers Of In
dian camps.
The Indians with bent bows and war
arrows drawn e the heads in their
hands, and McAlpinc with a cooked
nint-lock muskct in his hands, advanced
cautiously to the house, and stealthily
surrounded it. Looking through holes
made by nUisclessly removing portions
Of the messy chinking, they saw what?
"a young and beautiful woman dressed
in a robe OF rabbit skins, tastefully or
namented with quilts of porcupine and
feathers Of Grouse. She was chcerfully
| singing in a low, mellow voice as she
twisted the inner bark Of the willow into
the twinc used by the Hog Ribbed In
dians To make fishing-ncts. Under the
loose robe of rabbit fur and flttingtightly
10 her superb form, was agarment made
I of beaver fur. There were no children
in the hut-only the woman checrfully
singing and working at the Irvine max
ing. The courage Of the crackers sud
denly arose. They burst in the frail
door. Raising her dark eyes she saw
the warriors. She sat with Outstretched
arms still holding the thread she was
twisting, as if she were instantly
changed into bronze. Not a muscle
quiycred until her terrified brain
grasped the full extent of the misfor-
tune that had befallen her. The dis
mayed woman, as she recovered mo-
ton, covered her face with her hands,
and bending forward silently awaited
her fate.
The fire burned brightly. On a peg
driven in the wall hung, in f~estoons,
grouse; a dressed porcupine hung on
another; the unconsumed portion of a
beaver on another. Before the fire,
spittcd on sharp sticks, meat was cook
ing. In one corner was a great guam
tity of fine moss, confined by barked
logs held in place by pins driven into
the earth. Neatly folded, and lying on
the moss, were several robes made of
beaver fur. McAlpinc and the Atha-
bascas stood silently looking at the
scene. Gradually the bows unbent, the
flintlock had its printing m~cihodically
spilled out into McAlpine's hand, and
economically replaced in his powder
horn. Coolly was it unlocked. The
crackers of the woman crowded into
her little hut, and speaking to her were
astonished at her answering them in
their own tongue. This is the story
she told, not all at once, but in bits, ~
il was prompted by anxiety TO propi-
tiate her captors, to save herself punish
mcnt or outrage
Her name was WakuZZa. She, her
husband and his three brothers and
their families, were, in the year 1895,
tented on the Cariboo River, onc of the
many westerly branches of the Macken-
zie. They were hunting and fishing,
laying up IL store of food for the winter.
Her four-months'-old baby Law iii its sus-
pended bark cradle, open-eyed, watch
ing the work of the Indian harvest.
Wakuzza was happy. They werr pros
porous, for the fish and game were
plentiful. They had decided to return
10 their home in a few days. One night,
after their fire hal burnt low, she lay
awake, her baby having been restless.
Listening Il the low swirl of the distant
Mackenzie, as it poured onward over its
rocky bed 10 the Arctic Ocean, her
quick ear caught the sound of low voices
and s:ealthy steps. Instantly she gave
the alarm. Too late! The A~thahaScas
were among them. Shouting their war
cry, they dubbed and stabbed all the
men, the children, and one woman to
death. In the confusion following the
attack, Wakuzza had, unnoticcd, rolled
her baby, who vas hen sleeping sound
ly in its moss-lined cradle, into a bundle
of blankets and skins. So, when the
Sorrowful captive womcn were led off,
she alone had her child with her.
Lightly was borne the burden on Wa
kuZZa'S back.
Before morning they had reached the
banks of the Mackenzie, and here they
found the women and children of the
party who had attacked them camped,
their canocs dragged high above the
waters. 4 fire burned brightly; around
it sat, in silence, the women of the
A~thabascas Sitting, they counted the
warriors rs each emerged from the
gloom of the trail. All We're
arose the hays, clamoring
with delight and curiosity. The
three captive women Were turned over
to them for examination. Eagerly these
miserable creatures took possession of
the bundles the three captives carried.
Two had been unrolled. They con-
tanned jerked meat, dried fish, and robes.
Wakuzza'S bundle was then placed on
the earth, by the fire, the ends I'M
tapped, and it was rolled out. There,
on its back, lay the little cradle, and the
baby, open-eyed nj the novel scene,
cooed loudly and held out its hands.
Wakuzza sprang forward, snatched the
infant from its cradle, turned slightly
away, and placed him to her breast.
Unseen by her, an AthabaSca woman
ran lightly to her, and, catching the
nursing child firmly by the ankles, ierked
it away from the mothers arms, and,
swinging it above her mead. dashed its
brains out on a granite rock. Coolly
she turned to the horror-stricken mother,
wickedly she threw the quivering corpse
to her, saying. "Suckle it." The poor
mother, stupetied with horror, mechan-
ically held the corpse until ordered To
get into 4 canoe. Then another woman
jerked the little body from her and
threw it far put into the water of the
Mackenzie, saying: at will make good
fish bait" Quivering, blood-Stained,
dumb, Wakuzza stood and watched the
body of her dead baby float a short dis
lance, and then, with sudden jerk, dis
appear under the swollen July waters
of the mighty river. Her benumbed
mind had not realized its loss when her
owner-as she, the chief prize, had been
allotted to the leader OF the midnight
attack-thrust a paddle into her hands
and babe her get into the canoe and 90
to work. Slowly the party assembled the