The Osceola times., 1880-01-17
A BROKEN HEART.
An Incident Connected With Indian Slsv
cry ON the Pacific Coast.

An Incident Connected with Indian Slav.
cry ON the Pacific Coast.
san Francisco Argonsnt.
Many years ago il was custom, quiz
etly conducted for certain lawless white
men to go among the Red River Indians
and steal the children of ihe tribe and
carry them away to be sold ~ slaves
among the white families in other parts
Of the State. | have seen the poor crea-
lures after they had been driven like
beasts before their captors, with sore
feet and snllen faces, sitting alone, APP
parently hopeless and apathetic. But
| who shall say that beneath that stOlid
/ exterior there was not human heart
/ hot and bitter from cruel wrongs en-
/ dured?
Two lustrrims have passed since one
of these raids resulted in the capture,
among others, OF a girl five or six years
old. With the characteristics Of her
race she possesses no beaniy to soften
the hearts of beholders, but rs she prom
ised sturdy frame, she was readily dis
posed of to lawyer who in turn pre-
| sented her to his wife, to be trained a.
maid-of.all-work She received the
name of Marie, and soon grew to be .
/ neat and deft worker in all household
maculaie neatness of her kitchen. and
/ the snowy whiteness of the clothes that
hung on wash-day from her line, and
also TO the quiet way in which all this
{ labor was done | knew Marie for many
years, and never heard her speak but
| once or twice in all that time. Her face
always wore the same look, and | often
wondered whether she thought at all.
She went to no place, saw no company,
and year after year, with automatic pre-
cision, performed her tasks.
As the years went by Marie grew to
womanhood, but she developed to our
eyes no new beauty, and no new awak.
ening of the faculties and affections, and
she stirred no new thoughts on our part
concerning her. As the village where
her owner lived enlarged it had the am
bition to possess an Episcopal church
and curate. The man sent to this place
was gentle charitable character, who
strove to make his people feel better,
and worked faithfully among his charge,
always giving them the light G a true
lite and earnest purpose to help them
into better paths. This man had an In.
dian in his employ whom he strove to
, enlighten. Pedro, like all his race, was
, not to be impressed, and if things touch.
ed the deep places of his nature, no out
ward sign betrayed the workings within.
1t happened, if things ever happen In
this world, that Pedro and Marie met,
and, though no one ever knew how, they
soon develped into intimacy. This inti-
macy in time became love, and they
planned to marry and pass through the
world together.
Marie was so much a slave that she had
no idea of leaving her mistress, or organ
izing a home of her own, without that
; mistress consent. 1t will never be
known what mental struggles she went
through before she told her desires, and
asked permission to wed Pedro. No
doubt astonishment was the first feeling
her story aroused, hut soon indignation
appeared. Poor Mariel She was good
servant, she saved dainty hands from
disagreeable tasks, and the loss of her
meant many dsagreeable things. She
must not be given up. Not a muscle Of
her face moved as she heard the deci-
sion; she seemed to quietly submit, and
went about her work as usual. II abe
suffered as her white sisters suffer i was
never known; and If the little chamber
in the attic she called her own was wit
ness to the hearts anguish and renunci'
tliOl, III NEVER toit tiit stoIys Inc uib-
tress rejoiced that Marie's nonsense had
passed away, and that she was no longer
in danger Of losing her efficient hand
maidcd.
But one morning she did not come
down to her tasks, and the mistress
crept up the narrow stairway to ascer.
tain why her repeated calls were not an.
swered The room was neat and order
ly, and on the bed Marie lay-dead!
Beside her was the knife with which
she had taken her own life. She lay as
if asleep, showing even. in death the
trace of the deep despair that must have
nerved her for the awful deed. Some
compunctious STRINGS moved the hearts
of those who had caused this bondwoman
to seek a release from her woes; but the
principal feeling was regret that we'll
trained servant had slipped from their
grasp forever. Marie was buried, an
alien in strange ground, with no tears for
her lost life and no prayers for her
peace. God pity the soul that surely
was touched with human iDfirmities and
. gifted with immortality. A broad board
marks her hiding-place, with but one
, word painted quantity upon it: MARIE.