The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-06-23
The Boy and the Brave.

lnt SOlucn e VI bHc
tide sun beat down on the prairies and
canyons of BROOKLYN. The heavy SHOWS
of a hard winter lay on the bunch and
buffalo grass, and down the assures in
the rocky mountain side the stormy tor
rents poured resistlessly. r" f''f
Ferdinand De Leon gazed upon the
beauties of nature with a cloudy brow.
Fourteen summers had invested him
with noble ambitions, not altogether
disconnected with buffalo and Indians,
and as he gazed across the valley in
which he lived, his face turned stern
and cold. for he remembered that the
buffalo were travelling further to the
South, and his faithful runners had told
him that the Sioux in the Northwest
were falling like plums into the hands
of their enemies. Ufr. 81 lu
His young soul painted as the swift
thoughts of vengeance hurried through
his burning brain.
"And this is the pay of a piraten' he
muttered. ''For years / have roamed
! the stormy coasts of our streets, and
yet no scalp decorates my belt. My
wigwam shows no signs of the chase
see the trail of the enemy on every
| hand, but he eludes me. Enough of
this must have bloodl In the deep
! jingle underneath my house dwells,
E-Toncha Oappe- Minne-K and ere
yonder sun has tipped the spire on Full
ton canyon, will have his hairn',
| The young warrior turned and went
into the house, but the smile on his COM
pressed lips BODIED no good to the saw
age chief upon whom he had fixed his
vengeance.
Ferdinand De Leon, the Screech Owl
of the Third Ward. was a terror in his
bailiwick. He had never killed any
body particularly. bat he bossed around
considerably. and the gloomy glance of
his eve had warned more than one
settler that he was dangerous when
aroused. The dusky maidens of the
surrounding friendly tribes had contem-
plated him with favor, but they brought
no incense TO nis thirsty soul, which
nothing but blood could satisfy,
E-Toncha- -Uappe- -Minne-K had ever
been his friend. In the long days when
Ferdinand was out of job he had sat
on the old chief and ate picked oys-
ters, and many q hole he had bored in
the stomach of the wary savage when,
in his Inventive days, he had tried to fit
hinge on broom handle, that it
might fold up and be used as clothes
pin. But the hour of friendship had
passed out upon the sea of war, and the
solitary Indian was doomed. -f.
"Thou'lt have work before night,
my trusty Brown Bess." murmured
Ferdinand, the Screech Owl, as he ten
derly stroked the sympathetic barrel OF
his faithful revolver. Then, as il
ashamed of the momentary feeling of
softness, he thrust the weapon in his
jacket pocket and plunged into the
Jungle under his house.
Far away in the shadowy corner he
saw his prey lying upon the ground. Ii
the dim, and fitful light of the fiickerine
gas jet it looked like alog, but Ferdinand
knew better, and, embarking upon his
light canoe, with slight movement oil
his sturdy arm he sent the frail bark fa1
, out into the middle of the gloomy cellar.
: "Think not to deter me-" he NUT
tered" as he sat in the coal-bin an6
rested on his paddle. "There is no
room for thee and me in this canyon
) Art heeled?"f -
! The Indian made no response, but lay
, quiet in his ambush of shadows i
, Prepare to dier' shouted the brave
boy, scorning to take his enemy by sur
prise, and, holding one hand over tn,
InuIZlc vi his tIuoby DloWh bCoo, u
, deaden the report, lest it alarm tn
, neighborhood, he turned his head from
> the sickening sight and blazed away.
, Il thought not to die so young" saiC
= Ferdinand, as several friendly tribe
carried him up out of the cellar and la
i, him out on a stool i'll his wigwam. 50
I had hoped-is he deadg' he asked, in
9 terrupting himself.
! :" He fam still liveth," said the medi
: cine man, ''if you mean the log dow
cellar" and he yanked the bullet fror
!, Ferdinand's fist. "You can go sevel
more fingers and two thumbs ON him,
!, and the faithful servitor turned away.
And the peaceful night fell upon th
:. canyons and prairies of Brooklyn, fe
q upon the dismal Jungle in which I
+ Toncha-O Oappe-Minne-Kau slept peace
is fully, fell upon the wigwam in whic
10 the Screech Owl of the Third Ward la
" in calm, pale agony, trying to swap hi
, trusty Brown Bess for roll of sticking
n plaster. Brooklyn Eagle.
Moot ~ ba x,yNrIdie orraat ,abilnc,