The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1888-02-03


side, and on account of its position was |
not used by the Cheyennes for pur-
poses of shelter. They had been seen
to enter it and then retire, and since |
that time had not visited it. Wien the |
other buildings were given to the torch, /
it was not disturbed. The cause of this /
singular action can scarcely be compre- |
hended by one who is not intimately |
acquainted with the pecuIaritics of In
dian superstition. 1t lies at the very
foundation of their character. To the
minds of the Cheyennes. those queerly-
ticking Instruments were the white
mans medicine" and might bring
untold ills to whoever meddled with
them. A medicine may be any
thing which is supposed to bring luck
to its wearer or possessor. 1t may be
good or ''bad, and what is good
medicine" to one individual may be
bad medicine to another, or to the
same person at a different time or un-
der other circumstances
How many times the Percy office was
called during the long hours of the
aftern Don will never be known, and no
doubt the operator was more than once
soundly rated for inattention to duty.
As the shadows of night commenced
to settle slowly over the valley, blotting
out the rocky prominences and the sill
very sheen of the river, Sydney Realf
began to turn over in his mind plan
after plan for the relief of the be-
leaguered people.
MATTERS couldn't be very much
worse" he muttered, us he sat in a
dark corner, brooding, with bowed
head, over the hopelessness of the out
look. Here we are, corraled like so
many cattle. We are worse off than
cattle, for they generally have enough
to eat and drink We haven't any
thing, and not much to look forward
to. That train from the West will not
be along till nine o'clock in the morn
ing, and if it's behind time, as it usu-
ally is, it won't be here till ten. And
when it comes, what good will it do?
The officers of the railway don't know
that we're cooped up here l don't
suppose they have the slightest idea the
Cheyennes have got this far south,
and Percy is the last place at which one
would expect to find them"
Sydney had learned, from the hur-
ried and excited messages that were
constantly flying ovrr the wires when
he was last in the Office, that the Chey-
ennes were retreating toward the Ter
| ritory. And he also CLEANED the in
formation that they were expected to
cross the Arkansas at point some
! fifty miles from Percy, and that troops
were being hurried to that place.
eff the train stops at the station un-
aware of this turn of affairs, the only
result win be that the people on it will
be massacred without a chance to de-
fend themselves. Seems to me the
operator ought to know that much,
but he's so excited he's hardly account
able for what he says"
For long time Sydney sat in that
| darkened corner. brooking over the
| Subject. At last he looked up. For
more than an hour the Indians had re-
manned perfectly quiet, and a few of
| the less experienced had begun to hope
they had departed. The little scuttle-
| hold leading to the roof was unob-
structed, and his eyes lighted up rs he
noticed the attention of almost every
one was drawn to the opposite end of
| the room.
"I'l do it!' he muttered. IF told
anybody, they would refuse to let me
GO"
He removed his shoes, aud crept eau
| tiously to the ladder and out npon the
roof Here he stretched himself flat
upon the shingles and looked about.
/ There was no moon, and the stars shone
feebly. Nothing rewarded his gaze.
Every thing was so quiet he was con-
WINGED that the Cheyennes had really
! departed AS he prepared to descend,
his clothing caught on projecting
nail. He pulled it out, and in so doing
loosened the shingle, which fell with a
clattering noise as he leaped lightly to
the ground. He crouched breathlessly
in the deepest shadow, fearing the
noise had been heard by the Indians
1t had not, but a keen ear within the
adobe had caught the sound.
''What was that?'
The inquiry came in cautious tones.
1t was addressed to some one in the in
side. and without hearing the reply,
Sydney-crept away through the tangled
grass, His intention was to pass the
Gordon of Chevennes and gain the tele-
graph office. Once inside of that, he
would send a message for help, if his
life paid the forfeit the next instant.
His progress was slow and toilsome.
Every few minutes he halted to peer
about in the darkness and listen. He
/ had covered half the distance, when the
sound of voices came to him from
the path directly ahead. The
peculiar, cultural intOnation in
formed hin that the speakers were
Cheyennes, and he instantly fla tened
himself out in the grass and for a long
time lay perfectly quiet Soon he
heard similar voices to the right and
to the left, and his ewes, becoming
gradually accustomed to the darkness,
he could family discern the outlines Of
the forms of the speakers.
The way to- the telegraph office. lay
right through this line of Indian senti-
nels, and, although be could see the
building loom darkly just beyond, he
knew he could never reach il. With 8
keen sense of disappointment he began
a careful retrograde movement, anx-
ious to get rs far as possible from that
dangerous vicinity. When he was nc
longer able to hear the voices he
stopped and again considered what was
best to be done.
Then bright thought came to him.
Crawling to the edge of a little ravine
he arose TO an upright posture and
7 hurried away toward the river. He
had noticed during the day that the In.
dinn lines seemed to be moro ON fhal