Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1889-09-27
"You shall die! You weresa fool to


comet"
The kicks, made me mad, and feeling.
that had no hope of release j opened
on Red Moon in the choicest Billings.
gate of the West. l called him cow
ardly paltroon, squaw, buzzard, and
everything else mean could think of. l,
offered to fight him in any way he
wanted, and boasted that | had on one
occasion charged five of his braxest war
riors and killed two and run the others
into the woods. gave,it to himstIaight
from the shoulder for ten minutes with
out break, and he did not interrupt me
by word or gesture. When l finally
paused for want of breath he said:
1.-The white scout is not dog, as |
thought for. He is a brave man. He
will not cry and beg for his life when
the fire is lighted at his feet. My young
men shall let it be known at the fort
that he died without being woman"
"And that's more than you can say for
any of your warriorst'' l flung back at
him. "The Comanche whines Ikea dog
when he is hurt. He cannot stand fire.
When his feet get little warm he be-
comes child"
He pulled his knife from his belt,
thinking to end my life then and there,
but on the second thought he replaced it
and walked out. Directly he had gone
two warriors came in witha liberal sup
ply of food, and my arms wssuntied' and
l was given chance to eat. They APP
peared good natured, and as the thongs
'were being replaced one of them said:
''The white man is very brave. He will
hold out a long time"
At last two guards were placed outside
my tent, and knowing that | had no
show for escape, made myself as com
fotable as possible and soon fell asleep. 1t
may be thought curious that a person
could sleep soundly under such circum-
stances, but as matter of fact | did not
open my eyes until long after daylight.
There was considerable hustle in the
camp, and in a few minutes my break
fast was brought in. Arms and legs were
now united, and one of the three bucks
who came into the tent informed me that
preparations were being made to torture
the Doctor. 1t was an hour later before
| was sent for. Then my arms were left
free and my legs were hobbed just below
the knees. While ! could walk it was only
with short steps, and the idea of my try
ing to escape from such crowd was too
absurd to be entertained | found the
inhabitants of the village drawn up in
two long lines extending out on the plains,
Even children five or six years old, were
in line, each one armed with stick or
switch. was led to the head of the line
between two warriors, and in four or five
minutes the Doctor was brought out Red
Moon had arranged this as mental tor
ture to both of us. He signified to us
that we might speak, and | at once in
formed the Doctor of my errand and its
failure He expressed his pleasure that
his friends thought so well of him, and
his sorrow that had brought misfortune
upon myself, and he seemed to have made
up his mind to die like man. | knew
the Indians thoroughly, and | told him
what the programme would be. After
running the gauntlet, he would be tied to
n post and eubmitted to the powder tor
ture, WI consists in shooting charges
of pow .r into the flesh, with the muzzle
of the gun only foot or two away.
After that would come cutting and mu-
tilating, and he would not be tied to the
fire stake until pretty thoroughly ex-
hausted. / advised him to do as | in
tended to do--leap upon some warrior as
he ran down the lines, grab his knife or
tomahawk, if possible, and then fight un-
til they would have to kill him then and
there. He calmly replied that he should
adopt the plan, shook me by the hand,
and all was ready.
As we talked | had been getting the
lay of the village. 1t was only quarter
of mile to the foothills. 1 had made
up my mind to make a break for liberty,
and had my plans all laid before the
Doctor started. Red Moon commanded
me to tell him that he was to run straight
down the lane and back, and that if he
made good run he would not be much
hurt gave him the information, and
advised him to make his break about
two-t thirds of the way down, as he came
to the last of the warriors. When l
stepped back my elbows touched a guard
on either side and | saw that they were