Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-01-25

tempt an artias Far different was the home
ward ride from the sad, uncertain journey to
the agency He came with fear, he returned
with hope.
Slunber was a stranger to Rain-in-the-
Face that night, f,r he was planning his
journey to the lower agcucy. Six weeks had
scarcely passed when he was ready to start.
He had been informed as to the locality of
the tent in which his truant wife and Koska
slept He knew the direction from which to
enter in order to avoid arousing the camp.
The morning for his departure having ar
rived, Rain-in-the-Face rode into Standing
Rock and with words of gratitude thanked
the man who had assisted him in perfecting
his plans. Ills breast swelled with emotion,
and his words were soft and low as he grasped
his friends hand and bid him adieu.
AT the crack of his rawhide the pony
dashed away to the southwark, and ne disap-
peared beyond the hills. He had long jour-
ney ahead of him, but he did not spare the
pony. He knew the mettle of the nervy
animal, and the pony, as if aware that he was
going to his dimpled master, needed no spurs.
The long journey to the lower agency was
made in good time, Rain-in-the-Face halting
twenty miles from camp that he might
travel the remaining distance in the dark.
AS soon as the shadows gathered he
saddled his pony and started cautiously
for the camp. He peered nervously here
and there, to guard against meet
ing one who might betray him. Every OBJ
ject doomed up before him like an approaching
enemy; every shrub that trembled in the
darkness seemed like watching spy, yet
Rain-in-the-Facep pressed on. Like famished
lion nearing prey, he kept his course towards
the camp where Koska slept He had been
blessed by dense clouds that hid the moon
until he reached the outskirts of the camp,
and then, as if bursting forth to betray him,
the moon appeared in clear and cloudless
sky. Rain-in-the-Faced ismounted hurriedly,
and hitching his pony, he crouched behind a
friendly bush to make a hurried survey OF the
camp. He saw the tent which had been de-
scribed to him as that of his wife and child,
and noticed that it was somewhat isolated
This was good. The fates were with him.
He could hardly refrain from giving shout
of joy as he gazed at the tent where Koska
slumbered. He saw in imagination the in
terror of the tent, and Toasted his eyes on the
little slumberer without whom the world to
him was chaos and life was death.
There was no one about. Even the watch
full dogs were asleep, and the only sounds
were those of the browsing beasts or Of the
rustling trees through which the balmy June
breeze played. Rain-in-the-Facec rept slowly
to the tent. Pausing outside and placing his
ear near the opening in the canvas, he heard
the low breathing of the sleepers. He could
wait no longer, and after peering about the
camp to see if he had been discovered, he
pulled back the loose blanket which served as
a door, and drew forth his knife. He was
armed, for he knew not what he might en-
| counter in his desperate work, and he had
sworn that no power should cheat him Of
| success. He placed one foot within the tent,
and again glanced back to make sure that all
was unconscious Of his presence. In another
moment he was looking on the face of her
whom he had once loved, but his gaze rested
not there. 1t was momentary glance, but
he recognized the face in the moonlight which
streamed through the openings in the tent.
He was STOPPING for Koska, when he discov-
cred that the object which he mistook for
the budding boy was simply a bundle of
clothes. He made careful survey of the
interior of the tent, but no Koska was
there Again had he met with sore and ter
rible disappointment Had the little one
rolled out of his tent in his sleeps He would
see. Fastening out, he crept about the tent
only to intensity his disappointment. He
could not understand the absence of Koska,
unless the boy had been left with playmates
at another tent For a moment he suspected
| that he had been betrayed, but the success
with which he reached the tent dispelled this
suspicion, and he accepted the theory that
| the boys absence was accidental. Still con-
| fident that he would succeed in stealing
Koska, he was happy, though disappointed.
| As he was about to leave the tent he heard a
faint, startled cry, and in an instant the wife,
who had been aroused by his prowlings, APP
| peared at the door of the tent. The crisis had
arrived. -in-the-Face was discovered.
| Raising his knife and springing forward, he
| whispered a threat that if she awoke the
camp she would pay the penalty. She knew
| him and was silent. A few hurried words
| passed between the couple, and Rain-in-the-
| Face demanded the restoration Of his boy.
| The wife answered in lower tones than those
| in which she was wont to speak, and as she
| did so the knife dropped from the hand of the
| desperate chief, his head was bowed and with
| a wave of the hand he left the tent and re-
| turned to his pony. Remounting him, he
drove silently to the point indicated by his
wife, paused beneath tree, and there in the
limpid moonlight, kissed by the saddened
winds, was Koska He had died on the day
previous, and in accordance with the Indian
custom, his remains, with all his worldly
effects, were placed in the limbs Of the tree.
Rain-in-the-Face sat motionless, gazing
into the tree. There was the bow and arrow
which he had made for his boy even before
the babe could walk; there was the little
buckskin coat, the first that Koska wore, and
there the top that Rain-in -the-Face had taught
the happy child to spin. There, too, was a
small bronze face, pinched and sunken in
death, but the laughing eyes were closed the
cooling voice was stilled-Koska was not
there. The weary, grief worn mother had
told Rain-in-the-Face that Koska was in the
tree, but the crushed and sorrowing chief
now knew that this was false
eff Koska is in the tree, why does he not
answer me?'' thought Rain-in-the-Face "My
Koska was a loving boy. His pretty face
was round and dimpled, and wherever
found him his chubby arms were quick about
my neckn Thus unused the broken chief
He saw in the tree the human frame with
which his Koska used to walk and run; he
saw the toys with which he made the mo-
ments merry-but he saw no Koska. His
boy would not refuse to greet him. He was
not in the tree, but had gone to the happy
hunting grounds where sorrow is unknown,
where he could become far greater than on
earth, and where, when once they meet,
there will be no separation. So thought
Rain-in-the-Face
1t is not considered manly among Indians
to weep. 1t has become proverbial that In
dian men never shed tears. Tears are woman
ish, and are left to the squaws, but when
Rain-in- the-Face returned to Standing Rock
he did not speak, He Stunned his good, kind
friend for many days, and at last, when he
did meet him and told him Of the death of
Koska, he turned his back and walked away
for he did not wish to be called woman
]. NJ. Quinn in Frank Leslie.
Went Home in Her Stockings,
a lady who visited Hooley's theatre the
other evening suffered through the first ac;
Of the play with exceedingly tight shoes
When the curtain fell she confidei her suffer