Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-05-25

NdOtlCo lnC INV Odlh VI Nv liz ~ w
vance of the foremost Sioux, but so nea
were they that as he plunged among tn
rushes a Ratchet thrown by one of then
swished past his head and dropped into tn
water in front.
He threw himself headlong into TIL
water and dived amid the rushes. Thel
he pushed himself along by kicking in th'
mud at the bottom. When his breath CAV
out, he raised his head out long enough tt
get a fresh breath, her dueked 1T ant
showed ahead.
In this way he was speedily out of sigh
and reach of the Sioux, who did not follow
him into the rushes. His pursuers spread
out and hurriedly surrounded the bayou il
the hope, no doubt, to catch him in tht
grass as he attempted to crawl out upor
the other side.
But Bat had no notion Of going out o
the bayou at present. He found bottom
shallow enough to stand upon, and ther
began working his wrists out of the thong:
which bound them. This he was soor
able to do, as the water-soaked buckskir
stretched at every strain.
He then waited and listened. Soon he
heard Indians talking upon the bank Of
the bayou opposite the entrance. They
were looking for his trail at the edge Of
the water, and asking each other if be
had crossed, and which way he would go.
Finally one of them said, "No, he is in
there;- the dog will not come out" Then
all was quiet.
Bat would not stir again, for fear he
should be discovered by the rafting of the
rushes. The time wore on heavily.
Toward night mosquitoes rose out of the
water and pestered him frightfully. He
dared not thrash about, for fear his where
abouts should be discovered and fred
upon by lurking Indians. Bullets and
buckshot were to be dreaded, ever though
rushes enough interviewed to hide him
completely, although the bank was only a
few rods distant on either side.
As the vicious insects alighted upon his
face and neck in swarms, he discovered a
method of alternating his suferings.
Every few seconds, as his face become
black with them and their stings began to
make him vince, he would quickly and
softly lower his head under the water and
hold it there as long as he could keep his
breath. The cool water soothed the irri-
tation of their bites and gave him refuge
from them a good part of the time.
Darkness came at last, and with it a
breeze which rustled the rushes, SO that he
could stir about without attracting atten-
ton by noise. He now speedily made use
of his legs and arms in working his way
down nearer the lake, where, in a thicket
of tall cornstalk grass, he crawled out of
the bayou, feeling stiff and waterlogged.
He lay in the grass resting and listening
for al hour or so, and then, Bending low in
the grass, made his way to the high land
prairie, a mile or so distant. Not daring
to attempt to reach Fort Ridgely through
the country which he. had learned from
his captors was overrun by the Sioux, he
set out for st. Cloud, nearly 200 miles dis
ant on the Mississippi.
He travelled three days and nights. occa-
s~ionally lodging war parties of Sioux.
During that time he lived upen roots and
grass; these he chewed and swallowed the
juice. At length he walked into the streets
of st. Cloud. There was a large gathering
of settlers there, and the buildings, mostly
of logs, had been fortified and put in a state
of defense.
There was a crowd of men in front of
the first store he reached on entering the
village. Faint and exhausted, Bat pushed
through them, and asked inside for some
thing to eat. A number of settlers and
others Immediately came inside, and in
rough tones asked him what he, a half
breed-he was a quarter blood-was
doing among the whites.
Bat told his story in broken English,
but the crowd, incensed at the hundreds
of murders committed and the loss of
friends and relatives, were in a frenzied
state of fury at the sight of one belonging
to the race that had committed such
ravages.
"He's a miserable spy p shouted one of
them. "a sneakin, Sioux, come among us
to see how many they is Nv us! Let's
hang him."
Beardless, more than naturally swarthy
from exposure, haggard and ugly in
countenance from hunger and fatigue,
Bats appearance was against him. The
crowd 6ercely took up the cry, "Hang
him y
The nearest man sprang forward and,
secured the unfortunate fellow. His hands
were speedily tied with cords; from the
stock of goods a rope was procured and he
was hustled out of the store by the in
censed settlers, who declared their inten-
ton OF %stringing him to the first tree on
the river bank. 1t was useless to plead or
struggle, ::and despairingly the poor ex-
hausted youth allowed himself TO be drag
ged along the street. But a villager, who
had the year before lived at Big Stone,
pushed into the crowd to have a look at
the prisoner, and fortunately recognized
Bat at once.
"Hullow he shouted. "Stop this. men
| know that boy. He's one of Roberts
men at Big Stone"
This, of course, put an immediate end to
the proceedings. An innocent life had
nearly been sacrificed to the intense feel
ing wrought up over the treacherous and
wholesale murders so recently committed
by Indians and half breeds all about
them.
1t is hardly necessary to add that the
men were sorry enough of their conduct
when they learned of Bats innocence, and
that they treated him afterwards with all
the kindness of which they were. capable.
.-Frdnk Weles Calkins in The Youths Com
pdni0a.