Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-16
INDIAN REVENGE.
"Oh, I do dote so on IndiansI"

engravings.
$50 whatF exclaimed a silvery headed ole
man who sat in an easy chair by the winter,
| fire
"Dote ON Indians, dear grandpa; they lool
so noble in their richly colored robes, theil
fu1s and their feathers"
'NobleI the blood thirsty rebelsi" said the
old man, holding out one arm as he spoke and
striking it with the other, ''that and this and
every part of my body, in fact, is scared by
those Internal dogs. Why, look here, child,
and he drew his white locks som bis ample
forehead, ''see the marks of their scalpine
knives; they left me for dead once, and came
near having these hairs hanging to their
girdles."
why, grandpai" exclaimed Margery,
drawing up to the old man, lis it possible
that great white mark was pade by an In
dian brave?"
IAN Indian cowardY' cried the vetern con-
temptuously ''Talk about their bravery,
the stubborn, Unborn devils, they don't know
what it means The courage of beast is all
they have. My patience, girl, if you had
seen as much of the Indians as have, you'd
never take these creatures of painters i'm
agination TO be the simon pure savage. No,
no, there's difference. My child, I'll tell
you story that will cure you of doting on
Indians. When l was a young man l had
many a bout with the children of theforest,
as your poets call them. Now there was
never any poetry in your old grandfather,
Maggie little one l never could see any
thing beautiful in their hideous painted
faces, and to tell the truth, they killed my
only brother, and hate the whole race
1--WE had long spell of peace, and had be-
come tired of our cabins upon Boone's sta
ton. 1t was too easy life for young fell
lows, simply cunning, fishing, sleeping and
eating. We weren't like the moustachioed
gentry of the present day-even like the one
who came to see you last night, little child,
though he is a better specimen than some.
We couldn't dress up in those days and take
little bits Of paper in our hands and go call
upon the pretty ladies and show off our
teeth and our broadcloth the best part of the
day. We were rough men in our hunting
frocks, who thought goodsized deer none
to heavy to throw over our shoulders after
we had run him down, and to whom other
dears were as fabulous as myths.
But, as | tell you, we-there were four of
us-had become tired of idleness, and wanted
another bout with the Indians. So, knowing
that party had stolen some horses, and that
they had taken their way to Chillicothe, we
set out after them to try and regain the booty
they had taken. We reached Chinicothe
few days afterward, and fell in with drove
Of horses feeding in the rich prairie. OF
these we secured six and started on our re-
turn. Before we reached the Ohio storm
came up. The heavens grew black with
clouds and the wind blew perfect hurri-
cane. What to do with the horses we could
hardly tell. They had become unmanagea-
bic and were difficult to control The river
was SO swollen-its waves dashed into fury
that we dared not venture to cross, and we
were fearful of being pursued. 1t was near
ing evening, and we could just find our way
back to the hills, where, after hobbhng our
animals, we remained during the night. It
was an awful night. The rain poured in
torrents, the lightning blazed from point to
point, and the thunder seemed to crash and
break against the sides of the hills We were
all exposed to the fury of the tempest. In
the morning our clothes were wet and we
had only saved our powder by sleeping on it.
The wind, however, had subsidized, and we
tried again to get our horses over to the other
side-the creatures resisted every attempt,
and we were driven to the alternative of los
ing the horses. Of course we chose the lat
ter, and selecting each of us one of the best,
we made for the falls
"There was handsome young fellow with
us, a Kentuckian by birth, who thought we
had scarcely had adventure enough, so he
proposed to me to let the rest go on, while he
and Icaptured two splendid bays Weturned
lno ~ q
a trail of revengeful Indians who had I'M
doubtedly been seeking US from the first. My
dear child, if you had seen them as they real
ly were, their faces streaked with black and
yellow, their Unframed blankets, rough leg
gins and demoniac faces you never would
have dotted upon them. Willis, the Kentuck-
ian, was some ways ahead eff me, and by
some unsuccessful maneuver fell Immediately
into their hands. 1t was dreadful sight to
see them each drive with his heavy club at
the head of the poor fellow. He fell Instant
ly, and they scalped him, throwing the fresh,
bleeding skin over their weapons and waving
1t in my sight.
Il was on splendid horse. They, too,
were mounted and had feet animals, so they
pursued me ct the top of their speed For
time | escaped, only to fall into their barbar-
Gus hands, however. Deceived bv a voice
thought familiar, and the pronunciation of
word in English, followed a trail, and lured
on by the superstition that was ON the track
of friends from whom we had been separated,
aud who might have come back to the res
cue, | went cautiously forward, but sudden
ly found myself among party of Indians,
who were so engaged that, / suppose, if I had
had presence of mind. might have escaped,
for think they did not see me.
However, thinking the boldest course the
best, l Immediately fired at the foremost,
and in another moment they were after me
like pack of hounds. I took advantage of
some fallen timber, / tried to dodge them,
and TO hide among the underbrush, but their
cunning defeated my purposes. They di-
vlded into two parties, and rode along on
either SIDE of the timeer, beating it up, driv-
ing me cut st the opposite end, where stood
an enormous savage with lifted tomahawk
Just as he was about to strike me to the
earth, however, another Indian equally
powerful lifted me as If had been feather
out of the way OF TIE descending tomahawk
| was a prisoner, and obliged to make the
best OF it. You msy imagine what that
best wasn
''oh, grandfather" cried Margery, ''how
did You feel.si
How did / feeli Flush, how could you
feel with ten jabbering savages about you,
each one hooking as If he could eat you with
out pepper or salts'
1T must have been trying moment
said Margery
Not half as trying as what followed said |
the old man, shaking his white Ices They |
their outIandish gibber.a in ny |
face, making up hideous mouths, expressive 7
II their intense disgust Of me and my race.
They shook the scalp Of poor Willis before |
nv very eyes. and don't doubt wanted 70