The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-09-04


with her incessant "Meegwitch, meeg-
witch"
The chaff that l suffered from my COM
panions was merciless. l was dubbed
The Knight Errant," 1.-The Heroic
Preserver," etc., until grew sick of it;
but to have lost my temper would only
have made it worse, so / suffered in Sd
lence, and to aggravate my suffering the
old woman thought it her duty to pre-
sent me with every extra large fish that
she caught, or If her son-in-law threw
her beaver tail or a moose nose, or any
other dehcacy especially priced by In
dams, they were sure TO find their way
to my room, and each demonstration of
the kind only added to the fun. After a
time began to pick up the Indian Ian
guage, and as / always had sneahng
regard for the old woman, often made
use of her assistance in acquiring it. In
fact we became fast friends, l cementing
the friendship by gifts Of little -four,
sugar or tea.
received less chatting in the winter,
for the other clerks had long since taken
their departure for their respective out
posts, and l was left sole occupant Of
the clerks quarters, or clerks house" as
it was called.
1t was coming on to the end of March
when an event occurred which made me
glad that l had pulled the old woman
out Of the river and treated her with
some consideration, If not kindness. The
two fowls which / had brought safely to
their destination had fairly survived the
rigor of the winter. In fact Mrs. McIvor
announced one day at dinner that she
had found one egg which the hen had
laid. But shortly afterward there was
CONSERVATION in that household. The
two fowls had been found dead, and an
Indian dog was quietly making a meal
off one of them. The hole whereby he
had effected an entrance was stopped up
before he could escape, and Mr. MoIvor,
using his revolver, had the satisfaction
OF shooting the brute and pitching his
body down on the frozen river.
Nowit happened that this dog belong
ed to Match-ee-ninie, an old Indian
claiming to be chief of the band, and
who had the reputation of being con-
juror and cannibsl, In consequence Of
which the Indians all feared him and
obeyed him.
He came into the store that evening
and spoke to Mr.. McIvor thus:
"You pay me for my dog"
"How muchY" asked Mr.. McIvor.
Twenty weeg" The Hudson Bay
company use at inland posts standard
for value, the name differing in different
localities. A weeg equals about fifty
cents.
Cali right" said McIvor, Il will pay
you for your dog if you pay me for my
fowls"
"How muchY'
Twenty weeg."
The Indian saw that he was caught,
and walked out with muttered "Kish,"
meaning, Hold on, we shall see" Next
evening he again came to the store, and
said: There are bad people about; l
have seen a wendigo. You pay me for
my dog" (Wendigo: a spirit, ghost,
giant, something uncanny)
Get the wendigo to pay you" said
Mr.. McIvor, laughing, and again the
man skunk off. Mr. McIvor knew the
Indian nature well. and he said to me:
That old fellow is up to some devil
ment. That's what they always do when
they want to do an evil trick themselves:
pretend that some one else Is going to do
it. We had better keep watch on the
place; he might set fire to it."
We watched that night, but nothing
unusual occurred. After dinner next
day, as was endeavoring to recuperste
bit from night watching by short
snooze, l became aware of a presence,
and opening my eyes saw my old woman
standing over me, with her finger on her
lips to enjoin silence. When she saw that
l was awake she whispered hurriedly:
Run! Indians going to hill trader, kill
all white people in the store. Match-ee-
MIME keep traders wife. You good to old
woman. Rum
And the old woman, casting an anxious
look at the door, hobbled away as fast as
she could.
/ did run, but it was to Mr.. McIvor,
who was at that moment walking down
to the store with his wife.
bresthlessly related to Mr.. McIvor as
nearly as / could remember them the
words of the old woman.
There's something in it," he said,
"and we must be prepared for them.
Let us look for our guns. The looms
mean business"
His wife, who had heard all, looked
frightened, and he turned to her saying:
Which is it, Maggie? Wi us, or at
the hooseT
With you, John, till the DEATH" she
answered boldly.
He gave her look of admiration and
affection, and hastily rose to collect and
load our arms.
But we were too late: while we were
talking in the Office the store had silently
filed with Indians, their faces sinister
and threatening as they stood ranged up
against the high counter. So intent had
we been on the discussion that we had
not heard the soft tread of their moccas-
ined feet, and there we stood, fairly
caught, face TO face with death.
1t is hard to remember what passed
through my mind at that moment. l
think that my feelings were more those
Of Indignation than of fear. ltvexed me
to think of death at the hands Of those
brutes, an inglorious death, of which bat
a passing notice might appear u some
newspaper. or, what was more likely, no
notice at all, for the Hudson's Bay COM
pany have never cared 10 publish abroad