River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-04-09

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PAsKA SEIZED THE INTERPRETER
party. but. before joining the teamsters,
a short consultation was held. Not be-
ing an adept in the Sioux tongue. their
conversation was to rs unintelligible;
their significant gestures. however,
made rs feel uneasy.
a-kin-yan-cI-qa-dan was one of the
Indians who. though he could speak
but a few English words. could write
in his own tongue; aud after tne eoun-
ell. when we were all mingling with
the teamsters and looking with hungry
eyes on the loads of flour and bacon,
he quietly passed Pa>ka, pushed piece
of paper into his hand and whispered:
Run. Agency Interpreter.
Paska felt thrill of fear and excite
ment. but controlling himself. he led
KOda a. if To water him at the brook,
followed. of course. by the faithful Don;
then. thinking he was attracting no par
ticular attention. ne thrust the paper
into his pocket. and, bounding onto the
pony. kept close To the bushes for few
moments. then struck out through the
twilight across the open prairie.
Koda. Don and PaslSa put in their
best work. The first had been known
To run a mile in less than two minutes.
and tonight he seemed to Guido him
self Not a word of encouragement
was needed: but PaslSa. leaning little
forward in the saddle. while holding
the rein in his left hand, with his right
gently tapped ON the ponys side-a sign
which Koda had been trained to under
stand meant for him To make his great
est speed.
Through the twilight the ground
seemed To swim past like the current of
a rushing river. Suddenly the saddle
slipped. Finding it impossible to ar
range IL at the mad pace they were fly
ing. PasLa hauled up the foaming pony,
sprang of. and readjusted the straps;
but in that moment of delay he sudden
~ heard. above the painting of the pony.
the sound of flying hoofs in the dis
lance Don. too. was on the alert, and
showed signs of great uneasineSs at the
delay. What with the Impotence and
excitement of Koda and Don, il was
almost impossible for Pas6a to remount;
and before he was half in the saddle
they were all tearing down the road.
Past gaining his stirrups as best he
could
Now this was the plot which the
chiefs had hastily made, and of which
a-kin-yan-ci-qa-dan had given warn
ing on the piece of paper that Paska
int
prefer:
The government generally sent the
main provisions, flour. pork, coffee,
sugar. etc, To the Indian agency twice
during the year, and these were divided
amt dealt ont to the tribe al the end of
every month The scheme of the wick
ed chiefs was To return at once to the
agency, announce that no provisions
were coming. excite the desperate In
dams to revolt, kill the agent and all
the white employees. and then, when
the train arrived. they would divide six
months provisions at one time. and
feast and dance and hold high revels.
The Indians. like some children. don't
look far ahead They did not stop To
ask themselves what they would do
after the supplies We're exhausted.
Now NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. knew if
the news Of the coming train could only
reach the agency first, and the plot of
the bad Indians be exposed, the church
party would assert themselves and
faith in the agent would be restored.
Paslza, though not understanding the
full import of the piece of paper he ear
-aa1s-rs,.N e h.a
greatest emergency; and over the
prairie grass. through rushing streams.
mp hill and down ravines. on they flew.
An. what q relief, There were the
campfires. there were the lights in the
warehouse. and the sound of the Indian
drivers family reached hiru. One more
hill 10 climb. and Hoda. trembling in
every fiber. covered with one mass of
foam. galloped madly to the door of
the warehouse. while Paska reeled
from the saddle and rushed into the of
flee. seized the interpreter. and. while
trying To explain To the agent. put his
hand into his poclla. for the precious
bit Of paper
II was gone. Evidentlyit had dropped
ont ON the road while STOPPING To fix
the saddle
PaslSa. with a pallid face. fell into
chair. For a second everyone seemed
paralyzed when suddenly. with a
bound. dear old Don rushed i'm with the
missing paper in his mouth
Don wa, carefully trained retriever Pasba
had educated him g. pick up any article that
dropped Day after day. when Don. koda
aud Paska were out together. the latter would
A. Hfaal-
glove. stick, a better, anytaing-to get him
thoroughly traiaea 10 observe and 20 retrieve,
never dreaming that we should al owe our
..ve> Go this useful education Il dear Dou-I
n a shorter time than it requires 10
write this. the interpreter read the
torn and dust-stained paper, and accom-
panied by the agent he stood on the
warehouse steps and explained all TO
the Indians who had rushed around
the doors on the arrival of the flying
messenger.
There is nothing slow about an In
dian intellect: il was all understood in
a moment. ard the news of the APP
proaching train had its effect. and good
humor once more reigned. The con
spirators evidently got wind of all this
before they had chance % instigate
the planned revolt On their arrival
they separated and Joined their COM
pauions in a very quiet and unostenta-
lions way But they were not as pas
Sive n they seemed That night poor
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. was shot in the
back: but the wound was not fatal. and
he recovered after weeks of careful
nursing.
and dear old Don. The supeTstitious