Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-04-04

a rope At no time during the day
was he near enough to exchange a
word, but on several occasions saw
him kicked and beaten by the sauaws
and boys.
1t was 8 o'clock in the evening, be-
fore [ was taken into the presence of
Pawnee- Killer. He seemed to have
accepted the belief of the others, and,
in less than a quarter of an hour,
waved me out of his wigwam. / may
state here what l learned two or three
years later. Tt was the belief of the
Indians that I had been struck by
lightning as I slept, and that the fluid
had left the two marks to prove that
I was invulnera BILE. They further
reasoned that I lost my speech at the
sam time, and was therefore an OBJ
ject of veneration. [ was in no wise
hampered or restricted, but found
shelter as soon as possible and was
soon asleep. [ wanted to do some
thing for poor Robinson, but just how
to do it I could not figure. The treat
ment accorded him during the day
did not augur well for the future.
When morning came again had
hearty breakfast; and then two old
men armed with only bows and ar
rows, took me down the creek about
a mile and then sat down on the grass.
It was an hour or two before could
make out the significance of the move
IL L L. Il, Il
rection of the camp which satisfied
me that Robinson was being put to
torture. One Of my guards soon left
for the village, and an hour later the
other suddenly rose, and without
word walked away in the same di-
rection Unable to make up my mind
what to do | remained where | was
during the entire day. In later years
I learned from one the warriors of the
fate of Robinson. His fortunes lasted
nine hours. He first ran the gauntlet.
Then he was tied to stake, and
every form Of mutilation which the
fiends could invent was practiced on
his poor body. 1t was with great ami
nation that my imformant related
how the poor fellow begged and cried
and entreated-w what wonderful vi
tality he had-how he could have
been preserved an hour or two long
er had not everybody grown tired of
the sport 1t was Pawnee- Killer HIM
self, fresh from signing a treaty of
peace, who exhibited the most fiend-
ish spirit.
[ had a much closer call than /
knew. The two old men who took
me out doubted that I was what the
others took me for. They had some
arrows made on purpose to kill witch
es and keep off bad spirits, and they
were to take me off and see if these
arrows would kill me. In going down
the creek one of them cDhe near
stepping on rattlesnake, and this
was taken as a sign that they must
not shoot. When they returned to
the village and reported it was hoped
that l would go away, and therefore
no one came near me. AS night fell
I started off to the west, expecting
every moment to be overhauled, put
ting in a good twenty miles before
daylight. [ was picked up by a scout
ing party of calvary just before noon.
1t was about three months after my
escape before the Indians learned that
I was a Government scout, and that
they had been duped. Red Trail and
Pawnee Killer then offered five po-
MES each to the warrior who should
bring in my scalp, and for the next
year I was perhaps wanted more
than any other man on the plains. 1t
was curious turn of affairs that,
while Red Trail had no less than five
of his best warriors out on exhibition
after me, crept into his camp one
night and secured his own scalp lock,
rifle and pony, and got away.
While Minnesota is one of the most healthy