Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-12-15

He rises TO his feet.
There are times when the tiger is off
his guard.
There is never an hour when the In
dian of the plains is free from suspicion.
In his waking hours each rock or tree or
hillock may conceal an enemy. When
he sleeps it is to waken at the croab of
frog OF the chirp of a cricket, sus-
picious that the sounds were made by
enemies closing in upon him.
The Indian is bypocrite and dis
sembler. IF lie suspects that an enemy
is hidden in ii strong position he will
pass 1t carelessly by to return by stealth
and wait and watch.
Three or four days had passed since
the Indian band disappeared down the
valley, and it had seemingly gone away
satisfied that the train had escaped.
But tho warriors were not satisfied.
They were mystified, but not satisfied.
They had returned to play hypocrite and
dissembler. They had gone into camp
as part of the plan. They had waited
for night-as another part of it.
White men would have advanced in
body toward tho mouth Of the canyon,
or at least sent skirmishers forward to
investigate. The Indian is human
cat. He creeps upon his prey-he wins
by cunning and stealth.
Tell Joe to come down herer whis-
pered the captain to the man at his side
after watching the seeming figure few
minutes longer.
The man quietly disappeared, and Joe
was at the captains elbow.
do you see anything on the ground
in line with my finger and perhaps two
hundred feet away" asked the captain.
Il do replied Joe after minute.
IAN Indian is creeping along to turn
the end Of the barricado and come into
the canyon"
Sure
"l'll stake my life on it,
Word was passed for every man TO
fall back to tho wagon, and after q brief
consultation between the captain and
Joe one took position to the right and
the other to the left Of the entrance, but
fifty feet back. If the Indian scout
penetrated thu, far lie must pass be-
tween them, and his retreat would be
cut off.
Now came silence so profound that
it was positively painful. The grimness
of midnight in city is broken by foot
steps-the barking Of dogs-the whistle
of locomotive. On the open plains the
chirp of crickets never ceases while
darkness lasts, and that very sound has
liept lost men and women from going
crazy under the great mental strain.
The sound connected them with civil
cation and safety.
But i'll the grim and gloomy canyon
there was no sound. The horses, which
had been led to the extreme end, peered
about them and shivered with fear. The
men lying down about the wagon felt a
weight upon them. If there We're crick-
cts in the grass they were silent.
If man wants to find a greater punish
ment for criminals than the dark cells
Of state prisons, let him turn to the can
Won. No prisoner chained to a rock in
the gloom and silence and darkness
would keep his mind week. The very
silence would torture him until he would
cry out 10 heaven for mercy, and the
sound of his own voice would terrify
linn to insanity.
The captain and Joe had not been de-
reived, 1t was an Indian creeping to-
ward the mouth of the canyon.
Creep! Creep! Creep.
So tiger creeps up to within striking
| distance Of IL man. So a cat creeps to
within striking distance Of bird. The
Oh Il ha
shadows OF evening could not have crept
more noiselessly.
Now the human cat has reached the
/ end Of the barricade. Now he turns
into the mouth Of the canyon. Now he
advances up the center. 1t is so dark
| in the rift that he cannot see his hand
when held at arms length. Instinct
guides him. a rock lies in his path. He
| knows this before he sees it. He creeps
up and carefully passes his hand over
/ it. If the white men came in there with
their wagons they might have moved
the stone.
No, they did not. He creeps to an
other and another. They have not been
disturbed He shifts at the air. If there
was the least fire he would discover it.
lie lies with his ear to the ground. The
stamp of Il horse half a mile away woula
have been detected.
Creep! Creep! Creep.
Now he is within sixty feet of the
wagons, now it is fifty, now forty. The
slightest cough-a sleeper's change of
position, woman's signing as she
dreamed-woull reach his ear. He
heard nothing. Not stone has been
disturbed-not q wheel print can he
find as he passes. For ten long min
utes tho red man listens with ears
strained to catch the slightest sound.
Silence-uothing but silence.
Now he is satisfied. He rises to his
feet and walks back to the barricade,
turns to the left and holds straight for
the camp on the opposite side without
pause. He is satisfied az last. lie finds
every warrior awake and alert for an
alarm. In few words he makes his
report to the chief, and in ten minutes
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