The new North-west., 1892-11-26


hunter, laid away in such unseemly
haste and with SO little ceremony, and
uttered a short prayer in behalf Of the
dead and though some of the wilder
spirits affected to ridicule, there was a
look Of pride on their faces as they
turned them upon the girl kneeling be
| fore them.
Who was Joe Blyn? An American Of
twenty-four, ranchnun, scout, gold
hunter; brave as a lion and tender as a
woman He had been with Sheridan
and Custer, with Miles and Cook. He
4 had carried dispatches from field to fort,
from post to headquarters. The soldiers
and civilians knew him as Joe: the In
tlians called him "The White Wind"
More than once they had found his trail
and pushed him hard, but tnever had they
overtaken him. And within an hour
from the time Joe Blyn helped Bess Har
kins to seat on the wagon he knew that
he loved her, and she realized that she
had fallen in with agreeable company.
Who was Taylor? An Iowa farmer; q
man Of will and nerve, who thirsted to
acquire wealth speedily. People at
home called him stingy and grasping.
An hour after the old hunters death
the light Of tvarice shone SO brightly in
his eyes that a physiognomist would
have whispered to himself, There is a
man who would do murder for gold!"
With the others we have little to do.
Expeditions such as this are made up Of
anybody and everybody. No one asks
where they come from and certificates
of character are not demanded.
When one speaks of the plains Of the
great west you must not confuund them
with the prairies. God made the prai-
ries," says an Indian legend, while
satan made the plains The one is a
level, covered with rich grass and car
peted with flowers, and the soil turned
up by the plow is the richest Of earth.
The other is rolling broken ground,
rilgcd rumEled. confused. Rock out
cro,1s, the soil is almost flint and nature
can scarcely force a weed or bush to
grow Wolvc and serpelts are at home
on these deSolate stretches of country
but Ill! other living things avoid them
There is Il uupsDlneueSs and ;llesolation
and II ilp1n..&:s.!:li%ss about them which
has eaIi4rI ilyal 10 60 mad
1t wa, :5rp., :5t:e.l Il stretch Of country
shat ;nz wa4on train slowly picked its
H,ay Ridge. after r5:3e. dap after dip,
.i!<r;tys. IL, s;,t..:@ Sterile scenery; always
sll, ~.s.:.. ,-u.tt,lrs tiylnss il circles Sc
n4;,. III 1.;;i; ,issy ioti.:tl! no larger than
robins
Th@.: Si&,ii of ypu4ciIcsa pr;liries. So
i, |, tn }Iti
Sou !Il;ty ri,;}, IJr 200 mile; before there
is !, change Of soil on scenery
Noon comes ana Il brief halt is made.
The men have grown more anxious
within the last hour.
'Siyns" are more plentiful.
The feathered heads Of Indians have
been seen above the banks of the dry
ravincs at short intervals, and it is plain
to all that the train is under espionage.
Your noble red man is Il coward. lie
must fight with the odds in his favor il
he fights at all Honest warfare is un-
known to him. In his death song he
will sing of his brave deeds but he lies
about them.
Men and women argue and contend
thai the red man OF America has been
cheated, abused and maligned. They
view him from distance. In hisnative
state he lives by choice like a dog. He
is cious i'll every sense. Lie was born
with q desire to torture and kill. Ills
love is tyranny and abuse-his friend
shio to be avoided. If he believes in a
great Manitoa, that belief does not pre-
yert him fro II being a beast and II devil
combined. lie betrays his own kindred.
He steals from his own tribe. He tor
lures a prisoner Of his own kind with as
much relish as he does a white man.
Taken as {; whole, he has not one single
trait or sentiment to Erove his right to
cu1nber the earth.
Aye! the red devils had been watch
ing that train for the last twenty hours
as cat watches its victim when released
for the moment. They were ahead of it
-behind-to the right-the left. AT
first two or three-then seven or eight
then fifteen--then thirty. They were
the scouts and spies, and every halt