The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-10-10
pEADMAN's HOME.
The Deadly Work Done by n savar,
Band.

The Deadly Work Done by Savage
Band.
we arrived at the crossing of the Niobra-
ra river at o'clock in the afternoon. and
were then so far behind the Indian band we
were pursuing that it was determined to
give up the chase and wait there for Can
tam Frayne's detachment to come in from
Tue west we We're making camp when Il
dog came out Of thicket Oh our right and
began bowling Everybody saw at a glance
that 1t was II settlers dog and everybody
realized III an instant what his actions sig
nlfed. Every man of the 200 STOOL looking
at the animal, when he ceased bowling and
came forward. He was IL gaunt, fierce look
ing beast, and many of the men held their
carbines ready to shoot us he came trottinp
up and halted Mt the feet of the major Aft
er long look into the officers face the dog
threw up his head and howlctl again-a
long drawn, quavering howl which sent a
chill over every man, and even made the
horses look up from their feed
Captain, detail Il sergeant and five men
to follow the dog" said the major as he
turned to the commander of f troop. II
think there's pioneers cabin on the far
side of the thicket. If nothing is to be
found within half a mile, let n man return
and report, and will send out larger
force"
AS we caught up our horses the dog ceas-
ed bowling and exhibited signs that he I'M
derstood AS we mounted he trotted away
Mt the head of the detail and led us straight
for the thcket. 1t proved to be n fringe or
curtain hiding a lovely little valley, and as
soon as we passed through it we saw the
cabin of pioneer half mile away. We
wheeled into line, opened out in skirmish-
Ing order and approached the cabin at u
walk. When half the distance had been
passed, we saw Il wolf sneak out from the
cover of the cabin and run for the brush
covered hillside. a moment later two great
vultures which were Ierched on the roof
ana perhaps asleep took wing and flew
heavily away
There are dead men in therey whispered
the sergeant rs we came to halt. See
therel 1t was IN Indian attack, and they
tried to burn the people out. Look at the
bullet holcsl See that tricklc OF blood un-
der the doorr'
The dog advanced to the door, snuifed at
the blood and then threw up his head and
howled disnally.
I'VE must use this log to break the door
In" continued the sergeant The Indians
brought it here, but tho fire was too hot
See where the wolves have licked the blood
off the grass! There has been a terrible
fight here. Now, then, altogether and
uc't'e! nat Slt-Onc--tW O-thrcc-and the
door gives way.'
We dropped the log and retreatcd Il step
or two, while the excited dog spranp into
the cabin and whined and banked and final
~ gave utterilnce to Il howl so full of
lamentation that some of the men closed
their ears to the sound. Every man was
paleaccd and trembling. The sergeant
Should he the first to look in, but he hest
tated, and IL was only after Il great effort
that he pulled himself together and ad-
vanced. On the rough floor, as if they had
crawlcd together to die, were four men, a
woman and two children, the latter about
and years old respectively. 1t was log
cabin, with boards instead of sash and
glass ut the windows, and there were hun
dreds of crevices between the logs through
which bullet might find its way. How
long the fight had lasted we could not de-
termine, but all there had been dead for "a
hours ut least.
"You can see how it was" said the ser
geant after sending off man to the COM
mand. Three of these men came down
the trail ahead of the Indians, fleeing for
their lives and warning other settlers.
When they turned in here, the red devils
were close after them, and the only thing
to do was to fight. Look at the bullet
holesl See how many wounds each one
mas! Inc Indians Tired from every direc-
ton, even down through the roof 1t must
have been an all day fight, and the last
man or two WAS able TO handle gun when
the Indians got the alarm and left There
was the husband and father In his dying
hour he lay down his rifle and crcpt over
to his dead wife and children and flung his
arms over them. WHAT'S that on the noor?"
We removed the boards from the two
windows to let in more light, and on the
white surface Of IL split log used as n floor
board we found Il scrawl traced in blood.
There lay the splinter which had been used
as pen, and within six inches of it were
the fingers of n dead man In the semi
darkness of day or the gloom of night his
rude pen had painfully and roughly written
in his own blood the words:
Over 200 Injuns. All wiped out but me,
and Pm hard hit. Send word to-
That was all. The splinter fell from his
fingers, and he sank down and died We
gave them burial in the grassy valley and
burned the cabin, and us we broke camp the
dog went with us, fierce, wild eyed and wolf
ish, but knowing that he was among
friends. NJ OuAp
Thsa