The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-27
Th daliela 4an eagle Eridau gorne. 9aunsry IT. Is 49,

cureiy and compactiy from sight In his
: blanket. This done, Asa hid the bea-
yer behind the rock, covering 1t with
snow. lie gave his Powder-horn and
gun TO Phineas, saying. briefly:
watch, and make no noise.
Then he lifted his uncanny burden
upon his shoulder and started toward
homo. At each step he feared, indeed
expected, to be surrounded by Indians
in anything but friendly frame Of
mind. Every moment of that silent
march through the forest, with his
father and his fathers awful compan-
ion, his nerves at the highest tension
of excitement, alert vigilant, yet feel
ing brave enough with the gun to
meet the whole tribe of revengeful Pc
uuots, was remembered to MS dying
day by Phineas Parker. On and on
they went, as swiftly as possible and
as noiselessly. At last, after what
seemed TO the boy thousand years,
they came within sight of their little
cabin. Then, for the first time, Asa
spoke to his little son:
Put down tue gun, Phineas," he
said, very softly. go tell your mother
to take all the children up the lott
with her and keep them there until I
come. Say no more. Then come back
to me-
Phineas flew to do the errand.
Esther Parker was a brave woman.
Her cheek grew pale; but she, too. had
learned to obey unhesitatingly. She
! cI- 1it+la and
/ them up the ladder before her. She
sang to them; she told them wonder
/ full tales; she kept them amused and
coptented; but all the while her
! thoughts and her heart were outside
with Asa and their boy. What were
/ they doing? What did those strange,
! dull continuous sounds, apparently be-
meath the house mean? Would they
never cease? Could they come from
! the small cellar which had been dug,
at her special request, before their
/ cabin was begun? How little she had
/ dreamed then that this very cellar was
/ to furnish a grave for one Of the
I bravest young chiefs,of Hop River val
/ ley!
/ But it was So After long, hard
labor on the part of the far-seeing, de-
termined settler, the burial-place was
/ safely hidden from sight or sound of
any of the tribe. 1t remained forever
/ unknown to them; and the beaver trap
. of Asa Parker was never again mo-
! Tested
/ For days and weeks and even months,
/ the father and mother and Oldest son
of this little family kept a strict
! watch for any signs of revenge on the
/ part Of posi- BILE spectators of the trag-
/ edy. But time passed on, and at length
! they became convinced that, if, in
( deed, observed at all, it had taught
Il wholesome fear of the speaking
gun"
One hundred years later, the children
of Phineas' children built a handsome
residence upon the very site Of the log
house Before the foundations were
laid, the cellar was Geepened and en-
largcd. In the course OF this work, the
spades of the men ratified against some
{ strange objects. One by one they were
taken ont and laid side by side upon
/ the grass. bones, and human bones! A
/ shu0der crept over the blue-eyed boy
and the dark-haired dimpIed little
Esther who came from their play to
see them. They turned to their father
with eyes full of wondering questions.
At first he did not see them. lie was
recalling the thrilling narrative he had
so often heard from his grandfather's
own lips. With careful hand he ar
ranged the rambling remains of the
culprit for burial, and then he told his
children the story of their great-grand-
fathers Indian abeth Olmis, in
n. Y. Ledger.