Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-01-24

w ltL Il Sidu cry SHe cdileu Out, DSuldu,
the house and stable are saved Now we
will get out of this hot place."
''But where are the Indians?" howled
Harvey. "Guess we don't want to get
scalped, do we:'
Sure enough, where were they? In her
Cxultation at escape from a nearer dan
ger, Katherine had almost forgotten the
greater one. She swept the horizon with
her keenest glance In that murky at
mosphere the view, usually an extensive
one, narrowed itself to closer boundaries.
But so far as she could see no moving
object met her view.
''They must have been driven west of
this point by the fire. argued Katherine,
shading her eyes with her hand
Katherine knew that military defense
had been provided by the government
after sickening loss of life among the
settlers, and that Little Crow and his
followers had thus been driven over the
Dakota borders. But she did not know
that predatory bands We're making occa-
sional detours from the main route of re-
treat about the less thickly settled parts
of the country, stealing, numbering and
kidnapping, and that less than a mile
away q band of these nurderous wretches
were hidden in ii prairie slough orravine,
which they had made IL safe retreat by
'back firing" waiting for night to fall
before they descended upon the little cab
in to wreak their bloodthirsty instincts
upon its inhabitants
Beulah now proposed that Katherine
should go up and put down the ladder
for her to climb out into more comfort
able quarters.
'sSeems like | done beat out by all dis
yer catwampin, an Use jes' a-pining fer
a cup O. tea, honey. De waters yere all
handy, an I'll jes' take few cobs from
de stable fer a fire, an it'll be ready
quick'n ye can bat yer eye."
But, alas. in the first movement that
she made Beulah overturned the pail,
and once ON terra frma the difficulty
grew more pressing. They must have
something to eat, for it was past mid
afternoon and they had had nothing
since breakfast.
''fm not afraid. Give me the pail"
said Katherine boldly, and started ON a
swift run toward the spring.
At the top of the ridge she paused
moment, and seeing nothing ran on.
But the moment she took another step
she knew by the light covering of ashes
that 4 the heaviest of the fire had not
passed over the ground, and it must
have been backfred While she paused,
uncertain what to do, fearful yell
sounded close to her ear, and burly In
dian, hideous in warpaint and feathers,
grasped her from behind, leaped into his
saddle and with another yell to his pony
rode away like the wind, followed by his
band.
Fatigued with the excitement of the
day, Katherine, strong and brave as she
was, succumbed to the sensations of
deadly terror that possessed her. She
made no sound, for fear choked the
shrieks upon her lips. She made no re-
sistance, but, white and helpless with
fright, she felt herself dragged with bru-
tai force to the pony's back and borne
with incredible swiftness across the
prairie Sick with deadly faintness,
she sank into insensibility.
When she regained consciousness she
was in an Indian camp. There were loud,
hoarse shouts and savage yells as rifle
balls whistled through the air. The po-
nies of the Indians, tethered close by,
tugged and tore at their fastenings.
There were shrill cries of dislnay from
the squaws and warwhoops from the
braves as they hurried about in vain at
tempts at defense from sudden sur
prise.
Then voice called, We've got 'em
this timer and Katherine was wide
awake now, for in those tones she recog-
nized voice, loved always, but never so
welcome as now-the voice of her dear
father.
Gone night more and they would have
escaped u.s." said Mr.. Gardner, as he
held Katherine in his arms, trembling
and sobbing, and oh, how happy! ''And
if we'd taken the north trail instead of
the south on our way to town we
shouldn't have met the troops who were
in pursuit of the wretches. As it was
we turned back under their escort, and
when found that my brave girl had
been carried off captive I rode on with
the soldiers. Thank God, my child,
find you safer
Katherine is u woman now, with chill
dren of her own to whom she sometimes
tells this true story of the Sioux uprising
of 1872
''But, mamma" cries little Bruce,
whose eyes and hair are so like those of
the baby brother she remembers so well,
though he has slept under the waving
grass in the prairie cemetery these many
years; but, mamma. why didn't you
fight back?' And with these words the
incipient warrior nestles sleepily in her
arms, to dream of impossible Indian
fights in which he is the chief actor
Montreal Star.