Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-06-27
INDIAN REVENGE.

44NDlh1N 1bL L4tO Ls
Jed Wilson and were neither of us
much over 90 when, in the reckless
spirit of adventure, we Joined COM
pany Of threescore hardy fellows who
were on the point Of starting off up the
Ump-qua river.
After many days Of the most difficult
travel we came at length in sight Of an
Indian village, and approaching this
village to within quarter of mile we
pitched our permanent camp.
We had been there very few min
utes before our redskin neighbors be-
came aware Of our presence, and imme-
diately they swarmed down upon us,
displaying the most hostile intentions
The sight of our weapons cowed them,
and they saw it would be best to leave
as alone.
The chief of the tribe was one Wah-
kama, a tall, muscular Indian of per
haps As. AS the days went by Wah-kia-
ma became quite frequent visitor. His
favorite lounging place was the log
cabin in which Jed and did the cook
ing.
One morning Jed discovered Wah-kia-
ma in the act of jabbing long, sharp
pointed piece of iron he invariably car
ried in his belt into the soup kettle,
hoping no doubt to fish out a nice hot
chunk of beef. This was more than my
companion could stand
Knocking the iron out of the redskin s
hand with quick blow, Jed grabbed
the fellow by the scruff and the slack
and rushed him out of the cabin, quit
ting him with push that sent him
sprawling upon the ground.
After that Wah-Ha-na came to the
cookhouse no more, and in, month OF
80 the incident had dropped completely
from our minds. But not from the In
dian's. In his heart he nurtured ven
geance.
One day we learned that there emp
tied into the Ump-qua certain stream,
the exploration Of which promised con-
siderable sport. This tributary was
known as Smiths river, after an unfor-
tunate trapper who had been killed by
the Indians many years before.
When we had arranged our plans, we
made them known to Waite Linn, a
sturdy old backwoodsman who had tax
en- quite fancy to us youngsters and
had more than once proved himself a
true friend
dom t ye go, boys" said Waite.
ssWhy nnt3'' asked Jed EVA can
manage the canoe all right"
Tain t that. /"
"What is it, then? Are you afraid Of
the Indians cutting us Off"
"Waal, yes, that's about it, " replied
Waite.
just as we were pushing of along
came Wattie-
$50 yer bound to go, boys?" he said
half reproachfully. "Waal, good luck tc
ye. But look hyar, want ye to promise
me q something Guess it'll take ye
three days to get up to Smiths, thar
bein freshet in the river, but day
ought to fetch ye back slick as grease.
Now, give me yer word, boys, to bt
back hyar by five days at the latest
that is, if ye kim
We promised the old fellow and dip
ped our paddles, impatient to be off.
s'Good, lads, and now look hyar. Hsc
be as you meet trouble and hev to quit
the canoe and tramp home make tracks
down the right bank of the river; the
right hank do Won heer?''
Nothing particular happened until the
afternoon of the third day. We were
ripping along very quietly when sud
denly Jed reached over the side of the
canoe and fished something out of the
water. It proved to be small closely
woven Indian basket.
s'That's bad, jed" exclaimed.
"Sure as guns theirs redskins ahead OF
us."
"We'd have met the beggars if they
had come down stream; SO they mus
have gone up" said L Whats to bs
done, jedi"
sDonel Go ahead and trust in Provi
dence," replied Jed. "They may b
friendly or they may not. Anyhow
we've got our rifles. "
"What's that yonder?" cried Jed
pointing to hill little distance ahead.
Its sloping side was dotted with what
looked to be huts. We rested on om
paddles and gazed upon the scene with
silent anxiety.
We found the cause of our wonder tC
be an old Indian burying ground Tht
hutlike risings were simply hillocks o.
earth, each Of which marked the resting
place of a warrior.
Padding mile or two farther along
we camped for the night
As soon as it was light enough We
started to mount to the top of what We
meant to be our long toboggan slide
back to Ump-qua 1t was the wors
rapid we had yet encountered Aftel
trying it several ways without success
we had to resort to the towing line.
We dragged our little craft up through
the boiling current yard by yard /
may have been within dozen feet O
us when crack the stout hide line sud
denly snapped, and away went the cano'
with all our stores and Jed's rife, dash
ing mad1y down the falls.
"What fools to worry" cried Jed
sswhen we can get all the canoes WI
wantp'
"Where?'
"Down in the burial ground O
course. It's only mile or SO. Conn
along"
fortunately we were on the same sid'