The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1895-01-17

Bruce and neaer succeeded in touching bot
tom by sounding am therefore believe 1t. In
peqebanee NAN. untold and onfaown'
PARf /.
II one period af NV Eagiand's his
tory. before tn. forests which covered Ter
mountains. hills. loN-lsing I'll .ins aud
vallavs had been swept aNae by The axe
oil the settler. the north eastern portion
of that territory. onee H. home Of the
greatest of all Indian nations. NJ, debaf-
able ground between the English dwell
nfs along The Atlantic cna-t and the
French pioneers Of lower GauadR AMI the
-. Lawrence basin. THIS region, though
covered By growth- of valuable pine and
consisting ri remarkably ietriIe soil, Was
very sparsely settled, inhabited only BY
tie brayesf of frontiers men. or those
Indians Nhe remained 81 the aboriginal
tribe.
These d~ellers in The midst were part
sans of one or tie other It the=fwa great
powers l. gli-h and French. whose ell
pidits would only be satisfied by POSSES
sion of the whole territory, aud whose
share would eventually be decided by su.
perior force of arms, or skill in diplom-
macy.
Here and there on the bunk OF SOME
swift-ilowng river, or the shore of some
sheltered bay, were located Indian vii
lagos, headquarters of the remnants of
the great northeastern natious, the
Aknabis, the NorridgeWocks. and The
flurons. Very fe" OF these Villages had
sufficient force of warriors to defy the
hostile advances of French or English
and live in independent hostility 10 all
except their own people. Tribe jealousy
and lack of calculation or foresight
among their chiefs prevented eomblna-
ton, and their natural credulitv prevent
ed them from stunning those who smiled,
only to disarm. Therefore it came about
that some English trader or French priest
had a residence in almost every eollee-
ton of wigWams, and became the chef
authority OF those Indians among whom
he lived
In one such village, located on the left
bank Of the kennehce river, midway be-
tween its head waters and Merry-meeting
Bay, dWelt a priest Of the order Of the
Jesuits, ami of French nationality. This
man, Sebastian Rasles by name. had be-
come powerful factor in the village
everyday life, and was regarded rs the
highest authority by those whom he had
reclaimed from lgn0renc" To some STEM
blanee oi christian worship.
III the midst of The village he had erect
| ell chapel. There 1t stood, snf4nonhled
by the Roman cross, with windows hall
open 10 lei in the warm sunshine OF IN
august day. in the year l12i. The muir
mnrs OF early mass could have been heard
for some distance, like the sln6thefed
ironing OF the bees lazily noatlng about
in the perfume-la laden air.
However heartily the Indians oil this
village had accepted the French priest
aud his Catholic teachings, there were yet
some among them who held To the tradl-
tons of their forefathers, who believed
in Mantle, the great Spirit, who remern-
bered the WARNINGS of the prophet Sa-
chems But such was the power aud in
flnence OF Sebastian Rasles, that few,
even OF those who did not believe, dared
to absent themselves from VeSperS or
mass. So that the tall, slender figure that
passed up the path between the wigwalns
from the lower ED OF the village, past
the chapel, not even CHANGING IN its di-
rection, though sounds of service were
distinctly audible on That pleasant Au-
gust morning, must have been one near
akin to some parsonage whose word bore
more than ordinary weight in the coun-
ell. Ii was the figure OF woman, Young,
graceful III form, and clothed after the
manner of her people, but With richer
habit. She seemed more than the ordi-
nary domestic slave In fact she was
the granddaughter OF the Oldest lNing
chief OF the line of the prophet Sachems,
and the hetrothed of the Panther, also
of nearly the same line, II young chief OF
ability and foresight.
The young chief was now absent ON IA
mission TO neighboring tribes. The mis-
sion was secret but the girl kneA its pnr-
port was to secure aid in an uprising
against all, without distinction, not of
Indian blood to be found within their do
mains.
koneshee was sad on that August day.
Some OF the gitt oil prophecy had come
To her from her ancestors, and she saw,
or thought she saw, approaching evil for
her tribe She had prophesied aloud,
but few had listened, and now she went
away alone into the forest to think, to
study out II possible from vague, pro-
phetic consciousness of evil, some deti-
mite knowledge of its specific sort. or
immediate personal halm she had no fear
nor forecast, though danger WAS at hand
and waited for her IN the wood,
Luke Benson was trapper and half
breed, and as trappers and half-breeds
go, bad one. II any crime practlced
by men in that wild country had not
been perpetrated by this particular vii.
lain, it was because opportunity and
profit were lacking.