The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-05-24


that seemed scaworthy. Our good for
tune mendcd our spirits, and as we sped
onward we laughed and jolled and broke
into rollicking songs.
We had mado milo or SO when,
shooting round sharp elbow Of tho
river, we wsro thCndeTstruck to find
ourselves abreast OF u largo Indian camp
pitched on the bank. Tho narrowing Of
the stream nc this point brought us With
i'll 20 yards OF our foes.
UtteriDg howl Of rage, they made q
wild rush for tho waters edge, threw
themselves into their canoes and came
after rs In full pursuit And foremost
among them VIC recognized the tall form
of Wah- kama.
With swift wave Of our paddles we
turned the nose OF our antique nvrft 10
ward the bank, reaching which, We
leaped ashore. seized the gun, and In
two seconds wo were tearing through
the thick brusirwood toward the forest
beyond
That afternoon md evening trurnped
many miles AT nightfall, being utterly
tagged out, threw myself upon the
turf beside "a small stream and was soon
sound asleep.
cwoke little after dawn, cold and
stiff and desperately hungry. was
about to move along when was startled
to honr cracking among tho brush
wood. l set my teeth and brought my
rifle to my shoulder, ready to fire as soon
as tho thing should break cover.
Presently who should stagger into
view but Jed, the poor fellow ready to
drop with fatigue and hunger. We
started off, but soon Jed, who was car
rying the gun. while clamboring over
the rocks made nlisstep and fell The
weapon flew from his hand, and the
trigger striking hard against stump,
loud report followed among the sur
rounding hills.
But that was not the worst. Jcd's
ankle received very bad twist in his
fall. and for Sumo minutes the poor fell
low was agonized with pain.
Now we noticed a column of smoke
rising nearly opposite our position from
the other bank of the river
"A signal" cried Jed. "They must
idiot was!'
"And sce," said I, "therc's an an
swering signal to the right and another
to the left But we've got good start
of them, and before they strike our trail
we must be miles away
All that afternoon we toiled onward
over our rugged course. Meantime, how
ever, Jed's wounded ankle grew worse,
until at sunset it was swollen to twice
its natural size, and he could proceed no
farther.
Twilight slowly darkencd into night
The moon rose and cast her fading light
upon the scene a more welcome light,
l think, I shall never behold
Presently signal fires OH the hills near
by told us that the rest Of our enemies
We're close at hand. Again looked to
the primiug of my gun and otherwise
prepared for action.
For fully 20 minutes we heard moth
ing of our foes, though we knew we'll
the cOwarlly fellows were debating how
best to reach us Then, from their am
bush IN the wild onts, we heard voices.
as though they were encouraging each
other to charge, and we realized that
the crisis was ut hand
clamation from jed
cts all up, Joev' ho cried. "No use
firing. The villains have got us in the
rear. -
"Hist, boys, histr' whispered voice
from the bow of the canoe
Good heavens, it's Wattio!"
AYE, boys, and Just i'll tho nick of
time Catch hold Of this hynr line and
haul us In right smart"
This was done, and all SO quietly and
quickly that the Indians knew nothing
of our e-cnforccments. A minute later
they broke cover, rushed into the open,
and with blood curdling yell charged
pellmell down upon us
"Firc!" shouted Waite in voice
that rang loud above tho upronr, and
instantly five spouts of flame flashed in
the faces Of our foes.
Surprised, thundcrstruek, utterly dis
comfited, the advancing body rceled
back from the vollcy they had so little
expected.
"After em, boys!" yelled Waite,
lcaping up over the bank and giving
chase. We sent them flying in all direc-
'ioHo, .ct10i Ali'li'ii llltI1 OUly OH StCur-
ing his personal safety.
Then, returning to the bank, we
sought our two fallen foes The first we
came up to was lying face downward,
having pitched forward as q bullet found
his heart Turning him over, we found
he was none other than tho villainous
Wah kia- ma. -Gcorge H Westley in
Boston Globe.
His Diploma
lyon began practice in Arkansas, did