Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-06-20

sAsionS ol ueau Indians wh(
va ner dream) appeared to be drowned
AZ last she fell into heavy SUM
ucr, and when she awolse a deem still
ness reigned all around.
| she thought it strange that No no;s.
or sound OF life came from the camn
out sne concluded that they had eater
SO much the previous night that on,
ana all were still sleeping.
When the day and night had nassad
and yet no sound from the neonle :,
the camp, the poor girl became thor.
oughly alarmed, but feared to move q,
call out, on account Of the Injunction
received from her mother.
Morning came again; and now from
the direction Of the camp came a faint
sound, as Of distant, signing wind.
ana as the day grew older, the sound
became more Of kissing nature. Dur
ing her last night in her lonely retreat
that noise was something fearful. and
poor Ne-nah was almost out OF he,
mind with terror.
sunlight, blessed sunlight aRaini
Now Ne-nah's three days and nights
were over, and she was free to 90; but
her mother came not.
The girl called, hardly above her
breath at first, then louder, but no an
swer came to her ears. She could not
bear it longer, and SO she determined
TO reconnoiter the camp and see what
had happened.
AS she approached the edge Of the
clearing she saw, squirming over the
bark tent, up and over the fish stag
ing, over the canoes on the beach-in
fact, over everything that belonged to
the lndians-snakes, large and small,
in countless numbers She realized
that her people were either dead or
had fed, and she decided to start on
foot for the fort.
Ne-nah, Indian-like, had a natural
knowledge of the lay Of the country,
and made her way through the track
less forest in q remarkable manner for
one SO young. Two days afterward she
came out on the shore Of Long lake.
She was seen by one of the servants,
who brought her over in canoe to the
fort.
THE gentleman in charge for the
Nor'west company heard her story, and
although he totally disbelieved it, yet
at her earnest demand and entreaty
for some one to go and look for her
parents, he sent bis second officer and
party Of men to visit the place.
They returned after four days abb
sence, and reported that they had
found the clothes Of the Indians where
they lay in the camp, with nothing but
bones therein.
Seeing some of the snakes men
toned by the girl still. moving about,
they set fire to the point before leav-
ing.
you will notice." said Lag arde, at
this point of his story, that the trees
hereabouts are second growth, and by
their size you can see this happened
years ago. The Indians from that
time have never camped by or fished in
this lake. An occasional hunter, who
has been tempted to come to the shores
of the lake to see the home of the
Manitou Na-mek, is reported to have
seen an immense sturgeon disporting
itself on the surface.
Hardy would have been the Indian
who would have molested the mon
ster."
"And what became Of Ne-nah?" /
asked the guide.
s'She married Big Marten. of Albany
district, and was known after her es-
cape from death at Manitou Na-Mell) as
the Snake Woman. She died few
years ago at Fort Henley, and the most
of the Indians now living in that sec
ton are descendants of hers" con-
Guided Lagarde.
Our work for the next few days lay
in sight of the lake, and although we
kept bright lookout, we failed to see
anything of the uncanny fish that had
been eaten by the Indians, had then been
turned into deadly serpents, and de-
voured the whole band, and finally re-
sumed its natural state in the waters
Of the lake! Such was the Indian le.
gend Of this grand body Of water.
Lagarde told me on subsequent
evening wonderful storyof ''Winda-
90 Woman This incident happened
in his own young days, and, as he said,
must be true. Martin Hunter, in n
Y. Ledger.