Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-04-07


up there heard him. They ran quick.
Winona saw them, and went to the
very brink chanting the death song.
She bowed herself to the earth,
wrapped her blanket about her
breast, and with a wild cry sprang
out into the dark air Of the night.
"The braves drew near the place
where the young squaw had stood,
and they heard the sound of heavy
fall. They looked down into the
blackness, but could see nothing four
trees deep, but a splash of water was
heard, and they knew Winona was no
more. They went with quick feet to
the Pepin Lake, but the moving water
had carried the dead squaw away
forever, they said, and they turned
sadly back to their lodges"
And they never found the body OF
the girl?" | asked
The whitc-hared old warrior shook
his head.
"They did not find the body be-
cause 1t was not left beneath the high
hill, and It never went down into the
lake"
"The lover carried IT away" sug-
gested, new thought entering my
head suddenly.
1T went away with Little Coon, but
he did not carry it. Winona was not
killed"
The idea was ABSURD.
A human being could not descend,
under full power of gravitation, hun
dreds Of feet, and amid broken rocks,
without causing instant death. The
red hermit OWNED my thoughts and
he said:
u have told you that the lovers
planned to deceive the Dakotas, and
they did.
"Winona secreted a long, rawhide
rope under her shawl and dropped IL
where her lover was secreted without
stopping to speak, as had been
planned.
when darkness came Little Coon
went to the top of the bluff and max
ing a moose on one end of the long
rope, he laid the circle at the edge
OF the rock, put the thong around
projecting point of stone, and lower
ed the end to the earth below, and
then went down 10 await the coming
Of Winona.
when he heard the death song
from the young squaws lips, he
grasped the rope firmly.
"Winona wound her shawl about
her breast and then put the moose
around her body under her arms, and
was ready for the leap.
"A wild cry rang out and Little
Coon, who was n very stout young
brave, held tightly and LET the little
squaw down.
AT the same time he pushed with
his foot large, round stone from its
resting place, and II went splashing
into the waters of Lake pepin. AS
soon as Winona touched the earth she
and her Chippewa lover ran to the
water where the canoe of Little Coon
was lying, and they padded away.
The long rope was taken with them.
They swept quickly up the smooth
surface of the pretty Pepin, and
when the lignt came they were hid
den In ticket where Little Coon had
left some food.
when the sun went down again
they hurried away from the big river
to the east, and when light came they
hid again. After long journey they
came to another river. and when this
was crossed they were in Canada.
Here they lived with new names, and
became friends of the whites and no
one knew the truth. The Dakotas
knew Winona was dead, and the
Chippewas thought Little Coon killed
at the hands of the enemies. have
heard the story many times"
"And did they ever return to the
Mississippi" | asked.
mo, they never went back to their
people, and their people never knew
they lived
"Whcre did Winona dwel?'
"The pretty squw and Little Coon