Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1899-01-06
4 TRAPPEERR:S STORY

1 This is the story the trapper told:
We were On TIE Yellowstone trapping
beaver Only one thing we feared-In-
gins
One morning woke up on the sick list
with the headache, and feeling kinder bad
other ways ~a-
The boys said the best thing l could do
was to lay by, SO they went off wi>Aout
me, saying they would be back by dark.
lay in my bunk for an hour. or two
after they were gone, and couldn' t help
thinking how lonesome it was and what
should do If the redskins should happen
to pounce down upon me-
The sun was shining outside and il
looked warm and pleasant there, SO I
went out and lay down Oh the ground to
sun ny,s:f
l don't know how long / Law there
watching the clouds AS they sailed above
the tree tops, but by and by l felt kinder
drowsy, and afore knew it l was fee
asleep.
How long it WAS that I slept l dom
know. It might have been all hour, and
it n light not have been 50 long Anyway,
it was long enough fer me to dream a
dream that made my hair stand on end.
Thought that the redskins had captured
me and were about to roast NE alive
Every thing was ready. Twas tied to a
stake and the fuel :caped about me
A rcdskin came forward with a torch
and was about 70 Light the lille Upon
this the NA:mints s;.ve shout which
seemed to wake NE W
rubbed! Ivy eyes ana looked about me-
and it Was AIS :naeh i,af a minute te-
fore could seem t. remember where was
# I i y - l,+ \
OF my feat when | caught sight OF a red
skin right afore NE. among the trees.
l knew in Il ';inu'e by his actions
that ho meant mischief and that had
got 20 look oUt lc. my hair if / wanted to
keep it on my head.
l don't know how it seems to you, mis-
ter, but could not help thinking that
something had walked me up jest in time
to give ne q chance for my lie
The re.!skin dougetl ahind a tree. and at
the very moment an arrow went whjzzing
past my head, 80 close that it seemed as
Though it ha!: Srazoa the skin
1t did not come from the direction of
the 1ngin l tad seen, so knew that I
hiatt at least TWO Of en- to attend to-
My rifle WAS standing inside the hut,
Which WAS soMe 20 faces away, and T
knew that my hest hold was to get under
cover and that into my hands again.
Isprang on 10 my feet like /. cat and
made for the door, but kinder hauled Up
bc1oio l went inside, Tor what Shuulo
SEC there ')u: tha Tack Of Il rcdskin, luck
ing ever E.y pile OF furs, which lay in enc
corner.
Most likely no belonged to the party,
but had gone in without seeing me where
l laid.
Here was fix The redskins all about
ME, let he trrn where I would
diuIl h*yc muIh time ~ make up
my 7',ind in. Thrro WI. II t but one chance
to sac our tl!rS and my life
That WIS., t?::.t Stt hold ca MY rifle
And this must Go wilhcur the savage in
Eiue s.'tihg nc, SO ii r." dit, he had me- so
that there was no chance | was close to
the door i>e1olu saw him, and ROW crept
along aS softly rs il cat, expecting every
minuto to have Il bullet AN arrow plant
cd in my back Ny foot was inside, and,
reaching out my hand, l grasped my rifle
Jest a. the savage turned and saw me In
a moment his hand was upon his tony
hawk, and the ncxt instant the ugly weap-
on was flying through the air in the direc-
ton CT my bead TO this day believe
do'lgc,! it, though how it was done don't
know
The next moment l had dubbed my
rifle and aimed a blow for his skull
Hc wasn't 80 lucky us l was for the
blow LIT him f;:i-, and he went down like
u log At that moment there was yell
Outside and he same instant l felt I; blow
and a sting on my leg, which almost threw
me over. Quick as thought / had the ar
row by the shaft, and with jerk of my
hand drew it out and threw it one side.
Then caught hold on the door and tried to
swing it to; but before I could do so, a
redskin thrust his head and shoulders in
so AS to stop me In an instant brought
my rifle to my shoulder and pulled the
trigger. The muzzle Was SO close to the
face of the rcdskin that it blackcned his
countcnancc, so that he looked like kon-
go as he fell back outside the hut
His feet still lay in the doorway, and
had just time to push them out and pull
the door to when the rest Of the savages
with n howl sprang forward to get in.
They were just moment too late, for
in a twinkling fastened the door in such
way that knew they could not break it
down in hurry.
The wound in my leg was singing like
the bite Of serpent, but had no time to
attend to that. Il was my life now that
was trying to sHve.
The redskins gave howl of rage when
thsy found that had proved too much for
them, even though they had caught me
mapping; and for an hour they done the
best they could to get into the hut,
But we had built it with an eyb to the
purpose Of keeping them out while We
staid there, and it answered its purpose
we'll.
loaded up my rife and from = erevice
in the wall got another shot at them,
which laid out one more Of them as hand
somely as the others.
After this they got kind Of shy of stay
ing about, and it want long before they
took themselves of altogether.
When the boys came home at dark they
were kinder surprised at finding me nurs-
ing my leg instead Of my head, and at
seeing the dead savages lying about so
plenty.
Twas lame for more than a month and
had to keep close to the hut; but the boys
were fair with me. They shared their
furs with me, as they declared they ought
to in return for my saving those which
they had on hand.-New York News