Middletown transcript., 1900-10-20


leys of musketry at the savages con
cealed among the rocks along tn,
river bank.
More than a dozen white men, o
those who had been engaged in col
lecting wood, lay dead along the
shore; and quite near at hand Elmer
saw the lifeless and mutilated body o.
his uncle.
The Indians, who had evidently JUS
reached the place, had crept upon tht
unsuspectlng men and shot then
down.
They had not seen the boy wander
ing through the underground on the
hillsides. The petrified feather hai
sent him on an eager search which
had carried him beyond the line Of
the Indian advance.
What to do he did not know. The
Sioux were between him and the boat
which had now headed down stream
The officer in command doubtless be
ieVed that all the white people upo1
the shore were dead, and did not deer
IL hiSC W IlSh GuC lIfCS VI OthC1 OAAAA-
ply for the recovery of the bodies.
Knowing he would be discovered il
he remained in that partially exposed
situation, and fearing to attempt tc
regain the steamer, Elmer crept soft.
ly into deep and dark hollow. Here
he arranged the bushes and vines sc
that they would thoroughly conceal
him, and in as natural manner as
possible.
His situation was truly desperate.
but amid his own terrors and mis-
cries he found time to drop many a
silent tear for the uncle who had been
so kind to him, and whom he had SO
much loved.
That untimely death seemed the
most dreadful of all. 1t had been so
sudden, so unexpected. In excellent
health and spirits only a few mo-
ments ago, and with a soul filed with
a deep love of nature; and now that
sensible, warm motion" gone, and
the generous heart stilled foreverl
The thought was agonizing, madden
ing.
The putting of the steamer grew
fainter and fainter, until it could no
longer be heard, and the trail OF
smoke gradually faded from the sky.
Then Elmer realized that he was
abandoned !. in the Indian country,
hundreds of miles from Yankton, and
with the intervening distance filled
with hostile savages.
The commander of the expedition.
alarmed by the unexpected and blood.
thirsty hostility of the Sioux, and In
Inundated by the loss of so many
brave men, had given up the con.
templated exploration and set out on
the return trip to Yankton.
Elmer remained in the hollow until
the stars came out in the sky, fearing
to stir before that time. Even then he
was not at all sure that his first move
ments would not be greeted by the
flashing of tomahawk.
Nothing came to his ears except the
audible silence" of the wilderness, the
hum OF insects and the low soughing OF
the wind through the trees.
He climbed the bluff and looked down
upon the river, with its dark fringe
of bushes.
Occasionally star CLEANED in its mir
rorlike bosom, and some night bird
called from the tree boughs.
Convinced that the Sioux had depart
ed, he crept down to the rivers brink
and drank deeply.
He had no means of satisfying his
hunger, and set off carefully down the
river, chewing upon some bark and
clutching the hatchet in his hand to be
ready for an emergency.
All night long he travelled on in this
way, and when morning came was so
faint and weak he could scarcely drag
his weary body to place of conceal
ment.
He was dropping into an unsatisfy-
ing sleep when he heard footsteps; and
a brown hand parted the bushes and
pair of dark eyes peered in at him.
He was startled and filled with fear;
but when the dark eyes lighted with
kindly smile his courage returned. No
man with murder in his heart could
smile like that.
''You be travel long way from home
and in a bad country!"
The words were spoken with a Pc
culiar accent impossible to convey in
print, and the owner of the dark and
kindly eyes stepped within the circle
of bushes.
Elmer saw before him an old man
with snow-white hair and a face
wrinkled and brown like parchment.
He was dressed in Indian fashion, and |
carried in his right hand a heavy
rife.
81 see trail go this way, that, and
1 foller um," continued the strange |
looking Individual Trail of little |
white boy, that walk long way and
tired. Sioux come bum-by and TEX |
little white boy scalp, mebbe. White |
men go up river on fire boat that |
scare game all out country. Sioux
ver' much mad. l sail hide pappoose |
trail"
Elmer was deliohted at hearing the
sound of a frie 'ly voice, though it |
must be confessed he did not fancy
being called p ppoose.
He was about to reply to the speech,
when the old MN plunged suddenly
through the bushes and disappeared.
He returned little later and in
formed Elmer that he had obliterated
the trail so the Sioux could not follow
it, should they chance to come across
it further up the river.
"What white boys name?" he ASKED
fishing some jerked meat out OF
pouch that hung at his side.
He handed the meat to Elmer, who
devoured it greedily, while he told his
name and how he came to be IN MS
present situation.
The old man listened with kindhng
eye.
"Good!" he replied. "Proteau know
father of white pappoose. Fatner
good man. Big chief at Yankton.
Buy peltry sometime. Always treat
well. We see bum-by what
can do"
'sOh, can you take me to my home