The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1900-11-29

leTn leaves.
These he thrust into his pockets;
and, anxious to obtain another feath-
err he wandered farther, carried away
by his enthusiasm and forgetful of
time.
Suddenly there was a crack of fire.
arms, followed by a series of blood
curdling yells. Elmer recognized the
yells as the terrible war cries of the
Sioux They were firing upon the
boat, and his heart sank as he re-
allied the extreme peril of his posi-
ton.
The slope above him was wooded
and well-covered with underbrush. He
hurried to the top of it. The little
steamer had swung out into the
stream, and was firing ineffective vol
leys of musketry at the savages con-
cealed among the rocks along the
river bank.
More than a dozen white men, of
those who had been engaged in col
Letting wood, lay dead along the
Shore and quite near at hand Elmer
saw the lifeless and mutilated body of
his uncle.
The Indians, who had evidently just
reached the place, had crept upon the
unsuspectIng men and shot them
down.
They had not seen the boy wander
ing through the underground on the
hillsides. The petrified feather had
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-
lieved that all the white people upon
the shore were dead. and did not deem
it wise to risk the lives of others SIM
ply for the recovery of the bodies.
knowing he would be discovered if
he remained in that partially exposed
situation, and fearing to attempt to
regain the steamer, Elmer crept soft
ly into deep and dark hollow. Here
he arranged the bushes and vines so
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
I i FL r al l,,,l
sudden. so unexpected In excellent
health and spirits only 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 forever!
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.
THEW Elmer realized that he was
abandoned in the Indian country.
hundreds Of miles from Nankton, and
with the intervening distance filed
with hostile sayages.
The commander of the expedition,
alarmed by the unexpected and blood
thirsty hostility Of the Sioux, and i'm
undated by the loss of so many
brave men, had given UP the con-
templated exploration and set out on
the return trip to Nankton.
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
Jlashing of a 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 ms dark fringe
of bushes.
Occasionally a star cleaned in its mir
roriike 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
cmtching the Ratchet in his hand to be
ready for an emergency.
All night long ne Travelled on in this
way, end 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 a
kindly smile his courage returned. No
nan 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
pf buShpC