The Washington times., 1901-09-08
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The vision possessed him, and ne ilreu tne
bullet in the way he had planned.
At the moment when he pulled the trig-
ger. however. Jerry instinctively pushed
the rife away. and only the end of toe
was cut OFF by the ball. 1t was not a
dangerous wound, and he did not faint as
he walked to the cabin There were no
complications-the girl was the only doc
tor employed. SheSshowed her devotion to
the dreamer Jerry, while his foot was get
ting well. by telling him the old Shawnee
legends Of the invention of the gun, ages
ago. and why IL had then been destroyed.
She uncomplainingiy took the white mans
share of the winters work, until. in the
early spring, 1t was no longer possible for
him even to pretend disability.
Painting Bears cabin was on the bank
of small creek, hidden by growth of
hickory and cottonwood trees. In the
spring, along the marshy land which
skirted the twisting creek bed wild onions
grew in abundance. Every springtime,
since she could follow silently at her
mothers heels. Dory had gone down to
| these marshes to gather the tender shoots
for food She had burned her fingers as
| a child, trying to initiate her mothers S
method of preparing the onions. and when
the old woman died Dory had learned how
| Painting Bear.
Il will go with you today. and help you
with the gathering" Jerry announced to
his wife one day when she set out for
/ the creek bank Dory raised her eyes.
showing mild surprise at the white
mans energy.
Yes? And we will take another buck
| ct. White Hawks wife cannot go out
| now. on the other edge of the marsh the
! biggest onions grow and We VIII go
| there" The two walked for a time in 81
! lence
"Dory," began Jerry. at last. speaking
| in the native tongue, and glancing at the
| girl apprenensively. Il have not done very
well sinoe-since you married me. have
| IT, His wife did not reply. Il suppose
you don't know how low a fellow can get
in the world before the Great Spirit puts
| him out of the way. I'm lazy. l know it.
and / won't do honest work. i m drunk
whenever whisky comes in my way. m
| dog. and eat with the dogs when the
devilish spirit of liquor gets into me. Il
beat YOU when I'm drunk. and I'm not fit
TO carry water from the spring for you.
Is that so. Dory? Is it?" The white man
had grown excited, and his appeal, call
ing so strongly for denial, brought the
girl face to face with him.
You are right she said, briefly, but
/ do not care You are drunk, but you
get sober. You beat me- do not feel 1t
the day after. You are-are to me, just
boy. jerry Just jerry" She put her
hand on his shoulder. and her eyes were
bright Come" she added, taking his
hand. I'VE must get the onions" All that
day Jerry whistled at the chopping that
had been waiting for him. and a boys
spirit showed in his eyes. He stopped his
AK in midair once to watch a jay swoop
from a treetop to a limb nearby. He
laughed as he tried to initiate the birds
harsh call. and threw fragment of chip
at it, chuckling as it flew away. scolding.
Funny devils, them birds!' observed
the white man, as he resumed his chop
ping.
Jerry was weak wilIed. His new indus
try lasted less than a week. and the re-
lapse was complete. Painting Bear. in
moment of angry impatience, told Jerry
that if the food for the family depended
upon the white mans efforts there would
be no bacon from one years end to an
other, and no more cornmeal than the
women could make from stolen corn. Jer-
ry did not reply to these remarks openly,
but went gut to the woods muttering to
himself.
q can do somethin'. an 1 will do it, TO
show the oil cuss. Reckon amt goin' to
be so helpless as all thati" And he stole
a cow-pony belonging to a white ranch
owner, Jimmy Thompson, whose range
was only a few miles from the cabin of
Painting Bear.
The pony was worth SIS to the ranch
man, but Jerry sold il to a trader for SIS.
When the trader tried to sell the pony
4. I.r.z 20 nF riff,1
sons cowboys he was asked to explain
his possession of it. 1t was not difficult
to trace the crime to Jerry's door; a new
dress of flaming red for Dory and un-
accustomed jingling of coin in the thief's
pocket made serious detective work un-
necessary. The ranchman swore half
incredulous oath when his puucher ex-
planned the theft. The boldnesS and
apparent unconcern of the man puzzled
him. and he followed up the evidence
himself, to be sure Of the criminal. He
found no complications-the pony was his
own. and had been taken from the range
by Jerry and sold to the trader, and the
trader, being new to the country and not
knowing the brand, had tried to sell the
pony to the wrong man.
News gets about among full-bloods in
credibly fast; to one who does not under
an apparently stupid exterior. the rapid
exchange of information seems almost su-
pernatural The little Indian chore boy
who went about Jimmy Thompson's
ranch in a sleepy, uLinteligent way
caught a few words from the mutterings
of his boss, and went to tell Dory- Dory
had been good to the little waif, and then
she was of his people. In some way the
boy felt that she would be sorry to have
Jerry locked up where he would, he had
been told, be set on the top of a rock pile
and made TO pound stones with heavy
hammer all day long.
II Jerry had not possessed a streak of
stubbornness. mixed with just little of
the heroic, he could have made his way
across the Kansas line. thirty miles away,
before the authorities started after him.
for his wife urged him to do SO as soon
as She heard from the boy that Jerry had
turned thief. well. stole the horse. an
I'd steal ii again. I won't run away.
There is nothing so bad about stealing a
miserable little pony. and If they want to
lock me up fer il, II not get out Of their
way. A pony Is not much-ffteen dollars.
and the money is all spent. What would
! do in Kansas? / don't want to go up
there. I wouldn't like the people"
But you've got to go.' Dory declared |
THE law is plain. White men have been
hanged for horse-stealing. but they don't
do that now. They do nearly as bad now
make you stay up there for years, crack |
ing stone all the time. And bread and
water. with your head shaved and strip
ed shirts, Nobody can see you; they'll |