The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-04-28

from their feet, he bound them together
by putting a chain about their waists,
Speaking in Spanish he said to them in
hypocritical tones, with smirk on his
ugly face, as if he enjoyed the terror that
was undoubtedly depicted in their counte-
nances: You must go through the fire.
If you are good the flames will not burn
your hair, but if you are bad you will
perish. Be brave like a Yaaui and may
be the fire no burn white squaw. Sabie?"
The poor trembling captiyes did ''sa-
bic" only too well. for they saw hundreds
Of squaws and children coming from the
woods with bundles of fag2ts in their
arms. These were thrown in two rows
about two feet apart and piled four or
five feet high. The rows were about
forty yards long
A glance satisfied the prisoners of the
horrible intentions of the savages. and
| they saw that they were doomed to meet
| a horrible death. The merciless chief
had hardly ceased speaking when the two
rows of dry fagotS were lighted at diff
| ferent places and the flames leaped to-
wards the top
| Boca seized the trembling girl by the
arm and dragged her to her feet The
miserable wretch was laughing at her
terror when she burst forth as if in
spired by angels and. began to sing
| Home, Sweet Home"
The countenance of the red devil
changed at once. He released his hold
on her arm and stood gazing into the
sweet, pleading face Is if he were trans
! fixed.
Other Indians began to draw nearer,
and Alma sang she had never sang
| before. Nor did any other mortal ever
sing as she did," says Macarthur. ''The
voice that she possessed or that awful
night might have been envied by a Media
| or Patti It would insure her fortune
on any stage in the world"
"And l think you sang a little your
| self" says Miss Alma.
Yes, when I saw that the red devils
We're interested L tried to help and
beloved with all the power Of my lungs.
The old mandolin was within easy reach,
| and [ grasped it and thrust it into Alma's
! hands The Indians neglected our funeral
pyre and began to crowd over each other
/ to get closer to the music Some of the
squaws ran UP. and looked into Alma's
| mouth to see what produced the sweet
sounds. Old Beca looked frightened. He
dropped on his knees and gazed up into
| Alma inspired face as if he were charm
| ed beyond all power Of utterance or
movement. Alma sang every song that
she had ever heard in her life and then
sang them all over gain. never for a
moment neglecting the old mandolin
After she had sung for hours and orr
funeral pyre had burned to smoIderine
ashes suddenly there was a wild, weird
snrlek. ana When we turned our heads
pointing bony hand towards orr heads
and shouting tumble Of Yaoui words
| tnat must have possessed terrible mean
| ing, for the Indians fed In every direc-
| ton. hiding their eyes with their bandr
| Even Old Boca ran away The venerahie
oIa nl@n approached us with the deeI&st
ffe sE ana after taking the chain
| from our bodies he told us in Snsn;t
to sit down and let peace dwell in n,,r
| hearts He disappeared for a few MO
e noeGes ana upon returning he brought
| I'VE afterwards learned +bo+
| man who had saved our lives wss the
great medicine man of the tribe and
pIdess OF the SUM- He had told his Deo-
! pie Indt ne saw Yaqui god in the forno
OF e white. eagle circling about over 20 n, ~.
| peads, and he warned them that erI
d da1h zone to us would bring famine and
| oeath upon the whole tribe Sucb 49,
the power of this priest over the s,,ne1
stit1ous Yaquis that several of them told
US on the next day that they saw the
"C az eaSie PLAINLY with their own eyes -
one cannot listen to the strange store
as told III simple language by this rc,
harkapIy interesting young girl without
D Dg1ng moved veg to tears. It is doubtful
Whether Just such another scene wa
| ever witnessed by mortal ewes since ~
| human family learned to make vJar
Iull moon was above. in a cloudIess sky
the names OF the cackling fagots shot +,
long, red tongues among the branches of
the sWayinS pines, casting weird shadows
ever the earth, while the throng of red
r.
tives with unutterable emotions denictad
upon their faces. Tho aged priest with
his long, white locks streaming from he
! meath crown of plumeS SHAKING lie
| bony hand toward the amazed can3ixeS
and striking terror to the hearts of 10
savage sun worshipers by interp0sine tne
authority of the Yaqui gods between tbs
trembling human victims and tho alters
of fire, added feature to the horrjhle
reality well calculated to have moved
the emotions Of an artist
The prisoners. though greatly cemfor+ :
ed over the sudden change that had &C
CURED in their favor, were hardly abIa
to close their eyes, fearing that the In
dams might again be moved by their
savage natures when morning came. h If
when the sun rose they found that the
power of the priest still prevailed, Boca
sent to inquire about their health. and
after they had eaten little breakfast.
that was brought to them by the priest.
they were told that they might return to
their homes The chief furnished them
with Two ponies, and provided food for
| their Journey. 49,
~ could hardly realize that we were
at liberty" SAYS Miss Alma. and w&a
81 Owe rJoyeds that j did not Want to take
I time tossp.cl1 Jap q handful of gold mugs
J gets that Eugene discovered In q little