Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-01-18

greatly struck by the scene and was look
ing wonderingly at it, when she felt
touch on her shoulder, and on. looking
round saw the Fawn gazed pityingly at
her, and at the same time signing to her
| to come in.
| The truth at once flashed across Ethels
mind. The council had met to decide her
| fate, and she did not doubt for moment
what that decision would be. She felt
| that all hope was over, and retiring into
the hut passed the time in prayer and
in preparation for the fearful ordeal
| which was at hand.
After the council had met there was a
pause of expectation, and the Stag then
rose.
'My brothers, my heart is very glad
| The Great Spirit has ceased to frown up
on his children. Twice we went out, and
twice returned empty handed, while many
of our lodges were empty. The guns
which shoot without loading were too
strong for us, and we returned sorrowful
Last year we did not go out; the hearts
of our braves were heavy. This year we
said perhaps the Great Spirit will no
| longer be angry with his children, and
we went out. This time we have not re-
turned empty handed. The lowing of
cattle is in my ear, and | see many sheep.
The white men have felt the strength Of
our arms; and of the young men who
went out with me there is not one miss
ing. Best of all, we have brought back
a captive, the daughter of the white chief
of the flying guns which load themselves.
Let me hand her over to our women;
they will know how to make Her cry;
and we will send her head to the white
chief, to show that his guns cannot reach
to the Indian country. Have | spoken
well?'
A murmur of assent followed the
chiefs speech; and supposing that no
more would be said upon the matter, the
Stag was about to declare the council
closed, when an Indian sitting in the in
ner circle rose.
my brothers, l will tell you story.
The birds once went out to attack the
nest of an eagle, but the eagle was too
strong for them; and when all had gone
he went out from his nest with his chill
| dren, the young eagles, and he found the
raven and two other birds hurt and I'M
able to fly, and instead of killing them,
as they might have done, the eagles took
them up to their nest and nursed them
and tended them until they were able to
| fly, and then sent them home to their
other birds. SO was it with Tawaina and
his two friends" And the speaker indi-
Gated with his arm two Indians sitting
at the outer edge of the circle ''Tawaina
fell at the fence where so many of us fell,
and in the morning the white men took
him and gave him water and placed him
in shelter and bandaged his wound; and
the little White Bird and her sister
brought him food and cool drinks every
day and looked pitifully at him. But
| Tawaina said to himself: The white men
are only curing Tawaina that when the
time comes they may see how an Indian
can die. But when he was we'll they
brought horses and put a bow and arrows
into our hands and babe us go free. 1t is
only in the battle that the great white
chief is terrible. He has a great heart
The enemies he killed he did not triumph
over. He laid them in a great grave.
He honored them, and planted trees with
! dropping leaves at their head and at their
! feet, and put a fence round that the
foxes might not touch their bones. Shall
the Indian be less generous than the
white man? Even those taken in battle
they spared and sent home Shall we
kill the White Bird captured in her nest?
My brothers will not do so. They will
send back the White Bird to the great
white chief. Have l spoken well?"
This time a confused murmur ran round
the circle. Some of the younger men were
struck with this appeal to their gener-
osity, and were in favor of Tawaina's
propositions; the elder and more ferocious
Indians were altogether opposed to it.
Speaker succeeded speaker, some urg-
| ing one side of the question, some the
other.
| At last the Stag again rose. "My broth
| ers," he said, my ears have heard
| strange words and my spirit is troubled
| Tawaina has told us of the ways of the
whites after a battle; but the Indians
ways are not as the whites ways, and
the Stag is too old to learn new fashions.
He looks round, he sees many lodges emp
ty, he sees many women who have no
husbands to hunt game, he hears the
voices of children who cry for meat. He
remembers his brothers who fell before
the flying fire and the guns which loaded
themselves, and his eyes are full of blood.
L
! wigwams desolate; let there be mourning
in the house of the white chief. Have |
spoken welI?"
The acclamations which followed this
| speech were so loud and general that the
party of Tawaina was silenced and the
council at once broke up. A cry of exul-
tation broke from the women when they
heard the decision. An hour later Ethel
knew that she was condemned to die
CHAPTER XVI.
In spite of their utmost efforts Mr..
Hardy's party had made slower progress
than they had anticipated. Many of the
horses had broken down under fatigue;
and as they had no spare horses to re-
place them as the Indians had in like case
done from those they had driven off
I