The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-10-11
n Jliiou.r' 5 =
= Gratitude.

at least that was what he called
the act when he thought Of it att
" all for a long time afterward Two
young Sioux braves having attack
ed him, Thad had killed one and wounded
the other. But he took the wounded man
TO his cabin. dressed the wound nursedl
the indian back to health, and then re-
stored his gun and canoe, and told him
to go home to his own people. =
But the Indian did not lead scalping
Griffin had half-expected he Would.
Nothing. more was heard of him. Three
years after, when Griffin left Fort Shell
ing at the end of September. and started
up the 6yer to begin
his mind. He padded to the head waters
Of the Ponne de Terre, and camped a
few days in a little thicket of scrub-oak.
while he looked around to see what the
prospect was for furs-and for Indians.
/ He had kept his eyes open all the way
up-river, for the Sioux were reported to
be on the warpath. This, however, was
they would be likely to travel in big
bands, and with care he might the easier
avoid them.
no traces of Indians in this region Of.
by belt of heavy timber. So one day
Griffin set out with his gun, to try, for
noon was almost over he found a good
sized buck, and presently started for
G S%I p vi With the hide and saddle slunE to
Clear sky and bracing atmosphere and
the promise OF a successful season made
the blood fairly bound through the trap
per's veins, and he STROBE along feeling
as though he would like to sing. Indians
were far from his thoughts just then
The greater was his dismay when, just
as he had reached the top of low ridge
camp, he saw a band Of forty Sioux COM
ing up on the other side.
Griffin had had many a fuss with
these same Indians, and he recognized
that wintered in the Ottertail woods,
away off at the northeast Evidently
they had been out on the Dakota prairies
for big buffalo hunt. for they were
on foot and leading their ponies, which
were loaded with hides and dried meats.
Flat In the grass dropped Griffin, but
not soon enough to escape the sharp eyes
they 1eft the ponies to iooR OUT Who1 for
themselves, and came on in a body,
while Griffin slipped the venison from
pace toward the belt of timber.
The Indians were not more than two
hundred yards away when Griffin sighted
them - put a; in running he had the adyan-
most doubled the distance when they
reached the top Of the ridge and began to
shoot at him. None of the bullets hap
pened to hit the moving target.
Griffin glanced over his shoulder. AS
he expected, a dozen of the swiftest run
ners had thrown off their blankets, and.
l knives ~ .sd in hand, were approaching at
must cling to a tweleve-pound gun. But
the trapper had been in worse places
than this: and he felt that if he could
once get into the woods, with night fall
ing, he could dodge the Indians.
He was still a half-mile from the tim
Der when he looked back once more One
OF the braves was now far in advance of
tic
gaining, and Griffin began to fear that he
might lose the race, tired as he was from
he Garfield TrS ana handicapped by the weight
That foremost Indian must die! Griffin
slackened his pace trife, that he might
get MS breath before trying to take aim.
speed.
When Griffin was close to the timber the
leading Indian had come so near that the
trapper could near the patter Of his foot
steps Thinking it must be now or never,
the trapper wheeled and was about to
pull trigger when his adversary made a
movement that caused Griffin to hest
tate from sheer surprise. The Indian
waved him toward the woods.
White man no ShOOt!' he shouted. me
him J., friend! No stop; Injun no ketch
F. The white man took a good look This
YES, this was the same young brave he
had spared and nursed! Realizing that,
Griffin grasped the meaning of the words,
and instantly he faced about and made
for the woods again. .
White man saved Injun, now Injun
save white man. the savage called as
soon as the trees and bush hid him from
sight: White man hid UNI, heap quick
ln1un run by;~ no ketch UNI. Blmeby
dark. white man run off. -,--.- 80,
Griffin shaped his course for the nearest
clump of bush, and put his last atom Of
Strn en- into Leap that LANDED Inn faT
clung close to the ground. Yelling like
mad, to lead his mates away, the young
Sioux kept on into the woods.
1t was so contrary to the trapper's
training to trust an Indian that his first
movement was to Slip out his knife. He
meant to be prepared in case the Sioux
should pounce on top ofrhim. @
But the Indian tore on into the forest,
and after him went the others. They
PASSED so near the place where Griffin lay
that they might, have heard his hard
fast and yelling SO Justify.
But fat old fellow who brought up the
rear gave over the chase at the edge of
the rorest. He leaned against a tree not
twenty feet from Griffins bush, evidently
intending to wait until the others came
oa 1r, with the white mans scalp.
until after dark. All that time the old
fellow fingered by his tree, and Griffin
heard - - >>.-9
He hardly knew what. action to take II
seemed that the young brave had meant
MIN to get away as soon as the crowd
passed; and it would be easy enough tos
shoot the old Indian, and then make his
escape In the darkness
But the trapper finally decided that the
right thing to do was to lie still. The old
fellow might be his friends father for all
he knew. To kill him there might throw
SUSPICION SUI upon the young man. And Grif-
nm knew that If the Indians discovered
the trick that had been played upon them,
they would Eill the perpetrator
y won't do IT." said Griffin to himself.
Not II i lose my scalp for it,
fruit1ess chase the trapper had got his
breath. He wasted none of it, we may be
certain, in the course of the impromptu I,
council that the Indians held before they
left the timber. Probably the talk last ed
less than five minutes But that seems a
long time to man who feels enemies
crowd around his hiding place and breads
that at any instant they may fairly fall
over him.
4 But finally they did leave. and Griffin
crept out of the bush and fetched wide
circuit to reach his camp. He did not feel
any appetite for supper just then. What
ne wanted to do, and did, was to load his
between himself and the redskins.
= Griffin never saw or heard of the young
Sioux again: but tie tranDer had a better
opinion of the tribe and the race from
that time forward.
Sure enough. he used to say, when he
tod the story. most of sem are bad. and
others of EN- are worse: but I tell you
BOYS, sure enoDgb some Injuns are folks!''
~ ounths Companion
A Phonet1c similarity.
:. SO y you qua are i gdng to take your airshiD
Il am. :, answefed the aeronaut.