The National tribune., 1902-10-09

was seen tndt tHe runner ufO not seek rest
The captives themselves, feeling tina,
something Of hncs,nmon influence upon
their captors had happened. failed to
fall asleep for isonie time. end then theiI
rest was broker BY by'trou5led dreams.
In the midst OK thesc they were awak
ened by disturbance among their enc
mics. and started MP TO find that prepara
tons were being made at that early houI
TO resume their journey. The dawn was
barely breaking. In the east when the fire
was cxtinguishtd and the cbarred embers
carefully covered With leaves, practice
they invariably followed after this. Por-
tiOns of meal and meat were given the
captives to eat. and the ligatures removed
from their lower limbs. they were tod tC
take up the march.
Their course was now up Il lonely stream
oyerhung by moss-fringed bushes and reek.
ing vines. with bed Strewn with small
stones and powders. where it seemed that
no human being had ever passed before,
though this had been q main way of trav-
ci for the Indians for hundreds of years,
n primeval highway, rs it were, from the
hunting grounds Of the North TO the fish
ing waters Of the South. Yet in the
many passages made By them during the
long period Of time not a bush OF low
hanging branch of tree. that kept the
passer-by continually dodging to escape a
thrust in the face, had been broken away.
or one of the many stones that made diff
6cuft the passage had been removed.
The head Of this mountain stream prov
ed to be a small sheet Of water scarcely
larger than ones hand, and known to the
red men as Deer Lake" They stopped
here long enough to kill doe. after which
they divided such burdens as they had
among themselves. and n couple of the
warriors taking the canoe on their shOul-
ders. the passage was continued on foot,
until the fountain head Of another stream.
running westward and into the valley OF
the Connecticut was reached Their ad-
| vance was now easier and more rapid.
| The runner had parted with them at the
highland lake, and the following night they
biv0uaeked Mt what was seen to be by
the captives as an old camping ground.
This they gave the name Of Moose Mea-
dows." Much of the journey, still by wa
ter, made the following days was UP tke
rying places having to be passed. AT a
place called by them Cooash-auke, or
| place Of the pines," another stop was
made.
The morning following their arrival
here the first sound that greeted the ears
| of the captiyes was q clear, ringing note
from some wildbird, as they judged. The
| had this awakening note died away than
| their leader answered it in the same key,
after which the entire party seemed to
be waiting in calm expectancy the coming
| of some one. This "some one proved to
have two companions, for inside of five
| minutes three Indian braves in war-paint
and feathers, stepped silently into the
presence Of the campers; One of this trio,
| the foremost, possessed such striking
| figure and lordly bearing that he immedi-
ately attracted the attention Of the Won
dering captiveS. 80
He appeared toibe about 20 years old,
though later events proved that he was
| three or four years younger than that.
But as yOungifas he was, he showed that
he was chief Of influence, and with all
the lofty hauteureof that proud race of
chieftains, the An1eriscOggins. His form
was as straight as an arrow, and his fea-
lures were extremely regular in contour,
while his skim was, lighter in hue than the
warriors around him. This may have
been due to the fact that he was of nobler
blood; but, be that as it may, his c0un-
tenance looked more like that of a white
youth than an Indian. This popularity,
with the uncfyilized in feature could be
called by this term, was strengthened by
the fact that his eyes were Of deep blue,
though burningtwith an intensity of ex-
preston any savage might envy.
From the snow-white crest of swan
feathers that surmounted his shapely head
to the frills Of porcupine quills that or
namented his moccasins his garb was In
dian, while he spoke entirely the language
Of that race, with an accent and infection
of voice that many of those who tried to
speak English at times had lost. Posi-
bly, noticing that he was an object Of scru
tiny on the part Of the captives, he bent
q close gaze upon them, as he addressed
the leader Of the captors, and several
1 Iofn hn yyyac To ha f1rtI nIyy
watching them, custom not usual with
an Indian.
From what they could understand of
the consultation which followed his COM
ing, they OWNED that the new arrivals
had come directly from the Indian settle
nent in the Province Of New France,
whittier they were being taken. At the
close Of this discussion four Of the orig
inal party started to retrace the course
they had just come, while the three Joined
the remaining trio on the journey up the
river.
The young chief, whose name proved to
be Merru- Maqua, meaning "Swift Bear"
now became the commander of the little
party, and though be treated the captiyes
with as much courtesy as they had pre-
viously received, he did not accord them
so many privileges When at night they
lay down to rest, tied hands and feet, no
leaves were strewn for their cOuches, and
they were generally placed apart so they
could not converse with each other. They
felt this the most Of anything, as the low
spoken interviews which they had been
allowed had lightened an hour that other
wise would have hung heavily on their
minds.
II deprived of these opportunities to ex-
change sympathy, it soon proved that 9th
cr thoughts had entered in the mind of
Mrs. Craig, for on the third night after
the coming of Swift Bear, Mary ShepIey
was surprised at feeling hand laid light
y on her shoulder, and a well-knOwn
voice whispered into her ear to be silent.
Il have freed myself" said her fellow
captive, "and I'm goin' to gang my way
this night. 1t Gamma be any worse"
At first Mary could not credit her own
sense, but slowly she came to realize that
it was no dream. There was the stout
hearted Scotch woman working industri-
Ously at the deer thongs binding her limbs
until they had seemed nearly paraiyzed,
and she remained perfectly quiet 1t must
have taken the other nearly half an hour
to accomplish her task, but it was done
at last; and she found that she was free.
Then she recalled that there was that
grim circle Of savage sleepers around
them, and that 1t was small likelihood that
they could escape them. She was in ia
vor Of silently slipping away in the dark
ness Of the night. and leave them unmo-
Tested, but Mrs. Craig would not listen to
this. '-'s'
I'VE must kill 'em!" she whispered. her
heart fired to frenzy by the wrongs she
had suffered h ,si{f We 6on't thov,II PolIar