The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-11-14

"white man no shootm he shouted.
"AIe him friend! 80 stop; Injun no /
kotch umw
The white man took q good look /
This-yes. this was the same young /
brave ne had spared and nursed. Real /
izlng that Griffin graaped the meaning |
of the words, and instantly he faced I
about and made for ihe woods again
"Whlte man saved lnluu, now Injun
save white man." the savage called
as soon as The trees and bush hid them
from sight white man hide UNI,
heap quick. Injun run by; no kctch
um. Blmeby dark, white man run off,
Griffin shaped his course for the near
est clump of bush, and put his last
atom Of strength into a leap that land
ed him fair I'm its centre. He spread
himself aat and chung close 10 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 Siuox should pounce on top
Of him.
But the Indians tore on into the for
est, ana after him went the others
They passed so near the place where
Griffin lay that they might have heard
his hard breathing had they not been
running so fast and yelling so Justify.
But a fat old fellow who brought up
the rear gave over the chase at the
edge Of the forest. He leaned against
a tree not twenty feet from Grifin's
bush, evidently intending to wait until
the others came back with the white
mans scalp.
The young braves kept up the search
until after dark. All that time the old
fellow fingered by his tree, and Griffin
dared not even stretch for fear of
being heard.
He hardly knew what action to take.
1t seemed that the young brave had
meant him to get away as soon as the
crowd passed; and it would be easy
enough to 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 upon the
young man. And Griffin knew that if
the Indians discovered the trick that
had been played upon them they would
kill the perpetrator.
81 won't do itr' said Griffin to him
self. mot if lose my scalp for it."
BY the time the band returned from
the fruitless chase the trapper had got
his breath He wasted none of it, we
may be certain, in the course of the
impromptu council that the Indian:
held before they left the timber. Prob
ably the talk lasted less than five min
utes. But that seems a long time t
a man who feels enemies crowd AROUND
his hiding-place and breads that an!
instant they may fairly fall over him.
But finally they did leave, and Griftil
crept out of the bush and fetched
! wide circuit to reach his camp. II
did not feel any appetite for suppe
. just then. What he would do and die
was to load his belongings into hi
canoe and, heading down stream, put
u wide stretch Of river between himscl
u and the redskins.
+ Griffin never saw or heard OF tn
Il young Sioux again; but the trappe
/ had a better opinion of the tribe an
the race from that time forward
l. "Sure enough" he used to say, whe
. he told the story, 'most Of 'em are baC
L and others of 'em are worse; but tie
you, boys, sure enough, some Injur
II are folksw-Youth's Companion.