Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-21
Red Hawk
BY IZoLA L. FORESTER

,'Pete's Kid" and had been ever since the
day be had been found on the front stoop
Of the store. with Bones beside him. A cub
shoshone. as Pete said, thin. ugly. dirty.
and a yellow cur pup, ugly, skinny and
half-starved. Both sad-eyed and indifer-
snt, both used to kicks and curses. but all
the world to each other.
Pete adopted both in the eyes Of the
fort, at least they had full permission to
sleep under his front stoop and take what
ever scraps Of food French Louis. the cook.
chose 10 toss to them from the kitchen
door. II was not a pleasant course OF
ciytlisinR for either, but they accepted It
az one OF fate's little ways and grew and
thrived and were recognized as permanent
fixtures at the fort.
When Jack Ellis came over the range
ten years later and told stories on Pete's
front stoop one summer night, the Hawk
and Bones stood over near the door, among
the shadows. and the following morning
Sbsa Ellis took the road again he had two
bnsought comrades.
He had come up from below the lakes,
he told the men at Rawsons, from some
where down In Indiana. Business1 Moth
ing special. Just drifting. wouldn't mind
striking something good II 1t came his way.
People7 None Of his own exactly. Tiers
had been a girl.
Rawsons held it's peace and smoked in
silence over the hesitation. There had
been so many girls.
"GoinG over the line7" Pete asked
finally.
Maybe. Doing to hunt something or
other"
The following morning when they had
passed the fort and were out on the clear
stretch Of prairie, Ellis looked his COM
panions over quietly. speculatively, stand
ing knee-deep in tall, yellow prairie grass
that bowed lasily in waves and rippi0
Is the breeze brushed by. The Hawk stood
motionless, taking the survey as a mat
ter OF course. Bones sat down and snapped
IDLY at q bee on a yellow daisy.
"shoshone or RApahoe?" asked Ellis.
~Don't know. Little French, little Can
muck. Mother all full-blooded Shoshone.
where did you come from before
Pete'sf"
"Kioked out tepee village. Bones and
me"
"whyT'
"Bones steal rabbit. Jim Bad Eye throw
Bones in fire."
The boy paused with closed lips and
eyes tha looked far away over the Big
Horn.
"Jim planted over yonder somewhere. ]
threw knife at him"
Ellis drew a long. deep breath.
Come on, kid" he said shortly. You're
all right"
30 the three passed on. erifted, as the
leader said. UP over the Canadian liue,
through the wilderness northwsrd, taking
their time, hunting only enough to supply
food.
"It don't pay to shoot things just to see
them de- Ellis said. II don't like the
look Of dsad eyes when I've done the kill
ing
There was little conversation between
the two. They would sit together at night
hour after hour beside a campfire, Ellis
lying on a heap Of pine boughs, smoking
modify; the Hawk, a lean, gaunt. half
clad young animal, sitting In the glow oil
the flames. with Bones stretched peace
fully at his feet, snoring r~estfully until a
kpark from a rosined knot would make him
start and growl s~ieepily. Al midnight Ellis
would look at his watch. 1t was not q
handsome one. Merely an old silver-plated
open face, but in the back case there was
a picture Of q girl laughing. One night the
two had been sitting thus for hours. Al
At once Ellis handed the watch to the boy
That's her." he said. The Hawk looked
at II long and dispassionately.
"Got yellow hair?" he asked, as hi
handed 1t back.
'"You bet she has. kid" replied Ellis
~ der his breath. soft, warm, yellow. like
~ESalrie grass in August"
at saw a woman shot in Rawsons," said
the boy after a pause, as he pushed Bones
heaT way from the FIRE with his foot
yellow hair"
Ellis was silent. He never showed thu
picture again, but he always felt that tn
Hawk knew his weak point and respected
him accordingly.
When they reached Forty Mile creel
Il was on outpost OF the world. an ode
corner Of earth where the last OF tn
old miners made a nnal stand against tn
onrusn Of civilization. II was a pleasan
corner and they rested there. Then on
day someone happened to n the root o
all evil lying around loose In the ever
lasting hills, and In q month all the worl'
below vas shouting Klondike.
Ellis built his shack near the nrst trencl
that was sunk.
Wen get in on the ground floor. kid,
he said, grimly. 'Lowrie sold out for M
teen thousand yesterday what can't b
bought for q half q million next week. An
there's a girl down In Indiana"
While he worked and fought and planne
down in the trenchss that were slashed lk
great wounds In the breast Of the mountat
the Hawk and Bones remained In the shac
cooking and caring for everything and wor
shipping as master the tall, deep-cheste
boy from Indiana.
TITS up TO a quarter. KID" he would ga
~ night. when It's . million straight We
60 out"
Two men csme up the river from 81
Michaels one day. One had been sick a.
the way. They buried him decently and di
vtded his pack. In two weeks Dawson hA
smallpox and the other stranger took
tumble in front OF Ellis shack. He was
clean. well-bred looking fellow and ELL
liked him. The Hawk and he gave battle {
death. and one day the stranger was sittin
.p outside the shack and all was we'll. Tn
mountains were anAme with red and golt
and an amethyst base hung around the rive
distances.
"It's awfuily pretty up here" the strange
said dneamily.
Bet your life II IT," responded ELI
warmly. ''wrap that blanket round yo'
though You don't want the damp eurlin