Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-29
FOUR LITTLE INDIANS
Or, How Carroll "Got Even"
BY ELLA MARY COATES.
Copyright. 1902. by Henry t. Coates Coz
CHAPTER XII.

SAA1AA Il SAS ALL.
At the creek the procession halted and its
members came back to realization OF
what they were doing
The collins of the dead warriors were laid
carefully upon the structure which was
waiting to receive them, and the nuts were
scattered at even distances all around.
Don't we bury them at all. ever?" asked
Peggy in an awed whisper of Bob. She did
| not dare address Billy or Carroll Bob was
more on her level on this solemn occasion.
Dont Know Guess not" was Bob's
blunt reply, also in whisper.
Now" said Carroll, when all was prop
erly arranged, we must have the Dance of
| the Dead"
What on earth is the Dance of the
Dead?' asked Peggy. 1t sounded very
gruesome.
why, it's when they bury an Indian.
They all dance around the grave and sing"
/ On that's easy; come on" Anything
That made noise delighted Peggy's soul
So she danced the Death Dance with a will
Very queer they looked as they jumped
and hoped and skipped and twrled and
Whirled, shrieking and moaning and groan-
ing, all around, those poor little ground
| hackees who could not hear a sound of all
the racket
Peggy kept up some sort of a mournful
| wailing in very high key. varied every
now and then by sudden groans away down
| in her boots. Billy and Carroll shr,cked
/ ana hoWled and gave vent to what they
fondly believed to be very good limitations
OF real Indian warwhoops. Bob. as soon
as ne saw that very little in the way of
| regular singing was required of him. elped
along the noise famouSly.
Really the din was something father in
describable. No wonder it attrac ted the at
tention of shabby-looking individual who
was lying underneath a tree not far Off He
| was very disreputable man indeed. His
face bore evidence of too great fondness
for the whisky jug. and his clothes were in
tatters. One shoe was completely gone it's
place being taken by piece of carpe. that
was tied round and round with twine
He had been asleep when the children
first came down to the creek, but when the
mourning for the dead began, it woae him
up. At first he was annoyed at being
reused from his sumbers. and inclined to
use few strong expressions. Then, as
the sounds grew louder and more strange
his curiosity made him stumble to his feet
and force his way through the underground
until he was within a few PAGES of the
strange scene.
His befuddled brain could make neither
head nor tail of the children's antics, as
perhaps was quite natural
Just then they had Joined hands for a
moment and were careering around at a
| mad rate. as il they were playing a furi-
Gus game of ring around-a-rosy. They had
worked themselves up to such a pitch of
excitement that they hardly knew what
| they were doing. The genuine Indian Death
Dance could hardly have exceeded 1t n
wildneSs.
No wonder the bleared eyes of the star
tied tramp opened wide with terror as he
watched them. The effects of the spree he
had been on the night before had not yet
worn off. and to him the dark skins, daubed
hldeously with patches of white and red
and yellow paint, the strengthening head
dresses Of feathers, the flying limbs and
| wild voices all seemed to belong to nothing
else than imps of the lower regions! In
| the course Of his existence he had seen
cfr ffxyf, ,lny,
| under the influence of liquor, but this was
by far the worst of ALL
His hair began to feel as il it was raising
itself on end all over his head, and his
knees trembled under him. He did not
know whether to run away or stay where
he was He wasn't even sure that he could
get away If he tried.
When the flying circle suddenly broke in
pieces, and those awful FORMS with a
| wilder shrek than ever. went scattering in
every direction, he thought his last hour
had come, and that they were surely after
him. With loud howl Of fear, he pitche j
headlong into their midst.
The apparition was so sudden and star
Ting that the excited voices ceased on the
instant, choked back into their threats by
the shock. Then with one wild Shrek Of
abject terror Peggy rushed over to Ca.
roll. crying Historically:
Its a crazy man! It's a crazy man!
He'll kill US! He'll kill usr'
With one accord they fled madly through
more frightened they became at the
thought of that terrible figure pursuing
them holly, as they firmly believed he was.
Their flight became panic. Peggy chung
tightly to CARROTS jacket. convulsivery
sobbing with fright as she plunged along
tripping and stumbling over her skirt
which had torn at the gathers and kept
tangling itself up with her feet. Bob's eyes
were almost popping ont of his head. He
brought up the rear, as he could not run as
fast as the others, and he could almost
feel that awful, heavy hand descending on
his shoulder at every step. Never ir his
life had he run SO fast. Carroll and Billy
were just as much frightened as the others
They had all worked themselves into an
almost hysterical state by their wild dane
ing at the grave of the dead Indians. The
sudden appearance of the tramp as he fell
upon the ground right at their feet without
sound of warning had brought them back
to earth with such a very quick turn that
their dazed minds could not at once grasp
the true state of affairs.
1t did not occur to them that the man
was as badly frightened as they were. The
only idea that they could form was that he
was after them. and that he would hurt
them. And Peggy's shrek of crazy man"
had given a name to the horror that made
it worse.
To Carroll and Bob the words Crazy per-
son" had always had terrible sound. To
meet a crazy man in the woods was one of
their most dreaded Nightmares.
If this was a crazy man, he was undoubt-
eddy bent upon their destruction, and the
only thing to do was to run for their lives.
Billy shared the fear of an insane person
in a minor degree. but the mere thought
of a strange man pursuing them was
enough to lend wings to his feet.
Hes coming! He's coming!" gasped
Peggy.
Bob gave an agonized glance over his
shoulder. He thought he saw the mans
black coat through the branches close be-
hind him.
Run for your lves!" he shrieked. Hes
almost here"
Billy, who was ahead. slowed up a little
and pushed Bob past him.
I'm oder than you. I'll stay behind
and hit him one If he comes any nearer"
he managed to say with white lips and
painting breath.
Bob did not stop to dispute with him.
His short legs had all they could do to
keep him up with Carroll, who was helping
Peggy along. For some time they ran in
silence. Then Billy ventured to take
look behind him. He gave little sigh Of
relief as he saw no awful figure looming
among the trees. He peered sharply
around on all sides. There was no sign Of
a pursuer. Then he quickened his steps
again, and caught up to Carroll.
Were gaining on him." he said in
whisper. Don't speak loud or he'll hear,
and know where we are going
'Can you see him?" came in frightened
voice from Carroll.
mo, not now" replied Billy firmly con-