The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-07

! and the dancers turned a. one man to
/ face us.
l hope 1t may never be your lot my dears.
| to meet and endure such a horrid glare OF
| human ferocity as that these wrcught-up
| avengers Of blood bent upon US. Twas
! more unrcrving than aught that had gone
before; mere terrible. thought. than auGht
| that could come after. Yet, AS TO this. you
shall judge for yourselves.
| The pause was brief. and when lad ran
| up to cut the thongs that bound US from the
| middle up the t"rture-play began in dead
| " earnest. Whilst the Indian youth was
slashing at the desrSi.in. Richard gave me
| my cue.
Ills the knife and Ratchet play: they
| are loosing Us to give US freedom to shrink
| and dodge. Look straight before you ard
never finch hair. as you would keep the
| life in You from one minute to the next
Trust me-" said 1. We must exc 1t out
| as long as We can. If only % give our dear
| lady time for another prayer OF two May
hap she will name us in them: God knows,
| our need is sore enough
| The lad ran back and a warrior stood out
| juggling his tomahawK in air. He made a
| feint TO cast it at Richard. but instead sent
| 1t whizZing at me.
| That first missile was harder TO face I'M
| flinching than were all the others. ! saw K
| leave the thrower's hand: saw il coming
| straight. as l would think to split my
skull The prompting to dodge was we'll
| nigh masterful enough to override the
| strongest will. Yet did make shift 10 hold
| fast. and in mid flight the twiriing
veered aside to miss me by a hairs breadth.
| gashing the tree at my car when it struck.
Bravo! well metz cried Richard: and
ther, betwixt his teeth: Here comes
mine
| As he spoke, second tomahawk was
| sped. L heard it strike with a dull crash
that might have been on flesh and bone, or
on oak-bark-I could not tell 1 dared not
look aside till Richards haunting laugh
gave me leave to breathe again.
The Indians answered the laugh with a
yell; and now this marksmen stood
out quickly one after another and for
little space the air was full OF
hurting missiles You will read in the ro-
mances Of the Eondrous skill of these saw
ages in such diversions as these; how they
will pin the victim to Il tree and never miss
of sticking knife or Ratchet within the
thickness of the blade where they Will. But
you must take these tales with a dash of
allowance for the romancers fancy. Tru-
ly, these Indians of ours threw we'll and
skillfully; it's a part of the only trade they
know-the trade of war-to send a weapon
true TO the mark. None the less. some of
the missiles flew wide; and now and then
one would nip the cloth of sleeve or body
covering-and the flesh beneath it as well.
Dick had more OF the nippings than !.
afc- thousn ne kept up running HFe OF
taunts and gliding filings at the marksnlan.
l could hear the gritrng oaths aside when
they pinked him.
Notwithstanding, the worst of these mis-
casts fell to my lot. A Ratchet. sped by
the clunsiest hand of all. missed its curry
ing, turned, and the heIve of 1t struck me
fair in the stomach. Not all the parting
pangs of death. as I fondly believe, will lay
heavier toll on fortitude than did this
gripping stroke which 1 must endure stand
ing erect. tbs no figure of speech to say
that I would have given the reversion OF a
kingdom, ard crown to boot, for leave to
double over and groan out the agony of It.
Happily for US. there were no women with
the band. so We were spared the crIeler re-
finements of these ante-burning torments,
the faying alive by inchbits. and the stick