The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-17

torch to the lot, and has a bonfire by
way of celebration.
On this occasion, Michail Lafond
succeeded in getting Lone Wolf to
postpone the bonfire, to lend him twen-
ty ponies, and 60 detail to his service
half as many squaws. The feat in it
self was a mark of genius, as any one
who knows the Indian character will
admit, and cost Michail many of his
newly learned words, put together with
all of his native eloquence.
The twenty ponies, driven by the ten
squaws, drew the schooners and their
contents to the Bad Lands, where
Michail concealed them in precipitous
gully of the deeply eroded sort so
common in that strange, rainless dis
trict Then he returned fifteen of the
ponies to Lone Wolf. Lone VOLTS band
took up quarters within striking dis
lance of the cached schooners.
All this was done by Michail Lafond,
and when it was completed he drew
long breath. He felt that the foun-
dations of his influence were laid. 1t
was no light thing thus to have drawn
self-Willed savages from their accus-
toned ways of life. He had done it
only by vague promises of great bene-
fits to accrue in the immediate future,
said benefits to be "big medicine" in
tlC OAliGiliC I4OIle WOil udu pOHutIeu
much; had seen an opportune shooting
star; had consented.
month later a half-breed returned
alone across the plains from the hill
country. At Pierre he announced open
trail He had himself come through
without the least trouble, he claimed,
although he had seen many Indians.
This was strictly true. He went on to
say that he would sell his outfit cheap,
he 1nYiO11C fn IA CT q Tho
gold prospects were good. He had a
partner squatting on several claims, to
whom he would return the following
year. He limited mysteriously of capt.
tai to be invested and exhibited a small
nugget of placer gold Most of this
was untrue, and the nugget he had
found, not in the placer beds, but in a
small pasteboard box in one of the
schooners.
The outfit brought $3.50. for the half
breed sold cheap. with this money
and the horses he departed the day fol-
lowing.
Michail was now richer by $3.50 and
five horses than he had been before
his capture by the Indians. Were it
not for two considerations, he might
have decamped with the proceeds. Con-
science was not one of them. In the
first place, his Caucasian instincts
taught him to look ahead to larg ar
things. In the second place. his In
dian blood would not let him lose sight
of certain bits of savagery he had in
contemplation. So, instead of decamp-
ing, he purchased with the money, in
a town where he was unknown, five of
the new breech-loading rifles and near
ly 5000 rounds of ammunition. his
tale here was simple. The trail was
not open, and a wagon train was soon
to attempt the task of opening it. He
loaded the munitions on his five bron-
cos, and Joined Lone Wolf. who was
outlying near at hand.
In the course of the next six months
certain half-breed, with various
stores and outfits, was observed in sew
eral small towns on the border of the
frontier In half of them he was head
ed east and sold his outfit; in the other
half he was headed west and bought
rifles At the end of the year there
remained no more schooners in the
cache of the Bad Lands, but Lone
VOLTS band was the best armed in all
the West. Michail Lafond had let slip
the chance of embezzling some thou
sands of dollars, but he had gained
what was much more valuable to him
power over an efficient band of fighting
men, and the implicit confidence of a
tribe Of Sioux Indians. He was re-
spected and feared. His unseen intiu-
ence was felt throughout the whole
plains country.
Lafond was too shrewd either to re-
peat his venture or to become identi-
fed with the tribe. His influence, as
has been said, was unseen and unsus-
pected. Lone VOLTS band was sue
cessful from the Indian standpoint,
pernicious from the white mans. That
was all that appeared on the outside.
Lafond himself became savage. he
slept out with little cover, and often
rode with none at ALL He ate dog and
rattlesnake, when dog and rattlesnake
happened to be on the bill of fare. He
carried a knife deep in the recess of
a long, loose bucksin sheath; and from
the ridge of his tepee hung five clotted
horrors. torn from the heads of the VIC
Tins of his personal prowess.The num-
Der of these might easily have been
augmented, but Michail struck seldom
in his own person. When he did, not
one of his victims escaped, for no man
must have seen Michail, the savage
Michai. the civilized, would need a
clear field before him when once again
he appeared in the towns.
The life was fascinating TO such as
he. He loved il, but he did not for
get his purposes. When at last he had
gathered firmly the reins of his power,
he shook them. and the twin steeds
of Murder and Rapine swept destroy
ingly through the land.
For the present there was peace on
the plains Wagon trains came across
the Pierre trail, or further down along
South Fork. Custer explored. White
men settled in the Black Hills,
in spite of the treaty. The Indians
hunted buffalo, and their wives made
robes, and cut tepee poles from the
valley of Iron creek.
But IN spite Of all the seeming tran
guilty the seeds OF discord had been
sown broadcast. and Lafond. with his
devilish cleverness OF insight, could
see that the struggle was not long to
wait. Both sides felt aggrieyed, and
both sides had more than a show OF
reason for feeling so. Perhaps. in the
long run, this was an inevitable re-
suit OF the advance OF civilization; but
IL is a little unfortunate that the pro-
visl0nai races must be set aside 20
summanly That fact serves Occa-
s.onally 10 cast q doubt IN reflective
minds on The ultimate benefit Of the
civilization.
We who iook upon our tanned cOun-
Hrn HarH !.