The Press., 1903-08-13
! THE INDIAN WHO
, REMEMBERED
BY II. "A. Bruce
Copyright, 1902. by t. O. Mcclure

Copyright, 1902, by T. @. Mcclure X
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Sam Augustus was of the Algonquin
tribe, a typical Indian of these days Of
reservations, lazy, shiftless and ad-
dicted to strong drink. AS an Indian he
was more or less despised by the white
men with whom he came in contact,
but was much too easy going to be dis
turbed by that. The possessor of a
small farm on Georgina island, he was
SO far true to the traditions of his an
cestors as to allow Mrs. Sam Augustus
to earn his living for him, which she
cheerfully did, reaping harvest In the
summer time by weaving baskets Of
sweet grass and reeds for the holiday
seekers who annually visited Beaver
ton.
Beaverton was the most picturesque
spot on the shores Of Lake Simcoe, but
Sam Augustus, on the occasions of his
periodical visits to the mainland, never
stopped to contemplate its various
points of interest. There was but one
attraction in the place for him, and
that, 1t must be confessed with shame,
was the barroom of the Alexandra
House. ...........
Sans visits to Beaverton, or, to be
more exact, to the Alexandra House,
| usually terminated in his crawling into
the loft Of the hotel stable, there to
sleep off the effects Of the potent fire
water he had imbibed. But on Satur-
day night in June he enjoyed a novel
| experience. -
Paul Wilson had come to the mill
that day with a load of grain and had
converted the grain not into -four, but
into greasy bits of paper which he
deemed far more useful. Then, as ne
was consumed with great thirst and.
| moreover, had the wherewithal to slake
1t, he naturally turned his team toward
the Alexandra House. Matters follow
ing in logical sequence, Paul Wilson
| developed ere night into a drunken
bully, with Sam Augustus the especial
object Of his hectoring. Sam, indeed,
was in fair way to get the beating Of
his life when Ed Daleton interfered.
Daleton interfered to such an extent
| that Paul was escorted to the village
hospital, while Sam Augustus, ready
| by that time to consent to any proposal,
acceded to Daletons request to go
home with him and in, the morning
| Join the haymakers on the Daleton es-
| tate.
An hour later found Sam tucked into
| the most comfortable bed he had ever
known. Ere morning came, however,
| the bed was empty. The Indian had
already repented his rash promise to
GO to work Still, he took away moth
ing but himself and his dirty clothes,
wherefore, Daleton argued, he must
have felt at least half way grateful.
The summer days passed away. and
| the autumn shadows heightened into
the blackness of winter, but Sam Au
| gustus had not once appeared at the
Alexandra House since that night in
June. Whatever conjectures the ha
bitues of the place might have hazard
ed concerning his absence were driven
out of mind, however, by series of
occurrences which gave the villagers
ample reason for not only much gossip.
but also much alarm. @-.
Thieves made their presence felt in
that Sleepy Hollow of Canada. One
burglary followed another in rapid
succession. First it was the residence
of the reeve that was visited; then 1t
was the doctors house and next the
real estate Office. In every case the
cracksmen went about their work in
way that proved they were no novices.
OF all this Sam Augustus was in pro-
found ignorance. He and Mrs. Sam
were now the only inhabitants Of Geor-
gina island, the half dozen other Indi.
ans who comprised the normal popula-
tion being away with some wild west
show. For many moons Sam had re-
mained at home with his wife, fighting
manfully against his lust for drink,
but at last day came when Sam de-
cided that he must yield or die. So
with the setting of the sun he strapped
on his skates and started over the ice
to Beaverton.
He had gone but a few rods in the d.
rection of the long pier, some six miles
distant, when the brisk, snappy winter
air gave him an insensate desire to
make a circuit of Georgina island be-
fore striking out for the mainland.
Now, it was not such a difficult task
that he had set himself, as Georgina is
but three miles long by two wide.
He was passing a little cove on that
side of the island farthest from his
home when he noticed what looked un-
commonly like boats sail Tapping in
the wind. This impressed Sam as being
bit out of the ordinary for midwinter,
but what gave him a distinct shock
was seeing light In log cabin that
to his knowledge had been unoccupied
for years.
There was enough Of his ancestors
blood in his veins to make him wary,
and he conjectured, not without reason,
that whoever was In the old cabin had
no right to be there. So he stopped
down, unfastened his skates, slung
them around his neck and, swift as a
deer. ran to the shore Of the cove. eau
hously he crept over the snow until he
stood behind the cabin and looked in
through a window.
Seated at little table were two men,
both keen visaged. both well dressed
and both youthful. Overhead hung a
dirty lantern. On the table between
them was spread out sheet of white
paper, which they were examining with
great interest.
'"This." Sam heard one say, pointing
to a mark ON the paper, sis the veran-
da entrance was telling you about. 1t
leads straight into the old mans room,
and they say he generally has tidy
sum around. Farther along here is O
window to one of the guest chambers.
and we may pick up sparkle or two
in that room, for a big house party is
on at Simcoe Lodge just now, and the
wealthy Mrs. Vineland is one of the
guests. The young fellow sleeps in that |
wing over there, SO we need have no
fear of arousing him. Then well back
to our iceboat and be under cover again
before they know we've paid 'em Wis
It" ..ss'
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