The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-05-27
CHAPTER XXI
THE FALL OF PENSACOLA

I slipped down the anchor chain
without noise into the throbbing sea,
n swan ashore to a point some three
of four cable lengths away. Guided by
the single voice which still sang of war.
of glory and of death, 1 pushed easily
into the ring of hideously painted saw
ages who surrounded the singer. To
unaccustomed eyes this would have
been a fearful sight.
Two hundred warriors sat motionless
as bronze idols about their chief; two
hundred naked bodies glinted back the
pine knots fitful glow. In the n
of this threatening circle moved Tusk-
kahoma, two great crimson blotches
upon his cheeks, treading that weird
suggestive measure the Indians knew
so we'll. Round and round a little pine
tree, shorn Of its branches, and striped
with red, he crept, danced and sang.
His words came Wild and irregular, a
sort of rhythmic medley, now soft and
low as the murmur of the summer
ocean. now thrilling every ear by their
sudden ferocity and fearful energy.
Now it was the gentle lullaby, the
mothers grooming, the laughter OF a
child; again, the bursting of the tenn
pest, the lightning's flash, the thunder's
rumbling roar.
His arms raised to heaven like some
gaunt priest of butchery, he invoked
the mighty Manitou Of his tribe, then
dropping prone upon the ground he
crawled, a sinuous serpent, among the
trees.
For awhile his listeners wandered
away upon their chieftain's words to
the waiting ones at home, to hunting
grounds of peace and plenty; melodi-
Gus as a maiden's sigh that song
breathed of owe and lovers hopes, ii
walled for departed friends, extolled
their virtues, n called down heavens
curses upon the coward Of tomorrow's
fight. Then the fierce CLEAN of shin
ing steel, n wild warwhoop and all
again was still. His words faded away
in the echoless night till q holy hush
brooded DER the beach.
Then the solitary dancer wound
about the ring as the %crouching pan
Their steals pom her prey, while peal
after peal came the frightful cries II
barbaric conflict, the shrieks of the
Wounded wild, victorious shout
blended with a hopeless dying scream.
With a masters touch he played
upon their vibrant feelings; not a key
of human emotion he left unsounded--
fame, pride, hate, love and death-his
ong expressed them all.
Thoroughly frenzied, warrior after
warrior now began to join him in the
dread refrain which terrorized the
trained soldiery of Europe and filled
their im~aginations With the naneless
horrors of unrelenting war.
High above h din Tuskahoma lift
ed nov his ferocious battle cry; adj
vancing upon the blazed sapling he
sank his tomahawk deep into the soft
white wood, then moved swiftly out Of
the circle to his own fire. This was
the act by which he announced his as
sumption Of supreme authority.
a with excitement the Unbiased
throng rushed upon his fancied enemy,
and soon but the mangled fragments
and the roots marked where it had
stood.
And the forest slumbered and the
sentry paced his lonely path.
1t is not my purpose to speak in
detail Of those matters of history which
have been SO much better described
by men Of learning. 1 would merely
mention in passing such smaller af-
fairs as relate directly to my w mar
rative.
Short and sharp was the conflict
which, under God, gave our arms the
victory at Pensacola. Swarming over
the palisades or bodily tearing them
down. the Choctaws, led by Tuska-
homa. swept the S%paniards from their
works. 1t so happened that Tuska-
homa n I mounted the Qualifications
together. As essayed to drop down
upon the inside my sword belt caught
upon the top of a picket, leaving me
dangling in midair. an easy prey to
those below had they only noticed my