Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-02-18

Elaine Goodale Eastman IN spring
field Republican.
Such a queer name for a little girl!
And such queer little girl A sort
of nondescript-somethi between a
boy and a girl. a child and an old
woman-for the agile little limbs
clothed in pair of outlandish leggins,
the scant and ragged upper garment,
leave the sex of the creature in some
doubt, while the tiny, grave face looks
strangely unchildlike and wise. There
is no doubt of it, however; she really
is a little girl Of about eight years old;
for see! she sits demurely on pile of
old quilts which form her bed, in one
corner of an untidy log cabin, and ten.
derby nurses rag doll whose general
makeup is very like her own. No
boy could possibly bend over that hor-
rible doll with such look of maternal
solicitude. The plain, brown. solemn
little face is almost TRANSPORTED by it..
Curled up on the bed close by lies
her dog Sheka-not asleep, but look
ing straight at her with his great,
clear eyes. Sheka means Poor Little
One" and the dog is we'll named, for
he is not much larger than rat, and
Is lean and gray with an abnormally
large head and sad, speaking eyes.
yellow Star! yellow STAR" calls
her mother. Come and take the baby
i am going out"
Her mother is not her real mother
she is dead-but only her aunt. Vel
low Star lives with her aunt and
grandmother and her baby cousin, or
sister, as the Indians say-for OF
course you have guessed that she is a
little Indian girl.
She tucks up the rag baby in a
corner of the ragged bed with the ut
most care, as if afraid that it might
wake, and then comes forward and
takes the heavy live baby. screaming
loudly, from its mothers arms, Skill
fully the little creature bushes it's
cries, places it carefully on her back,
winds an old red shawl about her
shoulders in such way as to keep
it in place, and, staggering little
under the weight, goes with it out or
doors.
While she is carrying the baby up
and down in front of the log cabin,
under a sort of rustic arbor matched
with leafy boughs. grooming over a
queer, monotonous little song, anu
now and then Struggling her shoulders
and giving the shawl twitch to
adjust her burden anew. Yellow Star
perceives some one approaching the
house. Sheka, who Is lying outside
the door now, on the hard smooth
trodden earth, perceiyes it too, and
barks shrilly, quivering with excite
ment from the tip of ragged ear to
the bristly tuft on the end of his tail.
The visitor is not an ordinary one,
as dog and girl discover at glance
A wonderful toque crowns her mass
of yellow braids. wound round and
round the back of her head; her small,
trim figure is encased in a tight
fitting costume of blue: she trips
along over the rough road in dainty.
shining boots. with heels She is
rather an attractive and decidedly an
alarming appartion in an Indian
camp.
Sheka has seen white ladies before,
and he entertains a well-defined dis.
trust for them as class. He does
not cease to protest with voice and
tail against the intruder although he
gradually backs further and furthe,
away from her as she comes nearer
and nearer.
Yellow Star has seen white ladies'
once or twice. at the agency on Issue
day, but she never before saw one half
so near, or so evidently bent upon
speaking to her. She retreats into the
cabin and finally into a corner behind
her grandmother but keeps her fas.
-cinated gaze upon the amazing vision
An Indian grandmother is a being of
marvellous ugliness and unsupported
abilities, This one is not in the least
alarmed nor embarrassed by her
strange guest. She is ready and eager
for the fray. She has heard of the
new school and the young lady with
yellow hair. and she is shrewd enough
TO guess that this white lady must
want little Yellow Star-to take her
away from her home and teach her
new and incomprehensible things.
She Is quite confident OF the power OF
her own tongue to rout the enemy
single-handed She Is also cunning.
and inclined to make something more
than glory our Of the encounter.
Now the yeliow-haired one Is In the
doorway, smiling and selfpossessed,
making the poor place look more
saualid and dim than before, by con
trast with her daintiness and her
brightness. But the svarthy old
woman In her dingy robe. with skinny
bare arms and neck nrotrudIng from