Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-17
DAILY SHORT STORY
A TRAP FOR INDIANS.

| army line. Ou the tuITu uds Il private
named Brisbane was left in camp to
act as cook. He had been instructed to
. fire his musket Ia case he saw Indians.
and. having heard no alarm. we start
ed for camp AT . o'clock with n feeling
that all had gone well.
.. We reached il TO find the man miss
ing His musket had been left behind.
and nothing about the camp had been
disturbed For an hour we expected
his return at any moment, thinking he
had wandered away. but when night
came and passed we were sure that the
Indians had had something TO do with
his disappearance. 1t turned out SO.
While he was out after berries during
the afternoon Little Bears band had
pounced upon him aud made him cap
tive.
We heard nothing of him or them
until about sunrise next morning. We
were about TO set out on a search
| when he appeared AT the mouth OF the
| valley with an Indian beside him.
brisbane had been stripped of all his
| garments, and the blood of a hare had
been daubcd over him until lie appear
| cd to be wounded in dozen places.
The Indian with him could understand
English very well. and the captive had
been told what to say. AS our attention
| was attracted he called out:
| Sergeant, the redskins captured me
yesterday, and I have message for
/ you. They say if you will come out and
surrender yourselves they will hold US
for ransom and treat us well If you
refuse. they will attack the camp and
wipe you all out. There are about thir
~ Indians i'm the band
Jim" called the sergeant when he
had recovered somewhat from his sur
prise. ARE you talking dead s1uare?'
| NO. The force consists of only elev-
en- men. There are six of you. and you
can stand them off for IL week.
| "But how can we save yeu?'
''There is no way. Make ready for n
row and fight 10 the last. 1t serves me
right for not being on the watch yes
terday. GOodby. boys. and do the best
you can and tell 'em Mt the fort how it
was with me-"
He turned and was soon hidden from
view. and we ut once began prepare
tons for defense. We could he ap-
preached only from the front. and the
double the number of Indians. For
half an hour we heard nothing more
from them. Then from n point down
the valley came walls and cries of pain
and distress. as though the captive
were being tortured.
Our first thought was to- rush out,
but after listening more closely all de-
clared that the tones were those of an
I,..r Il
us into an ambush. When il was found
useless the cries ceased, and an hour
later Brisbane appeared Oh the same
spot as before. At the bidding of his
guard he shouted:
Little Bear has been Joined by TWEEN
ty more warriors, and unless you sur
render yourselves all will be killed.
You are to have half an hour i'm which
to make up your minds
"Are you prevaricating. Jim?" asked
the sergeant I'm reply, using a term
which he knew the Indians could not
understand
The biggest kind. sergeant. There
are no new arrivals. and don't let them
humbug you into surrender
The captive spoke so fast that the
Indians could not follow him; but. sus-
pectins something wrong, they led him
away. Then we lay ready and waiting
until close upon noon, when Brisbane
suddenly appeared at the mouth OF the |
valley, running toward our camp at the |
top OF his speed. Behind him We're |
the Indians, who had planned IL that |
way. thinking we would hesitate to |
fire for fear of killing our comrade. |
That was just what happened. and but |
for a strange circumstance the band |
would have been upon us before a gun |
was fired. Thirty or forty yards In
front Of us was a sbaky spot i'm the |
ground. We had noticed IL I'm walking /
around, but had given 1t no special at
tention.
As the Indians reached the spot i'm a
solid body the earth gave way, and all |,
went out of sight in an instant A
crust Of earth about thirty feet square
went down. and when we rushed out II
was to look down into hole twenty Il
five feet deep. with the Indians lying Il
In n huddle at the bottom. Two were |;
killed by the fall and two others badly Il
hurt. while the soldiers neck was bro
ken as he landed at the bottom.
We made the Indians send up their
weapons and their dead and injured. 4
When all were out we realized that the Ii
colonel at the fort would not thank us
for bringing in a lot OF troublesome
prisoners to he cared for and that we
must make some other disposal of Il
them.
Little Rear and all the rest Of the r
living and unwounded We're tied to IS
trees. and. cutting a generous supply Il
sf switches. we took turns at the ia y
herly act and did not rest until each d
me had been soundly licked. There
vas az much bowling and waiting as {
( the veteran warriors had been SO
many boys. and all felt the degrade
lon Al keenly as the pain.
When the performance was oven the 4
edskins were castiIoose and told to