The news & observer., 1905-05-21


When they met at Frank Morton's S
home at night, they found no one there
except Mrs Morton, but she said she
was expecting Frank any minute, as
he never stayed away later than dark.
| While the men were waiting and re-
lating the circumstances to Frank s
mother Colonel Martin told of his
discovery, and when he pulled the bits
of clothing from his pocket they were
identified by Mrs. Morton as pieces of
! the coat Frank wore off that morn
ing.
1t then dawned upon them that
Frank had been in a fight with the
| Indians, and Mrs. Morton fell in a
swoon across the steps of her door.
Applications of cold water soon caused
her to regain consciousness, and she
wanted to know where Frank was
Colonel Martin endeavored to console
her as best he could by telling her that
he would soon return.
1.-The Indians have killed him." she
cried at the top of her voice, land ]
want you men to go in search of them
| and kill the last one"
Madam" said Colonel Martin, 81,
| too, have lost my child, and am in a
! position to better sympathiZe with you
| than any of the others here. We are
now searching for her" he continued,
land 1 assure you. that ifsthe Indians
| they will be held strictly accountable" ,"
He bent over the old lady as she lay
| PROSTATE on the ground and continu-
| ed: You. must brace up, as this is
no occasion to give up and do moth
| ing. The young people have got to be
| found, and l pledge you my word that
will find them if it takes the balance
of my life"
His words had the desired effect,
and Mrs. Morton was soon sitting on
| the steps and talking about the cir
| cumstances in sensible manner. None
of them could think of any reason
| why Frank and the Indians should
| have any trouble, as they We're on
! very friendly terms but they all felt
| that he had either been killed or cap
| tured, but as to Helen's whereabouts
| they knew nothing.
The Colonel and his party spent the
night with Mrs. Morton and decided
| to go back next. morning and follow
the trail. if Frank did not come.
| Morning came, a beautiful autumn
| day, but no tidings of Frank. and the
| little party set; out to continue the
search.
The spot where the difficulty occur
red was easily located and from it
the men, led by Colonel Martin, travel
| ed slowly, following the trail as it led
deeper and deeper into the wild and
rugged hills of the Sauratown Noun
! tains, expecting every moment to
come across the Indians or Something
! that would, in some measure, offer a
| solution of the incident, the marks OF
| which had attracted their attention.
| But nothing had turned up and the
sun was setting. They concluded to
camp where they were and selected a
small knoll overlooking the surround
ling country. They fastened their
horses on theeside and gathered about
/ the top to suggest and consider plans
| to guide them in their future opera
tions before they lay down.
/ The night was very dark and only
few stars occasionally peeped from
| behind the flying clouds. 1t looked as
though rain might fall any moment,
and before morning the ground was
| thoroughly soaked. They decided that
| one should keep watch while the 9TH
| .ers slept SO that they would not be
taken by surprise by any of the ma
rauding bands of Indians that might
pass that way. Just as they were pre-
pairing to lie down the glimmer of a
/ light in the far distance attracted their
attention. The Colonel concluded it
was the light of camp fire and
meant, in all probability, that a band
| of Indians was camping there, and it
might be the band they were follow
| ing, as it was in the direction the trail
! led.
| When morning dawned it was cool
and crisp, presaging the advent. of
winter, and by sunrise they were we'll
! on their way toward the place where
| the light of the campfire was seen the
night before. The trail was followed
with difficulty on account of the rain,
| but about noon they came to the place
! where the Indians had camped and
after this they were able to travel
more rapidly.
On and on they went and the sun
was fast sinking in the western sky,
| but just before he disappeared they
| overlook the party of Indians as they
! were preparing to camp. 1t consisted
| of about twenty-five warriars, led by
| old Saura, who advanced to meet the
| white people as they rode up, while
| the warriors stood back q few steps
| as was their custom when the chief
received visitors. Saura was more
| communicative than they expected he
would be, stating that he and his
| braves were on the chase. When the
| Colonel questioned him about the diff
fculty that occurred during their jour-
ney he explained that it happened be-
| tween two of his warriors over an In
| dian girl they left in camp as to which
| should claim her as a squaw on their
| return. When asked if he knew any
| of white mans coat were strewn on
| the ground where the difficulty took
.place, he said that he had not seen
the young man for a good while, and
| that one of his warriors had on
white mans coat, but beyond this
nothing could be gotten out of the
willy old savage.
The Colonel and the men slowly re-
traced their steps about mile,
where they decided to camp for the
night. They were greatly worried and
heart sore and felt that they had been
completely baffled. They had travelled
| several days and had found absolutely
rothfng that would assist in locating
either Helen or Frank. Before lying
| down they concluded that what the
| chief had told them, when considered
with Mrs. Mortons statement, was not
| the truth at all, and they decided TO
return the next morning and demand
satisfactory explanation of old
Saura. They were we'll armed and
| felt that they could easily disperse the
Indians should they come to an en-
counter.
Next morning, on arriving at the
| place where the Indians were prepar-