New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-11-28
TALES OF RED MEN.
Il Group of illustrated Holiday
Books for Boys


The Red Man OF reality is becoming a peace
full figure and one. moreover, that is vanishing
into the sunset Not many years hence he will
be lost in the shadows OF eternal night, and the
child readers of that time will regard him in
some sort as they will the heroes Of the Iliad
For them as we'll as for the boys Of to-day there
will be good store of entertainment in Cen
eral o. o. Howard's new book, Famous lnoian
Chiefs | Have known" CThe Century Company.
The author is not one of the white men who
hold that the only good Indians are dead ones.
and his sketches OF the savage personages who
have beer his friends calculated TO rouse
respect for the genuine wild virtues these chiefs
have shown and sorrow for the hard fate which
has overtaken most OF them. There is a rough
sense of justice in boyisk hearts that will be
stirred. no doubt, by General Towards remi-
niscences of some of the dealings OF the white
man with the red one. A book wherein fact
has the picturesque aid Of fiction. and which
takes back to pioneer days in Kentucky is
c. II. Forbes Lndsay's Daniel Boone, Back
woodsman'' q. B. Lippincott Company. There
is not much sympathy for the ferocious savage
of that early period to be found in this volume.
and its incidents not of the sort to evoke IL.
Among the most vivid of its border stories is
that of the attack upon the Merrill cabin in
1191 The Indians fred from ambush upon the
ously wounded as he was, he was only just able
to stagger through the doorway and there sink
helplesslv upon the floor. Mrs Merrill and her
two young children equal 10 the emer-
gency and succeeded in instantly closing the
door and throwing the heavy bar across 1t be-
fore the Indians could reach it,
The desperate situation did not daunt the brave
mother. She seized axe and prepared to DEFEND
the family as best she might with ii. There were
no firearms in the cabin. Merrill, after the man
rife to work with him, and after being hit had
been unab to regain it from the tree against
The assailants at once began to hack an open.
Course s . the defenders were unable to OFFER any
struction TO this proceeding. At lengeh hole
throuh and one Of the sayases entered the room
by this means The stood beside the door
fairly a INSIDE but Before he Could rise to his feet
she brought the weapon crashing down upon his
Close behind the 6rst intruder followed second;
b e met fourth %i1f Each had entered as fast as the
way became clear, and the death blows had peen
began to suspect that something untimely had be-
fallen their fellows. and before another essayed
through the crevice Of the door, BY the ftfui!
light Of the fire flour motionless hgures stfetcn9a
was easily surmised.
The attackers now decided upon another line Of
tactics Two of them clambered to the roof or
the cabin and began a descent or the capacious
made BY the Climbers and anticipated their
signs. Still aintaning her visiant watch at the tne
bed and throw its contents upon the hre fo dTe
tain of flame. and acrd smoke. The two saVages
half vay down strove to regain the roof. but were
unable to do So an9 az aS ThH were easily dis
matched by the children and the wounded father
Of the foo na0 tha a1 It Was renewed at the
fifth savage made an effort TO gain entran rang oy
thron -; u" when the wei welded ended his
career This put end to the assault. Inc
more satisfied
treat. When they reached their village they as
sured their tribesmen that the squaWs fought pet
ter than the Long Knives themselves.
II Is a sanguinary story worth retelling now
and again that we may remember OF what
heroic mettle we're made the pioneers Of hun
dred wears ago They went through dangers
in a high hearted fashion that might well make
the boy reader of to-day long to maintain in
honor the country thus hardly won.
Mr. Joseph Altshelers book. The Forest
Runners ID. Appleton & Coz, also deals with
the Kentucky Of Boone's time, and is par
ticuIarly lively tale of the repeated encounters
with Indians Of two hardy and resourceful
Youths One hairbreadth escape follows
otheroand Henry and Paul never finch in cour-
age while Henry. the elder. Is never without
weIl-managed expedient While the story is
full of sensation. it is likewise wholesomely sug-
gestive of moral ideals. There are episodes
of Indian life also in Mr.. George Bird Grin
neIl's book Jack. the Young Explorer Erred
erick A Stokes Company. though large part
of il is given to hunting adventures, narrated
in captivating fashion The region described is
Northern Montana. which is still little known
and which is full of natural wonders waiting
for inquisitive sportsmen and explorers like
that fine young fellow. Jack, HAPPY is the boy
who has made the acquaintance of this Jack In
former hooks and who wander with him
into these mountains of Montana scanned with
glaciers and Astounding in wild game de-
lightfu book too is that in which Mr. Charles
Major recounts the stories of bears and Indian
treasure told by Uncle Tom Andy Bill CThe
Macmillan Company to his nieces and nephews
The narrator is an old man whose early life IN
a wild region one of strange chances and
changes. Not only Indians but robbers are the
characters in the stirring drama of these chan
ters. There cruel Indians and desperate
robbers also in Mr.. Everett McNeirs story
The Boy Forty miners CThe Mcclure Com
pany) Every thrill that can be got out of that
oldtme journey in prairie schooner across
the plains and mountains to the golden West
is TO be found in these pages. Even a battle
with thirst In the desert is added to the risks
involved in the slow passage through a land
haunted by enemies both white and red
How Canada Was Won" III. NJ Caldv,au
Company is an exciting story of the STRUGGLE
between the French and English colonists Its
young hero is the captain OF a band of scents
and has hand in the defence OF Fort William,
Henry and in the famous fight OF the plain. .
Abraham. Indians both good and bad there arA
in the book, and a violent death is pernetuau,
waiting round the corner for It's most sstir,.
BILE characters. Not less romantic. though with
out the admixture Of fiction, is Mr. RerkIes
Wilson's volume Canada" IF A stoL..