The Newtown bee., 1908-05-15

ipate that they have any special thing
 to talk about this time. But the { will tell of some of their exploits an
 of some of their troubles and griey
 ances; and whether l am able to hel
 them or not, they will go away bette
 satisfied with themselves for havin
 told out their hearts. Indians like t
 talk. ,..
 From here cross the Missouri rive
 again, go south to Gettysburg, an
 there cross again for week on tn
 Cheyenne Reservation. l am also t
 spend part of a week on Pine Ridg
 Reservation before I make my trip t
 Newtown the last of May. l shall b
 glad when the work of crossing tn
 Missouri is done with for this spring
 1t is treacherous river, especially il
 the springtime. l frequently have t
 cross it in row boat. l have had n
 mishaps yet, and try not to borrov
 trouble. Only last week doctor wal
 crossing near here with two Indians
 The boat was overturned, the two In
 dians were drowned, but the doctor go
 to shoreNsomehow. The last time crossed, the boatman advised me >tt take off my coat and vest and boots. told him it wouldn't make much differ ence if a man were tipped into tht river that night, whether he had his clothes on or off. It seemed to me there would be little chance to get t( shore. But we got across all right. though we were carried a full mile down stream in trying to make the oth' CT bank. But we got across, that was the main thing, and kept our appoint. ment which we had made for service across the river that night. Some In. dians who had come to the river with me intending to cross over for the serv- ice, gave it up. They said they wouldn't go, because they didn't have to. #.a-.
 To-day I have been riding in the sad dle on these great plains. My horse was an Indian pony, buckskin. My riding companion was an attractive Sioux girl of twenty-five. The last time l was in the saddle was in the Green Noun. tains of Vermont. Very different this from that. But this has real charm when one learns how to appreciate it
 Making the round of my visitation as a Bishop in the big Missionary Dis trict of South Dakota, l came on Mon day in Holy Week to St Mary's Board ing school for Indian girls on the great Rosebud Reserve. The school may be reached by a drive of 35 miles from the nearest railway station, which is Val entine in the state of Nebraska. But there were things which l wanted to look into which l could not hit if should make the trip by Valentine; SC I drove overland from the point where l had beenEholding services on Sunday. This point was Dallas. one of the very newest of,, the innumerable new towns of South Dakota. !
 The distance across country from Dal- las to St Mary's school is 70 miles. The square upon the hypotenuse being equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, it is quite more than 70 miles, for the country is decidedly rolling; and diving down into valleys and climbing up the other side of the triangle whose apex is the bottom of the dip, lengthens out the distance quite a bit. But call it 70 miles. My driver, with a pair of little mules, a white one and black, started me off at sun up in buggy of such short reach from seat to dash that my knee joints groaned and groaned and we'll nigh broke. All day our mules begged on across the rolling prairie. At noon we halted for, an hour and half and fed our mules; and we fed ourselves at what by euphemism is called a "hotel." During the days drive we met but half dozen rigs; some h. dians, some whites new-settled in the country thereabout. Four or five shacks and cabins we hove Tn sight of; at six o'clock we chanced upon store. This was "Oak Crick". Hungry we were; and thirsty, too, for there is not much water in a country such as we were crossing, and. what there is cautious man is wary ofwhen(it comes to drink ing. In the store, I bought for my self tin can Of plums. These were food and drink, too. Campers who know their business say that nothing better quer.ches thirst upon the plains and prairies than canned tomatoes. right out of the can, without cooking. have myself found this to be true. But this day had no mouth for toma- toes, so I took the plums and l ate land drank) nearly the whole can. 1 hadn't eaten what would stay by me very longtat noon, and supper was four pr five hours yet to wait. Fol. my driv- er l bought can of strawberries, he having no liking for plums. We didn't care for the cakes ana cookies on the shelves.j The bill for the two of us was cents for our supper. Then we drove along.
 When we st9rted out, l suppose that my driver was acquainted with the country we must traverse and more or ess accustomed to the trail which we must follow. A few hours out from Dallas, however, he told me it was his irst trip across thattsection of the South Dakota prairie. So it was ,ase of blind leading the blind. It is easy to go astray onL these fenceless wastes, with almost never a tree in light and rarely any distinguishing marks in the landscape to guide by so many ways that wind and wind" " )nce we took the wrong track. Some hing suggested to both of us that we were heading in the wrong direction. | Ny driver asked me what 1 thought; {; | whether I thought we were bearing as | ve should. 1 told him 1 was just won