Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-09-04

again UoIW5Su lOul du0 1--we III IA0
morning. guided by row of stars
that those people pointed out to him.
A little after daybreak, being then
about a quarter of a mile from home,
in hllly place, he thought he would
leave his sled, as the load was so hard
to draw, and run ahead to tell them
about the Indians. So he pushed 1t
under some bushes; and then, to mark
the spot, he took one of his shoe
strings and tied one of his mittens
high up on the limb of a tree.
Just as he came to the brook, he
heard strange sounds, and climbed up
into hemlock tree, which overhung
the brook, to hide and to look about.
He lay along branch listening, and
presently saw Nathaniel with the work
bag around his neck, hurrytng toward
the brook, leading little Polly.
Philip was just going to call out,
when he caught sight of three Indians
standing behind some trees on the
other side watching the two children.
Little Polly was afraid to step on the
ice. Philip moved little to see bet
ter, and by doing this lost sight Of
them a moment; and when he looked
luSy WC1O poIh SoJAAS.
He heard q cracking sound in the
bushes and caught sight of little Pol
ly's blanket flying through the woods,
and knew then that those Indians had
carried off Nathaniel and little Polly.
Without stapping to consider. he jump
ed down and followed on, thinking, as
he afterwards said, to find out where
they went, in order to tell his father.
vi.
Philip, by one way or another, kept
on the trail Of those Indians the whole
day. Once it was finding the stick
that little Polly dropped; once it was
by coming across butchers knife the
Indians had stolen from some house.
He had wit enough to break limb
or CRASH tree now and then, so as to
find his way back; also to take the
bearings of the hills When the
Indians halted to rest, he had chance
to rest, too.
At last they stopped for the night in
sheltered valley where there was two
or three wigwams. He watched them
GO into one of these, and then he
could not think what to do next. The
night was setting In bitter cold. The
shoe he had taken the string from
had come off in his running, and that
foot was nearly frozen, and would
have been quite frozen if he had not
tied some moss to the bottom of 1T
with his handkerchief. The hand that
had no mitten was frozen. He had
eaten nothing since morning, but a
few boxberry plums and boxberry
leaves.
1t was too late to think of finding
his way home that night. He lay
down on the snow; and, as the Indians
lifted the mats to pass in and out, he
could see fires burning and smell meats
cooking.
Then he began to feel sleepy, and
after that knew nothing more till he
woke inside a wigwam, and found two
Indian women rubbing him with snow.
They afterward gave him plenty to
eat.
He did not see Nathaniel and little
Polly: they were In another wigwam.
There were two Indians squatting on
the floor, one Of them quite old. Pref
ty soon another came in; and Philip
knew he was one Of those who had
carried off the children, because he
had Florinda's workbag hanging
around his neck. He thought, no
doubt, from seeing 1t on NathaniePs
neck, that there was the place to wear
it.
Philip suffered dreadful pain in his
foot and hand, but shut his mouth tight
for fear he might groan. He said after
ward, when question: about this part
Of his story, that he was not going to
let them hear white boy groan.
Now, the elder of the two squaws in
the wigwam felt inclined to save Philip.
So next morning before light, when all
the Indians had gone off hunting, she
told Philip, in broken English and by
signs, that he must run away that
very morning. She bound up his foot;
she gave him moccas1n to wear on
it; she gave him a bag Of pounded
corn and few strips of meat.
Philip had found out that the Indians
supposed him to be captive escaped
from another party. He thought 1t
would be better not to mention Ma
thaniel and little Polly, but to get
home as quickly as he could and tell
people where they were.
When the young squaw came IN, the
old one set her at work parching corn,
with her back to the door. Then she
made signs to Philip, and he crept out
and ran. After running few rods
he came UNEXPECTEDLY upon a wigwam
There was noise Of some one pound
! ing corn inside. When that stopped
he stopped and when that went on, he
went on. and so crept by.
AS soon as 1t began to grow light
be kept along without much trouble
partly by means of the signs on the
trees. AS he got farther on, there
being fewer of these signs. Philir
took the wrong course, very luckily
as it proved; for by doing SO he fel
in with two men on horseback, anc
one of them carried him home.
Philip described the place where the
children were, and that very night
party was sent out which capture the
Indians and brought back Nathanie
and little Polly.
I AS for Florinda, she recovered, mar
ried, and often told this tale to he
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