Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1911-08-04
CHAPTER II


The Scene of Tragedy.
atever might be the nature OF
{ragedy it would be over with long
lie this, and those moving black
I'D away yonder to the west, that
+ ad discerned from the bluff, were
# subtedly the departing raiders.
sEs h was nothing left for Keith to
kept determine the fate of the
rtunates, and give their bodies de-
81 burial. That any had escaped,
et lived, was altogether unlikely,
is. perchance. women had been in
party, in which case they would
|NM been borne away prisoners.
that no hostiles would be
4 behind to observe his movements.
saR pressed steadily forward. lead
His horse. He had thus traversed
'l half a mile before coming upon
g evidence Of a fight-here the pur-
- had apparently come up with
wagons, and circled out upon
b side From their ponies tracks
S must have been a dozen in the
N Perhaps a hundred yards furth-
ong lay two dead ponies. Keith
All med them closely-both had
Till ridden with saddles, the marks
be cinches plainly visible. Evil
A v one of the wagon mules had
vi dropped in the traces here. and
been dragged along by his mates.
beyond came a sudden depression
ne prairie down which the wagons
plunged so heavily as to break
9 bf the axles; the wheel lay a few
I'D away. and, somewhat to the
III there lay the wreck Of the wag-
self. two dead mules still in the
rs, the vehicle stripped of con-
'S& and charred by fire A hundred
" further along was the other
IN it's tongue broken, the canvas
tipped open. while between the
Y we're scattered odds and ends Of
Ing apparel and provisions. with
9lle of boxes smoking grimly. The
saaining mules were gone, and no
4Alance of life remained anywhere.
|iM dropped his reins over his
Ez s head, and. with Winchester
ed and ready, advanced eau
sRth from violence had long since
PIE almost commonplace occur
sEe to Keith, yet now he shrank for
Rstant as his eyes perceived the
of a man lying motionless
s the broken wagon tongue The
FED hair and beard were streaked
AM blood, the face almost unrecog-
DIE, while thu hands yet grasped
PIT and shattered rifle. Evidently
imam had died fighting, beaten
m by overwhelming mum bers after
znQlng his last shot. Then those
Is had scalped and left him where
s NeIL Fifty feet beyond, shot in
pack, lay a younger man, doubled
n a heap, also scalped and dead.
was all; Keith secuted over a
~ circle, even scanning the stretch
MaFel under the river bank, before
fould fully satisfy himself there
u no others in the party. 1t seem
impossible that these two travelling
Is would have ventured upon such
I'D in the face of known Indian
pIity. Yet they must have done
Rnd once again his lips muttered:
n all the blame fools!"
'fddenly he halted, staring about
the prairie, obsessed by a new
Rght, an aroused suspicion. There
81 appeared merely the footprints
Pc one horse alongside Of the fee
wagons when they first turned
from the trail. and that horse had
newly shod. But there were two
s ponies lying back yonder; Meth
mod, yet both had borne saddles.
Is than this, they had been spur
Il the blood marks still plainly Wis
and one Of them was branded;
remembered 1t now, a star and ar
What could all this portend?
It possible this attack was no
Rn affair after all? Was the dis
ting of bodies. the scalping, mere
zone to make 1t appear the act of
|fges? Driven to Investigation by
suspicion, he passed again over
trampled ground, marking this
every separate indentation, ev-
falntest imprint of hoof or foot.
re was no impression of a mecca
anywhere; every mark remaining
n OF booted feet. The inference
sufficiently plaintiffs had been
deed of white men, not Of red; foul
ger, and not savage war
Re knowledge seemed to scar
ms brain with fire, and he sprang
Ms feet, hands clinched and eyes
ing. He could have believed this
*Pdians, it was according to their
IRE, their method Of warfare; but
#cowardliness of 1t, the atrocity of
act, as perpetrated by men of his
race, instantly aroused within
desire for vengeance. He
Fed to run the fellows down, to
pVer their identity. Without
sking of personal danger he ran
Hard on their trail. which led d.
~ westward. along the line o1