Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1912-10-17

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diffused itself over the whole
country, looking down ridicule,
the drilling of neutrality-suspicious.,
the comments of elderly ladies OF
the old school the sneers OF
nurses, and, in a word, all that
venerable ideas of decorum could
suggest, until this appliance OF
domestic ease has not only fairly
planted itself in nearly every
American dwelling, but in good
many of Europe also!
It required about twenty min
utes for the party 20 clear the
cabin OF every article that might
induce an Indian to sus-
pect the presence OF
white men. The furniture was
carried to suff cient distance to
be safe from everything put
search; and care was had to avoid
as much as possible making trail
to lead the savages to the place
selected for the temporary store
room. This was merely close
thicket, into which there was a
narrow but practicable entrance
on the side the least likely to be
visited. When all was accomplish
ed the four went to the lookout
to ascertain how far the canoes
had come. 1t was soon
ascertained that they were
within a mile, driving down before
strong breeze and following sea,
and impelled by as many paddles
as there were living beings in
them. Ten minutes would GER
tainly bring them up with the
bar, and five more fairly within
the river. The question now arose,
where the party was to be con-
cealed during the stay of the saw
ages. Dolly, as was perhaps nat
ural to the housewife, wished TO
remain by her worldly goods, and
pretty Margery had strong
feminine leaning to do the same.
But neither of the men approved
of the plan. 1t was risking too
much in one spot; and sugges-
ton that the bee-hunter was not
long in making, prevailed.
1t will be remembered that lie
Bourbon had carried the canoes
within the field of wild rice, and
! bestowed them there with a good
deal of attention to security. Now
these canoes offered, in many res
poets, better places of temporary
refuge under all the circumstances
than any other that could readily
be found on shore. They were
dry; and by spreading skins, of
which Boden had so many, COM
Portable beds might be made for
the females, which would be cas-
! lily protected from the night air
and dews by throwing a rug over
the gunwales. Then, each canoe
contained many articles that would
probably he wanted; that of the
bee-hunter in particular furnish
divers other things that would be
exceedingly useful to persons in
their situation. The great advant-
age of the canoes, however, in the
mind of lie Bourbon, was the ia
cilties they offered for flight.
He hardly hoped that Indian Sd
gacity would be so far blinded as
to prevent the discovery, of the
many footsteps they must have
left in their hurried movements,
and he anticipated that with the
return of day something would oc-
cur to render il necessary for
them to seek safety by a stealthy
removal from the spot. This might
be done, he both hoped and be-
lieved under cover of the rice,
should sufficient care be taken to
avoid exposure. In placing the
canoes, he had used the precaution
to leave them where they could
not be seen from. the cabin or its
vicinity, or, indeed, from any spot
in the vicinity of the ground that
the savages would be likely to
visit during their stay. All these
reasons lie Bourbon now rapidly
laid before his companions, and to
the canoes the whole party retired
as fast as they could walk.
There was great judgement dis
played on the part of the bee
hunter in selecting the wild rice
as place of shelter. At that sea-
son it was sufficiently grown to
afford complete screen to every
thing within it that did not ex-
ceed the height OF man or which !
was not seen from some adjacent |
elevation. Most of the land near !
the mouth of the river was low, /
and the few spots which formed
exceptions had been borne in mind /