Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-06-06

before this time have gone back to fol-
low our trail. perhaps starting after us
even before night had approached. but
now the rain had blotted out all man
ner Of trails, so rescue from that source
was not to be expected. Not even we
ourselves could tell where we had wan
dered. nor could we, using the best Of
our wits, as we than had them, do
more than vaguely guess where our
fellow travellers by that time might be.
Neither did we know distance nor di-
rection of any settlement.
We sat. draggIed and weary. bag
gard and worn by the long strain. Her
skin garments. again wet through.
chung tight to her figure uncomfort-
ably. Now and again could see a
tremor running through her body from
the chill. Yet as looked at her |
could not withhold my homage to her
spirit She was a splendid creature,
SO my soul swore to me. thoroughbred
as any in all the world. Her chin was
high, not drawn down in defeat |
caught sight of her small ear, fat to
the head, pink with cold. but the ear
of a game creature Her nose. not
aquiline, not masculine, still was not
weak Her chin, as | remember |
noted even then, was strong. but lean
and not oyerladen with flesh. Her
mouth. not thin Tipped and cold. yet
not too loose and easy. was NOW plain
tive, as it was sweet in its full. red
cupid bow. Round and soft and gen.
tie she seemed. yet all the lines of her
figure, all the features of her face be-
tokened bone and breeding. The low
cut Indian shirt left her neck bare. /
could see the brick red line of the sun
burn creeping down. but most noted.
since ever it was my delight to trace
good lineage in any creature, the splen-
did curve of her neck. not long and
weak. not short and animal. but round
and strong-perfect ! was willing to
call that and every other thing about
her.
She turned to me after time and
smiled wanly. Il am hungry she
said.
my father had once shown me. At
the bandolier across my shoulder
swung my bullet pouch and powder
flask, in the former also some bits of
tow along with the cleaning worm.
male loose wad of the tow kept thus
dry in the shelter of the pouch and
pushed this down the rife barrel after
had with some difficulty discharged
the load already there. Then l rubbed
little more powder into another
loose wad of tow and fred the rifle
into this. AS luck would have it, some
sparks still smoldered in the tow, and
thus was able once more to nurse up
a tiny fame. So now again we ate,
and once more as the hours advanced
we felt strength coming to u.s. Yet,
in spite of the food. was obliged to
admit strange aching in my head
and hot fever burning in my bones.
See the poor horse" she said, and
pointed to our single steed, bumped up
in the wind. one hip high. his head low,
all detection.
He must eat said /, and so started
to loosen his hobble. Thus engaged,
thought to push on toward the top of
the next ridge to see what might be
beyond. What saw was the worst
thing that could have met my eyes.
sank down almost in despair
There. on a fat valley nearly a mile
away in its slow descent. stood the
peaked tops of more than score of
Indian tepees Horses were scattered
all about. From the tops of the lodges
little dribbles of smoke were coming.
For some moments / lay examining
the camp, seeking to divine the intent
of these people, whom supposed to
be Sioux. / heard whisper at my
shoulder. what is it?' she asked me,
and then the next moment. gazing as
did over the ridge, she saw. felt her
cover close to me in her instant terror.
MY. Godr" she murmured. what
shall we do? They will find US; they
will kill us!"
"Wait. now said T. "They have not
yet seen US, They may go away in
quite the other direction. Do not be
alarmed"
We lay there looking at this unwel
come sight for some moments. but at
last I saw something that pleased me
better.
The men among the horses stopped.
looked and began, to hurry about, be-
gan to lead up their horses. to gestic-
ulate. Then far of upon the other
side saw a blanket waving.
ut is the buffalo signal" said to
her. ''They are going to hunt, and
their hunt will be in the opposite di-
rection from u.s.
We crept back from the top of the
ridge and / asked her to bring me the
saddle blanket while held the horse.
This bound fast around the horses
head.
why do you blind the poor fellow?"
Shn inuIirnd sHn 20 uof aqt. no will