Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-11-16

|
great circle of tepees and tents three
miles in circumference, Graded in
sag of the timberless bills.
Five thousand Sioux were here in
| all their martial splendor. painted and
decked and trapped for war, living
anew their tales Of might and repeat
ing in mimicry their greatest battles.
| Five days the feasting had continued
! Five mornings had l been awakened
! at dawn to see a thousand ochered.
feathered horsemen pour out Of the
| gullies upon the camp. their horses
rearing and plunging, their rifles snap
ping and splitting, while the valley
| rocked to their battlecries and to the
answering clamor of the army which
| met them. The odors of savage
| people had begun to pail on me. the
| sound of a strange language had begun
| to annoy me, and I longed for another
white man or a word in my own
| tongue. Next to my tent was another
one which had been erected during my
absence and through the flap was
thrust the head of my friend, the gov
eminent doctor.
Gee, I'm glad to see your 1 said as
1 shook his hand. I'm as lonesome
| as deaf mute at song recital"
Whats the matter? Won't the In
dams talk to you?"
"I guess they would If they could,
but they can't. Out of these 5000
Sioux 1 haven't found one who can
understand a word / say. and I've
tried some 1880 of them"
The old gentleman laughed.
Your government schools have
gone back in the betting with me, doc.
You must keep your graduates under
lock and key"
"They can all speak English if they |
want to-that is, the younger ores
can. Some few Of the old people are |
too proud to try, but the others can |
talk as well as we can until they for |
GET
DO you mean to say these aborigi- |
mes have been fooling me? l don't be-
lieve it, said l. There is one that |
can't talk English. and I'll make bet
on it, l indicated passing brave
with an eagle feather headdress
reaching far down his naked legs. He
was magnificent animal-young,
1.-THE and as tall and straight as a sap
ling-and was decked from head to
feet in his gorgeous panoply. I've
tried him twice. and he simply doesn't
understand"
My friend called to the warrior:
Hey. Tom. Come here a minute"
the mUan came, anu the doctor con
tinued:
when do you hold the horse races.
Thomas?"
Tomorrow, o'clock, unless it
rains" said the fellow.
Are you going to ride?"
mo. Ny race horse is sick"
AS the ocher daubed figure vanished
into the dusk the old man turned to
me. saying:
Yale"
What"
yale; B. A He's graduate"
"Impossibler' 1 declared. why. I
could hardly understand him. He ,
talks like a foreigner or as if he was 3
just learning the language"
Exactly. That hating unfamiliari- I
~ with English marks the death and ,
decay of his learning In three years
more he'll be an Indian again through :
and through. Oh, the reservation is +
full of fellows like that" The doctor 7
continued. with sigh: It's a melan- a
choly acknowledgment to make. but r
our work seems to count for nearly =
lothing It's their blood
I've heard graduating class read E
theses from a platform, sing cantatas r
N chorus and deliver oratiOns. Then :
have seen those same young fellows 6
three months later squatting in te- n
bees, grunting in their native tongues a
md eating with their fingers. L
vaorS Y faIt 1x-oS on /
ny way to success, for 1 found
7outh who offered every promise of n
great manhood. l studied him until l >,
Knew his every trait and his every q
strength. He did not seem to have :,
my weakness. raised him under my :,
'wn supervision into tall, straight :,
elbow as handsome as figured bronze :,
md with a mind far in advance of his -
people and his years. He had the best
blood of the nation in him, being the :
on of war chief, and they called 9,
lin Thomas Running Elk. He was
at the agency school under :,
ne. and he went through his college u
curse like a stag at the head of a u
'reat herd. a silent, dignified, shad- y
wy figure, unapproachable and mys-
eriOus to his fellow students. In all CT
hings he excelled. but he wars best III
erhaps in athletics, the credit for
which l also took, feeling a godlike -.
abstraction in my work. -
News came to me of his victories -
n track and field and gridiron. for ~
is professors kept me posted. being :,
kewise interested in my experiment, =
ut as for him he never wrote. 1t was
OF his nature. nor did he communi- y
ate with his people.
1T was In my protege's senior year ~,
hat the great thing entered his life. -,
he thing l had craftily built upon -
rom the start and had well nigh de- =
paired of. The girl entered but in -
cad of Running Elk being drawn To -
lie woman, as L had planned. the wo-
an went to him. II