The Odanah star. [volume] (Odanah, Ashland Co., Wis.) 1912-1916, 1914-05-08


ground ahead. Behind him numbered
Schultz, heayy-footed, and grumbling
Dutch oaths at every misstep, yet
somehow managing to keep up; while
l brought up the rear, my gaze intent
on the surrounding ridges.
For three days we encountered moth
ing to alarm. Brady purposely kept
away from all trails, trusting implicitly
to his instinct as Woodsman to dis
cover a safe passage. He possessed
the instincts of the wild, the subtlety
of the savage, born of constant peril
and loneliness.
Once, where we forded a consider
able stream, which think now must
have been the Vermilion, we came up
on the blackened remains Of camp
fire, apparently deserted but a few
hours before. Brady examined 1t with
great care, trailing the party to the
river bank, and then making wide
circuit of the woods, before he finally
returned satisfied.
Less than three hours gone," he
said soberly, "and travelling north"
do you know who they were?" l
asked. How many were in the party?"
Miamis and Ojibwas, reckon, and
they had a prisoner, bound to that
small tree out yonder; see here, Hay
ward, the fellow had boots on, and not
moccasins. From the trail they made
here on the bank there must have been
twelve or fifteen Indians; ay, and
white renegade" he bent down again
to study track in the mud, "for this
is no REDSKINS foot, with the toes
turned out" He swore, the only oath
had heard thus far from his lips, pluck
ing few long hairs from off spittle
of underbrush, and holding them UP in
to the sunlight. "a war party all right,
with scalps. One fellow brushed
against this bush as he came down
the bank; from the color they must
have been raiding the German settle
ments."
l stared at the floating hairs, shud-
dering in horror, and hands gripped
hard on my rifle.
Good God! and they are going our
way?"
THAT needn't trouble us, while they
leave plain trail behind Those devils
feel safe enough now, or they'd take
more care. We are in no danger while
they keep ahead of u.s."
We made a detour to the right,
plunging straight forward into the un-
broken woods. Brady led at fast
gait, his trained iron muscles tireless,
while l urged the breathless soldier to
new exertions, frightening him by con-
slant reference to the raiders so close
at hand. The respiration rolled down
his face, yet he kept close at Brady's
heels, falling fat on the ground dur
ing our brief halts, but determined not
to be left behind. There was certainly
good stuff in the fellow, although he
swore stiff1y, and had tread like an
elephant. Just before dark, the forest
about us already in gloom, we sudden
ly emerged from out the shadow of
great trees, and stood on the shore of
a lake girded with woods. A few hun
dred feet from where we stood small
rocky island, dense with trees, rose
above the mirrored surface. After one
swift glance about the line of shore
Brady's eyes rested on this haven,
as though questioning its feasibility as
a night camp. There was yellow
tinge to the intervening water. sug-
gestive of shallowness, and spoke
first.
1T will be dark in a few minutes
more; isn't that a cambridge leading
out yonder?"
cit looks so to me-" he replied quiet
ly, "but the only sure way to tell Is to
test the passage. In my judgment we