Gilpin observer., 1915-11-04


will never return, Starlight Come,
then, and look upon those who are
dancing for the last time"
But Starlight did not like the sound
of war, and detested bloodshed and
loathed the scalping of human beings.
So she replied:
"Twin Boughs" (for such was the
medicine mans name), Il prefer the
sleep of peace rather than the gay
hours of the war dance. Let our young
men fight, if they will, for l look not
with favor upon any Of them. They
all wear scalps in their belts and this
is displeasing to me, though | am sis
ter of Chief Swift Wind, who is him
self mighty warrior"
Within the circle of wagons, mean
time, the whites slept Sally lay ON
pile of blankets in her wagon. All
the other women of the party slept,
too, within the wagons. But the men
slept on the ground, along with the
horses and cattle, with weapons ready
for any possible attack. AS for Tom
Mingle-Tom had himself posted SEN
tries all round the camp and had taken
as his post of duty position on
bluff overlooking the camp.
Now, as day broke, and while Tom
contemplated descending to the camp,
an arrow suddenly whizzed past his
head and buried itself in a tree behind
him.
"Injuns!" Tom told himself. by
all that's holy, the Injuns are upon
U.S."
And just then Pawnee warrior,
hideous in his war paint, sprang out of
hiding and pounced on Tom. Hand
to hand they fought in fearful
struggle, till presently Tom succeeded
in getting body hold on his opponent.
He lifted the savage and hurled him
headlong over the cliff.
Tom then ran with that speed for
which he was famous down to the
camp and cried:
ITO arms! The Injuns are on us"
Amid the ensuing excitement within
the circle of wagons Tom ran to Sally
and assured her that they were pre-
pared to withstand the attack.
Then the Indians appeared. At first
the long, thin line of redskins circled
round the wagons a long distance off,
shooting arrows in fight. The white
men fired and saw an Indian fall from
his saddle. Then white men-and
women, too-began falling within the
circle of wagons.
1.-The Injuns outnumber us ten to
one!" cried Tom. "This will be
AOh tn hn rt,r- 1x 10,
that another wagon train may be near
and hear the firing and come to our
rescue"
Narrower and narrower grew the.
circle of Indians in flight round and
round the improvised fortifcation of
wagons. And more and more whites
fell.
There goes Major Crabtree." shout
ed Tom. as the tall settler reeled and
fell mortally wounded. We've lost
| our leader"
Tom made Sally stay close Dy him,
that he might the better protect her
| when the final attack was made by the
enemy.
When the Indians were circling so
close to the wagons that the painted
figures on their bodies could be seen
by Tom, only few of all the hundred
settlers, men and women and children,
were still alive. One by one these sur
vivors fell. And now only Tom and
Sally remained to tell the tale. Just
then Tom, too, recoiled and sank to
earth
You're wounded" cried Sally, in
despair, as she tore off her bandanna
to stanch the flow of blood from a
wound in Toms left arm.
"The 1njuns are dismounting" cried
Tom. Sally, we must pretend to be
dead. Lie down and keep perfectly
still, no matter what happense"
Sally obeyed. She and Tom both
now lay as if they, too, had gone the
way to the silent halls of death along
with all their companions. Swift
Wind and his warriors swarmed with
in the circle and began setting fire to
the vehicles One by one they exam
ined the dead to make sure they were
in reality dead, an examination CON
Quoted chiefly by kicking the PROSTATE
bodies with moccasined foot.
White squaw-pretty! grunted
Swift Wind. as he passed the place
where Tom and Sally lay as If dead.
Just then Swift Wind happened to
step on Sally's outfiung hand The
pain of the weight of the chief on
her hand caused Sally to make a con-
vulsive movement of the arm. Swift
Winds sharp eyes noted this move.
ment and the next instant his war.
riors discovered that Sally was alive.
They dragged her to her feet.
Tom, at the same time, stealthily
picked up his gun and aimed at Swift
Wind. He pulled the trigger, but. to
his dismay, the gun was not loaded.
The click of the trigger betrayed him,
as the convulsive movement had be-
fra al IT.