The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-02-02
RomanceVers
Matter Of Fact
By OSCAR cox

of her native woods. SHE speaks poet
ically. as all ahorigines on. ii.'' y"
cabnlary is small. nut she ni:arS a,
for the deficiency Of words in i''
agery. One summer Miss Susan Jones.
q matter of fact young woman rs
ever trod the soil. took II into her Ii,...d
to spend her vacation, In upper Cana.
These two ui..t in the tni!an @.ti's
home on the banks If the Lite Wh lie
river. Miss Jones; said SHE h,ta '...:l
much of Indian legends AID a-ae,i-
l didn't get the girls name; Miss Jones
said it was Minne-SOmething-Or Other
to tell her one. Therpupon the Indian
told the following story:
"Abasca was the daughter of a great
chief. who lived long. long ago when
the tirst white man came to this cr,un,
try. She had never seen any man eX
cept a.
Indian" suggested Miss Jones.
"She had only seen the dusky men
Of the forest like herself. The first
man to come was tall as the young
pine. straight as the arrow and his
eye was that Of the eagle. ADasca
saw him, and her heart new to him
like the bird"
"A case Of love at Hrst sight. you
mean?"
"Abasca was loved by Stormwind.
the son Of a chief. Stormwind was
brave as the water that leaps from the
rock. and his arrow could pierce the
+, leaf that trembles at the top of the
tree
"a regular william Tell" Miss Jones
interrupted.
HE had not the heart to give way
to another. He was not born to know
that to love Abasca truly he should
| give her to the man she loved. The
white man might do that. not the In
dian. Stormwind learned that she had
given her heart to the white man. and
he resolved that the white man should
die.
"Stormwind made this vow at the
season when in this country the lamp
never goes out at night"
did they use kerosene or oil?"
For the winter had passed when
the sun Mt midday il small and cold in
the south. The white man was In the
wood where he hunted %he fox and
the mink and the otter. StOrmwind
! followed the trail and came to his
enemy when the sun stood high above
their heads.
""rrapper.' said Stormwind."
what funny name! like Storm
wind much better"
1.-THE white man may come; the
white man may hunt the fox and the
mink and the otter: he may ride In his
boat over the waves of the great bay
but he shall not take the maiden from
the Indian
"When he said this Stormwind fitted
an arrow to his bow. It may be ht
had never seen the white mans rife
1t may be he had never seen the white
man raise the rifle quickly to his shout
der and the deer far away drop dead
Before he lad fitted his arrow to his
bow and pointed 1t at his enemy thu
white mans eye ran along the barre
Of his weapon"
"Trapper had the drop on him. hadn'
he? How thrilling. Go on!'
'Stormwind,' he said. put bach
your arrow into your culver before
send the lead into your heart. Abasc,
is yours. I do not wed here In the for
est. The white man loves the white
woman, not the Indian squaw.'
From the woods came a piercing
shrek. The white man lowered his
rife and the red man his bow. It wal
woman's voice they heard. From q
cliff near by it came again, fainter
but more despairing than before. II
was the echo"
For heavens sake. what was III A
spook?"
1T was the wall Of Abasca. She hai
seen Stormwind go away with tht
look Of an angry Manitou on his brow
and she knew that be was going tt
fight the man she loved S.izing a RI
fie from the tepee. she followed bel
dusky lover and saw him when nc
spoke to-
"Trapper.'
"She held her rife to her shoulder
ready when Stormwind was about t.
send his arrow to his rivals heart OF
when the white man raised his rife
to kill the man she did not love-"
"She must have been awfully rat
tied"
when she heard the white man say
he did not love her she dropped hel
rifle. giving a cry that caused the white
cloud sailing In the heavens above t6
tremble."
II wonder she hadn't shot the brute
Then the white man and the Indian
went in the direction from whence the
sound came and saw on a high roct
the form of Abasca. She was on the
edge Of deep gulf beneath her, sway
ing here and there as the branch Il
moved by the wind. Then slowly hel
head bowed over the chasm. and al
the bird folds its wings and drops heI
beautiful form descended to DEATH"
You wouldn't catch me doing that
for the handsomest man that evel
lived. What did the men do thenT
THE white man went back to the
white mans country; the indian wen'
out on the bay. and the storm wind
for which be was named. arose and
claimed him."
I'm bet that man Trapper was pay
ing alimony to some woman In the
| etafos Ho ros fucf maop apou0b tr