The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1916-04-10

men anu WOluch anu iistiS \
dren, the wiping out of the labor
of years in a single hour.
All. Yes! Ohio knew what In
dian war meant.
At last Jack came to Piqua.
Piqua stood close to the boundary
of the Indian tauntry. which then
spread over the whole northwest
ern quarter of Ohio. North OF 1t
lay the great Black swamp,
through which roved thousands OF
Indians, nominally peaceful, but
potentially dangerous. At Piqua,
too, dwelt Col. John Johnson, the
United States Indian agent, whose
business it was to keep them
quiet.
AS Jack rode into the outskirts
of the tiny scattered village, a
middle-aged man came up to him.
Hello. stranger he bawled.
whats the news"
Jack refined in. Sorry, but l
haven't any" he replied.
"Whar you from?'
From Dayton and the SOUTH
"Sho. Amt congress declared
war YETI"
Not that I know Of. The last
news from Washington was that
congress was still debating"
"Debatin'? And here the lnjuns
are film up with firewater and
sharpenin' their tomahawks."
What's the news from the
north" Jack broke in.
bad, bad, mighty bad, strang-
err" the man declared. Tint
red devil, Tecumseh, has been
a-traveling about the country but
he's back now and the Injuns are
getting ready to play thunder
with everybody. How far north Is
yo amin to go, Stranger
ITO Wapakoneta, think
"Then reckon you'll have to
see Colonel Johnson"
"Where'll | find Colonel john
SOM" demanded Jack.
well, now, that's mighy hard
to tell. Colonel johnson sloshes
round a whole lot"
BY this time a number of other
white men had come up. The old
hunter insisted on making Jack
known to all of them. Jack
heard the names of Sam billiard,
Job Garrard, Andrew Dye, josh
ua Robbins, Daniel Cox, and sew
eral others. All of them were
anxious for news in regard to the
coming war, and all shook their
heads obviously when they heard
that Jack proposed to go further
north.
The talk was interrupted by
the appearance Of wagon drawn
by mules and driven by a man
who looked neither to the right
nor to the left.
Hey" one of the men yelled.
whats the news?"
The driver paid no attention to
the call. His companion on the
box, however, leaned out. Go to
HI. you old grand-daddy-
long-legs," he yelled out.
The mans cheek redeemed. But
before he could retort horseman
appeared in the road in front Of
the wagon and threw up his hand.
Hold on, boys" he called.
Hold on! l want to speak to
you"
The driver hesitated; then,
compelled by something in the
eyes of the man, he sulkinly reiu-
ed in.
I'm Tom Rich. deputy to Col
onel Johnson, the Indian agent
up here" the horseman was ex-
planning. Colonel Johnson's
away just now and I've got to see
everybody that goes north to
trade with the Injuns."
I'VE amt going to trade with
no Injuns," said the man who APP
peared to be the leader. Were
taking supplies to Fort Wayne
for the Government. / reckon
you amt got no call to stop u.s.
Not a bit of it, boys. Just let
me see your papers and you can
go right along"
The man sought in his pockets
and finally extracted paper
which he passed to Rich, who
scanned it carefully. Your
names David Wolf, is it?" he
questioned, land your friends
name is Henry Williams?"
That's right, and we amt got
no time to waste. There amt no
tellin' when war'll be declared
an"
mo! There's no telling. You
can go along il you want to, but
the country's dangerous. Colonel
Johnson's at Wapakoneta now.
Better wait till he gets back"
wait, nothin'."' Wolf spat
loudly into the road. "If any
darned Injun gets in our way he
won't stay in it long. My pluck is
to shoot first and question after"
The deputy's brown grew
stern. You'll be very careful
who you shoot and when" he or
dered, sternly. "A single Indian
murdered by a white man might
set the border in flames and turn
thousands of friendly Indians
against us. You understand"
Wolf shrugged his shoulders.
81 reckon so," he muttered.
"All right; see that you heed"
Rich turned away from the men
Rand greeted Jack. And where
are you bound, sir?" he asked,
smilingly.