Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-24
This event has often caused ne to

This event has often caused ne to
wonder and speculate. If she were
really of their kind she must have been
lost from them at time when she
was too young TO remember, else would
she not have been afraid of them. On
the other hand. it may well have been
that, while she was their kind. she had
never been lost from them; that she
had been born in the wild forest far
from their haunts, her father maybe
a renegade fire man. her mother may
be one of my own kind. one of the folk.
But who shah say? These things are
beyond me. and the Swift One knew
no more about them than did I.
We lived through a day of terror.
Most of the survivors fed toward the
blueberry swamp and took refuge in
the forest in that neighborhood. And
all day hunting parties of the Fire
People ranged the forest, killing us
wherever they found u.s. 1t must have
been a deliberately executed plan. In
creasing beyond the limits of their own
territory, they had decided on making
4 conquest of ours. Sorry the con
quest. We had no chance against
them. 1t was slaughter, indiscriminate
slaughter. for they spared none. kill
ing old and young effectively Kidding
the land of our presence.
1t was like the end of the world to
as. We fed TO th1 trees as last ref.
uge, only to be surrounded and Ail-ed.
family by family. We saw much OF
this during that day, and, besides, l
wanted to see. The Swift me and I
never remained long in one tree, and
so escaped being surrounded. But there
seemed no place to go. The fire men
were everywhere, bent on their task OF
determination. Every way we turned
we encountered them, and because Of
this we saw much of their handiwork.
I did not see what became Of my
mother, but l did see the Chatterer
shot down out of the old home tree.
And l am afraid that at the sight I
did bit Of joyous lettering. Before I
leave this portion of my narrative l
must tell Of Red Eye. He was caught
with his wife in tree down by the
BURBERRY swamp. The Swift One and
I stopped long enough in our fight to
see. The fire men were too intent upon
their work to sotice US, and, further
more, We were well screened by the
thicket in which we crouched
Fully a score Of the hunters were
under the tree discharging arrows into
1t. They always picked up their ar
rows when they fell back to earth. l
could not see Red Eye, but l could
hear him bowling from somewhere in
the tree.
After short interval his bowling
grew muffled. He must have crawled
into a hollow in the trunk. But his
wife did not win this shelter. An ar
row brought her to the ground. She
was severely nurt, Ior sne maue no
effort to get away. She crouched in
sheltering way over her baby, which
chung tightly to her, and made plead
ing signs and sounds to the fire men.
They gathered about her and laughed
at her, even as Lop Ear and l had
laughed at the old tree man. And
even as We had poked him with twigs
and sticks so did the fire men with
Red Eyes wife. They poked her with
the ends Of their bows and prodded
her in the ribs But she was poor fun.
She would not fight, nor, for that mat
ter, would she get angry. She con-
tinued to crouch over her baby and to
plead. One Of the fire men stepped
close to her. In his hand was a club.
She saw and understood, but she
made only the pleading sounds until
the blow fell.
Red Eye, in the hollow of the trunk,
was safe from their arrows. They
stood together and debated for awhile,
then one Of them climbed into the tree.
What happened up there l could not
tell, but heard him yell and saw the
excitement of those that remained be-
meath. After several minutes his body
crashed down to the ground. He did
not move. They looked at him and
raised his head. but it fell back limplv
when they let go. Red Eye had ac-
counted for himself.