Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-10-17
Wrench swords and other weap.

Here they planted a stake IN
the ground and fastened me to it.
| gathered from the behavior OF
my captors and from a few words
which | overheard that my death
was decided on. They meant to
cut off my ears, nose, and tongue,
and then my head.
"However, they began by pre-
pairing their repast. They went
to a we'll close by, ate and drank
and took no further notice of me
except to laugh at me and des-
cribe the various treats they held
i'll store for me. An
other night passed. The torture
was postponed until the morning,
a time that suited them better. At
break of day they crowded round
me, uttering yells and shouts with
which were mingled the shrill
cries of the women.
"When my shadow covered a
line which they had marked OH
the sand the night before, they
ceased their din, and one of them,
who was to perform the surgical
operations prescribed for me,
stepped forward and ordered me
ITO put out my tongue. l did so.
He took hold of it with a corner
Of his burnous and, with his other
hand, drew his dagger from its
sheath.
II shall never forget the fer
ocity, coupled with ingenious de-
light, of his expression, which was
like that of a mischievous boy
amusing himself by breaking a
birds wings and legs . Nor shall
| ever forget the mans stupefac-
ton wehen he saw that his danger
no longer consisted of anything
but the pommel and a harmless
and ridiculously small stump Of
the blade, just long enough to
keep in it's sheath. His fury was
revealed by a splutter of curses
and he at once rushed at one of
his friends and snatched his dag
ger from him.
"The same stupefaction follow
ed: this dagger was also broken
off at the hilt. The next thing
was a general tumult, in which
one and all brandished their
knives. But all of them uttered
howls of rage.
"There were 45 men there; and
their IS knives were smashed.
=. :. The chief flew at me
as if holding me responsible for
this incomprehensible phenome-
non. He was a tall, lean old man,
slightly hunch-Backed, blind of
one eye, hideous to look upon.
He aimed a huge pistol blank at
my head and he struck me as so
ugly that l burst out laughing in
his face. He pulled the trigger.
The pistol missed fire. He pulled
it again. The pistol again missed
fire.
Cali Of, them at once began to
dance around the stake to which
1 was fastened. Gesticulating
wildly, hustling one another and
roaring like thunder, they leveled
their various firearms at me
muskets, pistols, carbines, old
Spanish blunderbusses. The ham
clicked. But the muskets, pistols,
carbines, and blunderbusses did
not go off!
sit was a regular miracle. You
should have seen. their faces. I
never laughed so much in my life;
and this completed their bewild-
erment.
"Some ran to the tents for more
powder. Others hurriedly re-
loaded their arms, only to meet
with fresh failure, while l did
nothing but laugh! The thing
could not go on indefinitely.
There were plenty Of other means
of doing away with me. They had
their hands to strange me with,
the butt ends of their muskets to
smash my head with, pebbles to
stone me with. And there were
over 40 of them!
The old chief picked up q bulky
stone and stepped toward me, his
features distorted with hatred.
He raised himself to his full