The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-05-13


there II hopef'
"God knows. We shall do our best.
II the worst comes-whatf"
do not fear for me !; do not let any
memory of me turn you aside from
your work." she said quietly. II know
what you mean and pledge you I shall
never fall into his hands. Tit can
hot be wrong, I am sure, and-and I
must tell you that. II could not,
Steven, fOr-fOr I love you"
My eager hands were upon hers, my
eyes greedily reading the message re-
vealed so frankly in the depths Of her
own. She only was in my thoughts;
we were there alone-alone.
'They'rc a comm, Cap" yelled Ken
nedy and his rifle cracked. "By. G.!
they're here!"
With one swift spring I was back at
my deserted post and firing. Never
before had I been in an Indian battle,
but they had told me at Armstrong
that the Sacs were fighting men. I
knew it now. This was to be no play
at war but a grim, relentless struggle.
They came en- masse, rushing, reckless
~ forward across the open space,
pressing upon each other in headlong
desire to be first, yelling like fiends,
guns b%randished in air, or splitting fire,
animated by but one purpose - the
battering Of a way into that cabin. l
know not who led them-all I saw
was a mass of half-naked bodies
bounding toward me, long hair stream
ing. copper faces aslow, weapons gilt
tering in the light. Yes, I saw moro
the meaning Of that fierce rush; the
instrument of destruction they brought
witt. them. 1t was there in the center
of the maelstrOm Of leaping figures,
protected by the grouped bodies. half
hidden by gesticuIating red arms-a
huge l"-. borne irresistibly forward
on the shoulders of twenty warriors.
gripped by other hands. and hurled
toward us as though swept on by a
human sea. Again and again + fired
blindly into the yelping mob; I heard
the crack Of Tins rifle echoing mine.
and the rhug OF lead from without
striking the solid logs. Bullets
plougtrd crashing through the door
panels and Elsie'S shrill screams of
fright rang out above the unearthly
din. A slug tore through my loophole,
drawing blood from my shoulder in
its passage. and imbedded itself in the
opposite wall. In front of me savages
fell, staggering, screams Of anger and
agony mingling as the astonished as
sailants realized the fight before them.
An instant W. held them. startled,
and demOraliZed. The warriors bear
ing the log stumbled we a dead body
and went down, the great timber
crushing out another life as it fell.
Again we fred. this time straight into
their faceS-but there was no stopping
them. A red blanket flashed back be-
You'd the big tree: a cultural voice
shouted, its hOarSe note rising above
the hellish uproar. and those demons
were on their feet again, filed with
new frenzy. 1t was q minute-nO
more. With a blow that shook the
cabin, propelled by twenty strong
arms, the great tree butt struck,
splintering the oak wood as though it
were So much pine. and driving a
Jagged hole clear through n panel.
Kennedy was there. blazing away di-
rectly inlO the aSSailantS' ewes, and T
joined him.
Again they struck. and again, the
jagged end Of their h%attering ram pro-
truded through the shattered wood.
We killed. hut they were too many.
Once more the great butt came crash
Ing forward, this time caving in the
entire door. bursting it back upon it's
hinges. In through the opening the
red mob hurled itself, reckless of death
or wounds. mad with the thirst for
Victory a jam of naked beasts. crazed
by the smell of bl0od-a wave of
slaughter, crested with brandished
guns and gIealn Of t~omahawks.
There is nothing to remember
nothing but blows. curses. yells, the
crunch of steel on flesh, the horror of
cruel eyes gloWoring into yours. the
clutching Of fingers at your throat, the
spit of tire Sihgeing you. the strain of
combat hand to hand-the knowledge
that it is al over. except to die. I
had no sense of fear: no thought hut
to kill and be killed. | felt within NE
acknowledgements. insane strength
The rife butt spiintered in my hands
but the bent and ShapeleSs barrel rOSe
and fell like a fail. | saw it crush
against skulls: ! iabbed it straigh;
into red faces. l brought it down with
all my force on %clutclling arms. Fo,
an instant Tim was beside me. He
had lost his gun and was fighting Will
a knife. 1t was only d glimpse I haC
of him through red miSt-the next in
slant he was gone. A huge fellow
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