East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-06-24

quarry, and there YOU win nAna !.
without food aud water until yo, I
souls are free to leave-your bodi
Will remain
The faces of the LOOMS party b
came terror stricken. As the nativ
were about to take them pr;sonerS
Hendrix Hinged terrific blow t
Brown Panther's jaw, knocking hit,
down. That was the signal TOR a X.
eral fgh. But the whites were Sc,
eral times outnumbered and their caus,
was hopeless. II was not long before
| The captives wSSe breNght to the rur-
4uoise Quarry. The spot was like an
enormous hole in rock, with smooth
! rock sides rising up straight from the
bottom of the quarry, on the edge OF
! which stood Indian warriors on guard
Julia Wells Loomis and the rest OF
! the party were fanlished for want oil
food. A Single drink OF water wouiu
have been heaven to them. AS Brown
/ Panther gave his guards further or
| dcrs, he saw Ruth and Phil. with their
/ sailors, approaching. The chieftain
and his men quickly surrounded the
new arrivals, but suddenly he saw the
| Wampum Belt. Immediately he was
! impressed
MY warriors are at your com.
mand," he told the girl. "Your COM
! mands will be obeyed."
At Ruth's request, he led them to
the quarry where the girl was hor-
rified to see the captives. She COM
manded Brown Panther to liberate
them and permit them to accompany
her to Chief Lame Elk. The Indian
assented reluctantly. and soon the
party OF whites and Indians were cn
their way toward the native village. AS
they came to Lame Elk's hut, Brown
Panther drew Ruth aside.
Let me first advise Lame Elk os
your presence" he told her "He is
very i'll, and fear the sudden shock
might endanger his life" Ruth and
the group waited while Brown Panther
disappeared inside, A moment later he
emerged and motioned for the girl and
several of the party to enter,
The old Chief was indeed on his
death-bed. His shriveled form seemed
to be but a shell waiting to pass into
the Great Beyond. Ruth slowly took
off the Wampum Belt and handed it
seem to realize the significance. then
face. He groaned heavily and fell
back in his rude chair. A moment
later he seemed to recover and at
tempted to speak Ruth bent closer
to hear his words.
"My time is too short to tell the full
meaning of the cipher" he ntuttered
"The Great Spirit is calling me
find Stone Ear my beloved wife
she must be in your country
we were separated when brought my
tribe here from the Golden Canyon"
Almost exhausted, he took an amulet
from his neck and handed it to Ruth
"Give Stone Ear this token" he con-
tinued. "She will know it is from
me i. and she will read the Sacred
Wampum"
"Stone Earl" the girl exclaimed.
"She was the Indian who brought me
my fathers last messageP
AS she spoke terrible shudder
passed over the frame of the old
Chieftain. He tried to rise to his feet,
then fell back and lay quite still.
Brown Panther bent over Lame Elk
and endeavored to revive him. 1t was
too late, the Great Spirit had claimed
him.
"You are the cause of thisl" he
shouted, turning to the girl in fury
Of rage. And you shall atone!" Ruth.
frightened, drew closer to Phil, as
Brown Panther left the hut and ad-
dressed the crowd.
"The strangers have brought ca
lamity to usl" he cried. @Your great
chief, Lame Elk, has passed on to the
Happy Hunting Groundv
The air was filled with mixture OF
strange jargon and moaning The In
dams rushed to the hut to seize Ruth
and Phil, but the two eluded them and
broke into a run The sailors from the
Dragon did gallant bit OF fighting,
holding back the warriors while the
young people fled. Once Phil was
forced to drop behind and lay low
three of the Siburos who sprung at
them from behind boulder. As the
chase continued the young people were
separated. ~
Ruth ran on and on. Looking over
her shoulder, she saw that Phil had
disappeared, but that young man had
already proved he was perfectly cap
able of taking care of himself, so she
did not permit herself to worry. Finally
she came to an entrance OF cave
Here was place of shelterl Running
through the dark passageway, she sud
denly saw an incline before her, lead
ing to deep pit below. Unable TO stop
she slid down the incline toward th'
pit and managed TO grasp a stout poll
protruding from below. CIingiug t.,
the slippery pole she looked about her
A steep wall surrounded the pit. Shi
looked down A shudder of fear passet
! up her spine as she saw two lions il ;
the bottom of the pit, leaping up a
| har hunprilv