The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1924-11-05

q Ddltle With the SaVageS
II VIII be seen by his words that ar
Dlhkus was a man of imagination. bur
again he is talking.
l were on my way to a big Injun
at S~wegache fer Sir Bill
ayes II were in FEBRUARY, the time O.
the great moon O the hard snow. I
1ouhd a heap o Lnjuns at Swegache-
hlohawkS, Senekys, Onandogs IN All
gonks. They had been swappin' pres
entS an speeches with the French
Just a little while afOre they had had
a Dellerin' match with us bout love an
friendship. Then suddenlike thev tuk
II In their heads that the French had
a sharper Ratchet than the English
L were skeered, but when | see thar
they was nobody drunk, l pushed right
INTO the big village an asked fer the |
old Senecky chief Bear Face-knowini
ne were thar-an' said l had a letter
from the Big Father. They tux me
to him.
Il give him a chain o. an
then read the letter from Sir Bill. 1t
= IL Ola 1NdllOLlS UlOTG l10U duF
a fort, an a regiment to defend 'em.
"a powerful lot o. Injuns tralled
back to Sir Bill, but they was a few
went over to the French. I kind o
miStrust thar's some O. them runny-
gadeS behind Us. They're 'spectin' to
git a lot O. plumber an a horse apiece
an ride 'em back an swim the river
at the place o the many islands.
Wen poke down to the trail on the
edge O. the drOwnded lands afOre sun
rise an l kind o. mistruSt we'll see
sign" !
Jack Irons was a son. Of the much
respected John Irons from New Hamp7
shire who, in the fertile valley where
he had settled some years before, was
breeding horses for the army and send1
ing them down to Sir William Johnson.
Hence the site Of his farm had been
called Horse valley.
Mr.. Binkus went to the near brook
and repeatedly filed his old felt hat
with water and poured it on the fire.
Don't never keep no fire s-gOin' alter
I'm dried out" he whispered, as he
stepped back into the dark cave.
~"'cause We never kin tell"
The boy was asleep on the bed Of
bOughs. Mr.. Blnkus covered him with
the blanket and lay down beside him
and drew his coat over both.
Hell learn that it amt no fun to
be a scout he whispered with a
yawn and in a moment was snoring.
1t was black dark when he reused
his companion. Solomon had been up
for ten minutes and had got their ra-
tiOns of bread and dried venisOn out
of his pack and brought a canteen of
fresh water.
They started down the foot Of the
gorge then dim in the night shadows
Binkus stopped, now and then, to lis
ten for two or three seconds and went
on with long stealthy strides. Hi;
movements were panther-like, and the
boy initiated them. He was a tall
handsome, big-framed lad with blond
hair and blue eyes. They could sOoI
see their way clearly.
They hurried through sloppy foOtin'
: in the wet grass that flung its dew
: into their garments from the shOulde
l down. Suddenly Mr.. Binkus stopped
? They could hear the sound Of heav,
= feet splashing in the wet meadow.
. "Scairt moose, runnin' this way I!
: the scout whispered. I'll bet ye
pint o, powder an a iShhOOk them In
. tuns is over east O. here"
II was his favOrite wager-that o
a pint Of powder and a fishhoOk.
They came out upon high grOun
/ and reached the valley trail just a
n the sun was rising. The fog had liftet
Mr.. Binkus stopped well away froI
e the trail and listened for some mil
p utes. He approached it slowly on n
tiptOes, the boy following in a liE
N manner For a moment the SCOT
e stood at the edge Of the trail IN
Ience. Then, leaning low, he examine
+. closely and quickly raised his han
"HOofs O. the devil" he whispert
as he beckOned to the boy. "See thar
he went On, pointing to the groun
"They've Jest gone by. The gra'
amt riz VT. Wait here"
He followed the trail a few ro'
with ewes bent upon it. Near a lit
run where there was soft dirt,
stopped again and looked intently
the earth and then hurried back.
Its a big band. At least forty
iuns in it an some captives, an {
devil and Tom Walker. It's a me
which they amt no mistake"
TN afraid my folks are in DANCE
sais the boy as he changed color.
"Er mebbe Peter BOneses-cord
TO the way they go. We got TO
| Ground EN- an pillow straight throu
1 the bush an over CObble hill
we'll beat EN- easy"
: IT was a curious, long, loose strl
the nee never quite s~traighten
with which the scout made his W
through the forest. 1t covered grou
/. so swiftly that the boy had now
then. to break into a dog-trOt in or
TO keep along with the old oodsm
Tboy FONT their pace up the steep 5