Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-08-26
CHAPTER VIII.
The Babe in the Woods.

fight for his life that is to TINS Qay
talked OF by IndlanS Of the north,
Curran had sought to further his
own ends. When ne took courage TO
speak TO MashA-uSe.n, giving snght
hints concerning AIS inLenCauns CO.
ward Ameou>S cn4Q, ne was met with
a smart.
'omce have returned from that
place OF tienas," CRED the bunch
back, my 1Ood has uUt nourISneu
me, Tor | have no tasCe Tor 1t.
Neither do / sleep, for II my eyes
Cos, there comes DeIore them tnat
Loce saw upturneu IN the raptQs
O1Uen there aIe QeVIlS around IL VINO
thrust Il at me! / am accurSed Le-
cause OF thee, anu some u4y tnou
an2-C snare the curse with mel"
hou art crazy" answered Cur
San, sneerIng at nIm. my Dram Is
becoming lore crooked Cnan tny
BODY"
but the man gave no answer.
mercy casting an evll g4ance at hIn
1GIore he returned IL ms snacn
where he spent many hours alone.
HIS fellow InulanS feared nm to
some extent and were Keen TO avoIu
aim.
Aneou was sitting before her tent,
q WOtul picture or {. woman who ha..
suffered great sorrow. Currant Went
up to her, being anxious always t.
make favoraDIe impression on her
"Decause OF the grIet that has
come upon thee, ne SAID, there Is
40 reason to aeprive myself of any
tnIng Jnou mayest need. The doc,
of the Storeroom is open. Help thy
self, for it is the way of white me
as OF indians that what belonged t,
the husband is the wife's and the
child's. Always come to ME al,
thou shalt have everything accoriin
to thy needs, for am thy friend.
The young woman locked at h;
'.,.,,~.r.' . TIE kindness Of his
= / n t'.~~," she said; "but I
ut = y here long. In seven
Pr vie ten, my father leaves
wiz IRIS hunting, and I 60
= a. Oh! the sight Of this
see y acre | have had such happl-
SIS is more than I can bear!
shall be of use to his wife, and can
help him who is old. Some traps |
c~n attend, and set snaras and pre-
p@re pelts, as 7 have done since
WIS a child"
Curran sought to dissuede her
from this purpose, saying that she
must not go away, for provisions in
plenty, and all that she might need
would be hers for the asking. When
Ameou shook her head firmly he
sought to influence her with other ar
gument.
"The child is son the Yellow Hair,
who was a white man. Ills father
would have wanted the boy to be
brought up as are the sons OF the
whites. knowing MANY thir~s THAT
ere not in thy mind. Therefore, he
should be kept here where there are
white people and grow up as a man
Of that race"
"He has no father now" cried
Ameou. Gle is my child, and will
follow the life of my own people! ]
ann again but one Of the Indians that
ere here today and gone tomorrow
The man who might have taught him
other ways is dead"
"There are others who may teach
himw exclaimed Curran. 81 shall,
myself, be at pains to do so, later on,
seeking to take the place of his f.
Their whom l loved. I will show him
the ways Of white people"
"The ways of white people! cried
the young mother. "They have
some that are evil, as I surely
know"
She was looking intently at him
with big, frank eyes. Probably she
had meant exactly what she had
said, but Curran was uneasy be-
cause, like all men of his kind, he
vas ever wondering how much 9TH
ers might suspect.
Therefore he could make no an
swer. He merely nodded his head
N a manner that might have signi-
fled anything, and went away slowly
with his hands in his pockets, trying
to look unconcerned.
A few moments later he CHANGED
to see the old chief, Nimissuts, sit
ting on the ground and sharpening
an axe with small file which is
one of the northern Indians most
valued treasures, Curran strolled
over to him and sat on the river
bank beside him.
"Thy daughter tells me that she
is going to follow thee in the
woods, Nimissuts," he said.
The old chief looked at him for a
moment and nodded, for he was not
a man of many words
"Thou and thy family have lived
well, without much thought of all
the help thy daughter caused thee 70
have" said the agent.
"It was according to the word
given by Lorimer Yellow Hair" re-
piled the old man quietly.
"True, but now that Yellow Hair
is dead it will not be so easy. Thou
art old and unable to hunt. Many
years ago no one else could compare
with thee in setting traps and bring
ing in great loads of pelts. This
year thy hunt was not large, and
other men did better by far"
when man grows DID," said the
chief quietly, ''the younger ones
overtake him. 1t has always been
thus"
"But there is no reason for thy
toiling much longer" said Curran,
looking at the tobacco he was cut
ting for his pipe. "Yet if thou art
not wise the day will come when
thou shalt not come back t. thy tent,
and maybe in another year thy bones
may be found or thy trapping line,
where in some blizzard thou had to lie
down and let death overtaAe thee.
Then the women of thy household