The Coolidge examiner., 1931-06-12

| TiaOga spoke. This youth shall
go with us. and in turn for his
| brotherhood. we will take the
| maiden to fill the place of Silver
Heels in my tepee. See that he is
given the scalp which is his that
he may have a feather in his tuft
when we arrive" Then he spoke
to Jeems: You hear!" Then to
TOinette: you are Silver Heels.
She was my daughter. She is
| dead"
No fash of emotion, no soften
! ing of his features, no sign of
| friendship crossed the chieftains S
cOuntenance. He turned and put
! himself at the head of his band
| huge among his men, with the
dignity of king in his bearing
! One of the braves who had gone
to Lussans fastened the white
mans scalp at Jeems' belt in spite
of his protest and adherence.
Once more the westward march
| resumed its way-a single file of
sOft-fOOted. nOiseless men with a
girl midway in their line-a girl
whose long dark braid cleaned
in the shafts of the sun, whose
cheeks were flushed. and whose
eyes held something more than
the depths of tragedy and grief
as she looked ahead to the great
adventure, and heard behind her
the tread of a dog and the steps
of the man she loved.
TOinette travelled easily in moe
casins which had been given her
She was not as fragile as Jeems
had thought when she had tried to
keep up with him In her high
heeled shoes.
Her slim body was strong and
supple. her eyes quick. her feet
sure. Shindas dropped back from
man to man TO see that all was
well. and his eyes cleaned with
satisfaction when he measured
how lightly TOinette was follow
ing those ahead of her. He fell
in close TO .Ieems. and the two
talked in low tones. Even Odd
seemed TO have changed now that
had mistruSted.
To an observer, the passing of
the SenecaS would have revealed
no sign of peace or mercy. That
il was q force chosen with care
for long and dangerous mission,
there could be no doubt. and that
it had met with success was
fnin
ty-siX scalps among its warriors.
which was triumph in ample meas
ure Eighteen of these had been
taken from men. five from women.
and three from children.
TOinette was not afraid, though
she could not account for her feel
ing of security. She was not only
unafraid of TiaOga, but there was
something she liked about the
man. She was sure he would not
kill her. She spoke this cOnvic-
ton to Jeems when he was at her
side. But Shindas had said to
him. Il have greater hope, for she
travels lightly and we'll She must
keep up. If she fails. Tiaoga will
kill her even though he has
chosen her to take the place of
Silver Heels"
Toinette kept from Jeems the
fact that she was growing tired
and that sharp pains had begun to
shoot like needles through the
overtaxed muscles of her limbs.
When they stopped for a meal
she ate an apple and half of
turnip, and Jeems brought her
water in a birchbark cup from the
cold stream beside which they had
camped.
He did not tell her the dark
news he had learned-that there
had been great slaughter of the
French under Baron Dieskau and
that the southern frontier lay at
the mercy of Sir William Johnson
and his hordes of savages.
Nor did he tell her that because
of trouble with band of Mo-
hawks, three of whose number
had been left dead in a personal
quarrel, TiaOga planned to reach
the Seneca stronghold in six days
and nights.
He was heavy with doubt when
the march was resumed, for he
saw the hitter souls hidden in the
breasts of the warriors. Hepsibah
Adams had made him see the
truth, and he knew these men
owed nothing to the people of his
race except loss and shame Many
times he had thought that, if fate
had placed his fortunes among
them, he would have hated with
the grimness of their hatred. The
freedom aud pride which were
once the heritage of their wide
domains were no longer the con-
trolling factors in their existence.
Their wars had ceased to be wars
whic gave birth to forest gods
and epics of unforgettable hero
ism. Their star was setting, and
with its decline the white man had
transformed them into common
killers, and in this new calling it
made small difference to them
whether they slew enemies or
those who posed as friends, as
long as the skins were white. SO
the nobility which Toinette saw
in their captOrs was poisoned for
Jeems by what was concealed
within their hearts. The greatest
of all hates was not the hate of a
man for a man, but the hate of a
race for a race, and he knew that