The Coolidge examiner., 1931-06-19
CHAPTER Ix-Continued

This convinced them that fortune
was bound to smile on them again
They had loved Sol Yam Makwun
With her death had come bad
times. Now the spirits would give
them an easy winter, and next year
would see the earth Towering with
good things.
ChenufsiO made ready for the
. feast. There were still plenty of
earthly things and supply of late
green corn packed away in husks
and kept for this occasion.
The last day was long for TOi-
nette. 1t had begun at dawn, and
though TiaOga halted his men at in
tervals to let her rest, 1t had not
ended with dusk. Darkness came
before they reached a plain on the
far side of which was a hill. Be-
yond this hill was Chenufsio. They
could see the glow of a great fire
lighting the sky.
Toinette forgot her exhaustion at
this sign of the end of their jour
ney. She observed that some one
took from Jeems the scalp Of the
man he had killed, which he had
tried to conceal from her eyes un-
der flap of buckskin. Then
she saw all of the scalps taken by
the Senecas fastened like dangling
fish to a slender pole which was
carried on the shoulders of two
men, the hair of one of these scalps
reaching almost to the ground.
With the scalp carriers in the lead
they came to the hill at the edge of
the plain and looked down on the
valley of ChenufsiO.
At TlOgas command the men
bearing the scalp-laden pole had
gone ahead, and now Tiaoga fol
lowed with his men in single file.
Toinette and Jeems were midway
in the line. Wide slave collars of
buckskin had been placed about
their neckS. and JeemS was stripped
of his weapons. The warriors did
not hurry. Their step was slow
and steady and not a man broke
the silence with a whisper or
word. \ sea Of torches advanced.
1t rolled in and out of hollows like
a food. then came to a level place
and formed two streaming lines of
fire. The scalp bearers reached
these a hundred yards ahead of
Tiaoga and his men. TOinette
could see them enter the light of
the torches, and in these moments
the voices of the savages rose to
the heavens. TiaOga paused. and
not until the scalp bearers had pa
raded their grisly burden the en-
tire length of the gauntlet of fame
did he proceed again.
TOinette felt stealing over her a
strange faintness of body and limb.
Stories which she had forgotten.
stories she had heard of the In
dians from childhood. stories that
had sent shivers through the hearts
of a thousand homes along the from
tiers all crowded upon her at once.
Wild tales of appalling torture and
vengeance, of stake and fire and
human suffering. She had listened
TO them from her fathers lips, from
passing vOyageurs. had heard them
in the gossip of the seiSneIrie. And
she remembered by name this or.
deal which awaited them. 1t was
lie Chemin de Feu-the Road of
Fire-through which they must
pass. Others had died in it. Roast
ed by pitch-filled torches. Blinded.
Killed by inches. So she had been
told.
Tiaoga had his warriors moved
slowly. They were like bronze men
without flesh or emotions. Their
heads were high, their bodies
straight. their jaws set hard as
they stalked at a death-march pace
between the columns of their peo-
pie. Ieems fell into this rhythmic
movement as the mouth of the
torch monster began to swallow
them. And then with eyes that
became flame-like pools of fear and
exhaustion TOinette saw that not
q hand gave sign of raising against
them. The torches coughed and
flared, but not a spark touched
their skins in passing. No eyes
cleaned hatred at them. No finger
clenched, no hand was raised. The
thing she had heard in the land of
her people were lies. The Indians
killed in war but they did not tor
ture. They did not pull out eyes
and thrust sticks through quivering
flesh They were men and women
and children like all other men
and women and children. These
truths she thought she had discov-
cred for herself.
But one thing she did not fully
know. She might have learned ii
had she caught the lOw-voiced whis
perings which followed the passing
of the warrior: "She is Tiaoga's
daughter-she is the spirit of Sol
Yam Makwun returned to us in the
flesh-now our good fortune will
return-the sun will shine-light
and laughter will cOme-for Sol
Yam Makwun is here, out of death
to live with us again"
They crossed a field of darkness
toward the fires. and when they
came among them Tiaoga was
marching in Jeems' place and
Jes ms had disappeared. She had
moi sensed his going or TiaOga's
presence, and before she knew
that Jeems was no longer among
the warriors. she found herself
standing alone with the Seneca
chief. the people gathering in
circle around them. Tiaoga began
TO speak. His voice renewed her