White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-05-07
The
Plains Of
Abraham
BY
James Oliver Curw00d
Q by Doubleday Doran Co., Inc
WNU Service.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER X-Continued

or in the many that followed. After
the triumphal night, the Indian town
fell once more into the routine Of its
existence. Men hunted, women worked,
children played. Warriors met in sol
emn councils and smoked necessarily
as they discussed the affairs Of their
commonwealth and planned for the
future. The Ozark Year" was upon
them. Winter threatened. But there
were other matters to be settled.
Taoga had brought unusual news.
The English, under a general named
Braddock, had been defeated and mas
sacred. The French had been de-
stroyed on Lake George Sir William
johnson, the White Father Of the
Sioux Nations, was victorious, and the
Mohawks were profiting greatly. This
brought somber looks into the faces
Of the Senecas. The eastern wilder
ness was bound to run red with war.
Taoga was sure. His warriors were
sure. The long-expected struggle be-
tween the English and the French was
at hand, and there would be no rest
for the tomahawk until the land was
free of one or the other.
Tiaoga and his councillors in Chenuf-
sio faced war-and famine. If their
fighting men went into the east, who
would keep the people from starva-
toni 1t was decided that Tiaoga
should take the warpath again with
thirty men chosen by lot, while thirty
Of his braves should remain to fight
hunger and death during the winter
months. The drawing came, but Jeems
was not included. Shindas was
doomed to leave his sweetheart again.
These were days when misgivings
assailed Jeems and Toinette in spite
Of their hopes and plans, yet no cloud
more than temporarily darkened their
visions. In the heart Of each was the
prayer that wandering priest might
come their way, so that the ceremony
could be performed which would make
them husband and wife. In the town
were number of white women who
had accepted Indian husbands in the
Indian way, but against this practice
Toinette revolted. She prayed and
Mary Daghlen prayed with her, for
through the years since her mother
had died the Thrush had kept her
faith unbroken. The Seneca, worship
ing her, honored it.
Early in November groups began to
leave, each with the small amount of
food which remained as its share.
Mary was to accompany two families
of eight people under the protection
of Thunder Shield, a valiant warrior
and splendid hunter. They were 60
ing toward Lake Ontario. Toinette
was given to All De Bah, the Tall
Man, relative of Tiaoga's.
Hiding their disappointment, Jeems
and Toinette encouraged themselves
with visions Of a future which they
tried to paint in bright colors. The
months would pass quickly. With the
earliest days of spring, they would re-
turn to Chenufsio. Every hour they
would live in each others thoughts,
and at night their prayers would cross
In the wilderness. Next year there
would surely be way. Fate would
not separate them again. In their
final moments together, Toinette's eyes
glowed with a depth Of faith and
love which it was impossible for Jeems
to measure fully.
In this way they parted.
He went north and west with Wus-
koo toward the Tyanagarunte river
which emptied into Lake Ontario. Odd
struggled between his devotion for
Jeems and for Toinette. He followed
his master a distance, then hesitated
and turned back. A lump rose in
Jeems' throat, and he could not see
clearly as his comrade sat in the trail
and watched until he disappeared.
Wuskoo led the way to a hardwood
country in which he was sure there
would be hunting that would last
through the winter. There were plenty
Of raccoons, and the mergansers or
fish ducks, would come to the swift
running headwaters to feed as soon
as ice closed the lakes and the mouths
Of the streams. Here they made their
lOukG VI Sdpllu66s IL was q ICW hluu
of home for Wood Pigeon. Jeems built
1t with cooking hearth and chimney
and tiny room set apart for Wood
Pigeon herself. The child's eyes
glowed with delight at this possession.
Each day Jeems told her more about
Toinette-how Sol Yam Makwun cared
for her beautiful hair, how it was part
Of her religion to keep herself clean,
how and why she did this thing and
that, until thoughts and desires grew
in Wanonat's head, and she employed
the comb and the brush which Jeems
made for her until her sleek black hair
was never untidy.
Heavy snow and extreme cold came
early In the season. BY the middle
of December, Jeems was compelled
to hunt on snowshoes, and so bitter
were the nights that the first of Jan
uary found even the headwaters freez-
Ing out tho ~-Ar~ansers.