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The Seaforth News, 1938-06-30, Page 6PAGE SIX. THE SEAFORTH NEWS THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1938 'CHAPTER XVII Haw many shapeless terrors can spring from the mind ,of man I'never knew till Eric end ithe priest left me alone in the Mandane village. Ever, on closing my eyes, there rolled and rolled past, endlessly, 'without going one pace beyond my ,sight, something tOO 'horrible to the contemplated, When I looked about to 'assure my- self the thing was not there—could not 'possibly he there—memory flash- ed 'back the Whole drea-dful scene. Lip started glazed eyes leant the hearth, the floor, and every dim nook in the lodge. Thereupon I would -rush into the village road, wheee the shame- faced greetings of .guilty Indians re- called .another horror. If I ventured into Le 'Grand Dia- ble's power a fate worse than La Robe No -he's •awaited me. That there would he a hostile demonseration •ever the Sioux messenger's death I was certain. Nothing I offered -could in- duce any of the Indians to act as scouts or to reconnoiter the enemy's encampment. I had, of rny own will, chosen to remain, and now I found myself with tied hands, fuming •and gnashing against fate, conjuring •up all sorts of prajects for the rescue of /vfiriam, and butting my head against the impossible at every the -n. Thus three weary eleys dragged past. Having reflected en the conse- quences of their outrage, the -Man- (lanes exhibited repentance of a char- acteristically human form—resentment against the mese of their trouble. Un- fortunately, I was the eause. From the black looks of the young men I half suspected, if the Sioux chief would accept me in lieu of material gifts, 3 might be presented as s peace - offering. This would certainly not for- ward rny quest, and prudence, or cowardice—two things easily confus- ed when one is in peril—counseled dis- cretion, and discretion seemed to counsel 'flight "Discretion! Disceetion to peedi- tionl" I cried, springing up from a midnight reverie in my hut. Every selfish argument for my own safety had passed in review 'before my mind, and something so akin to judicious caution, which we trappers in plain language called "cowardice," was in- - sidiausly assailing my better self, I cast logic's sophistries to the winds, and dared death or torture to drive me from my •poet. When comes this sublime, reasonless abandon of im- periled human 'beings, vvhich casts off fear and caution and prudence and forethought and all that goes to melte success in the common walks of life, and at one blind leap mounts the Sinai of -duty To me, the impulse up- wards is as mysterious as the impulse downwards, and I do not wonder that pagans ascribe one to Omitted, the other to Aihriman. 'Tis ours to yield or resist, and I yield'ed with thc ve- hemence of it ,passionate n'attere, vow- ing in the darkness of the het—"Here, before God, I stay!" Swift came test of my oath. While the word s were yet on my lips, steal- thy steps suddenly glided round the lodge. A shuffling ,stopped at the door, while a chilling -fear took pos- session of me lest the mutilated form of my other Indian should next be hurled through the window. I had not time to shoot the doarebolt to its catch 'before a sharp click told of lift- ed latch. The hinge creaked, and there, distinct in the starlight, that senate through the open, stood Little Fellow, ,himeelf, haggard land almost naked. "Little Fellow! Good boy!" I shout- ed, pulling him in. "'Where -did you come -from How did you get away? Is it you or your ghost?" Down he squatted with a grunt on one of the 'robes, answering never a word. The 'gaunt look of the ,man dared his needs, so I prepared to feed him back to speech, This task kept me busy till daybreak, for the filling capacity Of a ,feamdshing Indian may no e likened to any other hungry, Thing On earth without -doing the red at wr man .grave injustice. ash "Boohoo! Hoollool But 3 he sick man tomorrow!" and he robbed him- self ,clown with a 'satisfied air of 'dis- tension, -declining to have his plate re- loaded for the tenth time. I noticed the poor wretch's ekin was cut to the bane round wrists and ankles. 'Chafed bandage marks encircled the flesh to his neck. "What diclsthis, Little 'Fellow?" and I pointed to the scars. A grim look of Indian gratitude for my interest came into the stolid face, 'Bad Indians,' was the terse re- sponse. "Did they torture you?" He grunted a ferocious negative. "You eot away too quick for them?" An affirmative grunt. "Le Grand Diable—did you see him?" At that name, his white • teeth snap- ped shut, and from the depths of the Indian's throat came the vicious snarl of an enraged wolf. F.Come," I coaxed, "tell me. How long since you left the Sioux?" "Walkee—walkee — walkee — one sleep," and rising, he enacted a 'hob- bling gait across the cabin in unison with the rhythmic utterance of his words, rWelkee—walkee—walkee—one." "Traveled at night!" I interrupted. Two nights! You couldn't do it in two nights!" "Walkee—walkee walkee — one sleep," he repeated, "Three nights!" Four times he hobbled across the floor, which meant he had come afoot the whole distance, traveling only at night. ;Sitting down, he began in a low monotone relating how he had re- turned to La Robe Noire with the ad- ditional ransom demanded -by Le Grand Dia,ble. The "pig Sioux, more gluttonous than the wolverine, mare treacheroue than the mountain cat," had come out to receive them with hooting -s. The -plunder was taken, "as a dead enemy is picked by earrion buzzards." He, himself, was dragged from his 'horse and bound like a slave squaw. La Robe Noire had been strip- ped naked, and young men tbegan piercing his chest with lances, shout- ing, "Take that, man who would scab; the Iroquois! Take that, dog that's friend to the white man!" Then had La Robe Noire, whose hands were bound, sprung upon his torturers and as the trapped badger snaps the hand nf the hunter so had he buried his teeth in the face of the boasting Sioux. Here, Little Fellow's teeth clench- ed shut in savage imitation. Then was Le Grand Diable's knife unsheathed. Marc, my messenger weld not see; Lor a Sioux :bandaged his eyes. An- other tied a rope round his neck, Thus, like a dead stag, was he pulled over the ground to a wigwam. Here he lay for many "sleeps," knowing not when the great sun rose and when he sank. Once, the lodges became very sal, like many waters, when the wind slumbers and only* the little WaTCS lap. Then came one with the soft, small fingers of a white woman and !genely, scarcely touching 'him, as the spirits rustle 'through the forest of a dark night, had these hands cut the nope around his neck, and un- bound him. A whisper in the English tontgue, "Go—run—for your 111 el Hide by day! Run at night!" The skin of the tent wall was lifted by the same ha,nds. He Tolled out. He tore the 'blind from his eyes. It was dark. The spirits had quenched their stae torches. No souls of dead war- riors danced on the 'fire plain of the northern sky! The lather a winds let loose a 'blast to drown 'all sound and help good Indian against the pig Sioux! He ran like a hare. He leaped 4ike a deer. He ,eame as the ATTOWS from the how of the great hunter, Thus hed he escaped from the Sioux! t e Fellow ceased speaking, peed 'himself in robes and fell ep could aot .doutlat whose were the I Blaok Cats speCal guard The Sic,ux -liberator's hands, and I marveled thee w.arriers swept towards' us in a tor - she had not came with him. Had elle known of our effonts at all? It seemed unlikely, Else, with the liberty she had, to come to Little 'Fellow, .steeely she would' have tried to escape. On the -other hand, her immunity from torture might depend on never at- tempting to regain freedom. Now I knew -what to expect if I Were captured by the Slope:. Yet, tgiv- en another stormy night, if Little Fel- low and I were near the Siotix with fleet herses, -could not .Miriam be res- cued in the sanee way he had escaped? Until Little 'Fellow had' -eaten and slept back to his normal condition of courage, it would be .useless to pro- pose such a !hazardous plan. Indeed, I deckled to send him to some point on , the northern trail, where I -could join ltim and go alone to the Sioux camp. This woued be 'better than sit- ting still to be given as a hostage to the 'Sioux. If the worst happened and I were captured, had I 'the courage to endure Indian tortures A man en- dures what he must endure, whether he wil4, or not; and 1 certainly had not courage to leave the country with- out and 'blow for Miriam's freedom. With these thoeghts, I .gathered my belongings ie preparation for sec- ret departure from th-e ,Mentlanes that night, Then I prepared breakfast, saw Little 'Fellow lie back in a dead sleep, hnd strolled out among the lodlges. Four days had passed without .the coming af the avengers. The erileagers were 'disposed to forget their guilt and treat me less sulkily. As I sauntered towards the north hill, pleasant woods greeted me .from the lodges. "Be not afraid, my son," exhorted Chief Black Cwt. "Lend s deaf ear to bad talk! No harm shall 'befall the white man! Be not afraid!" "Afraid!" I Itiouted back, "Who's afraid, Black Cat? Only white -livered cowards fear the Sioux! Surely no Mandane brave fears the Sioux—ugh! The cowardly Sioux!" My vaunting pleased the old chief mightily; for the Indian is nothing if not a boaster. At once BlackCat would have broken out in loud tirade on his friendship for me and contempt for the Sioux, 'bet I cut him short and moved towards the hill, that .overlook- ed! the -enemy's territory. A great Cloud of dust whirled em from the northern horizon. "A tented° the next thing!" I ex- claimed with -disgust. "The fates are against me! A fig for my plans!" I stooped. With ear to the 'ground I could hear a rumbling clatter as of a buffalo stampede. "What is it any son?" asked the voice of the Chief, and I saw that Black Cat had. followed me to the.hile "Are those .buffalo, Bleak Cat?" and I pointed to the north. As he peered forward, 'distinguish- ing clearly what any civilized eyes could not see, his face darkened. "The Sioux!" he muttered with a black look at me. Turning, he would Rave hurried away without further protests of -friendship, ,but I 'kept pace with him. "Pooh"! said 3, with lefty contempt, whieh I was far front feeling. "Pooh! Black Catl'Who's afraid of the Sioux? Let the women run from the Sioux!" He gave ane a sidelong glance 'to penetrate my siecerity and slackened hie -flight to the prated gait of a fear- less Indian. All the same, alarm was epread among th-e lodges, and every woman and -child of the Mandanes were hidden .behind 'barricaded doors. The men mounted 'quickly and rode out to gain the advantage ,ground of the north hill fiefore the enemy's ar- rival. Another cross current to my pur- poses! Fool that 1 was, to have dilly- dallied three Whole days away like a helpless old equaw wringing her hands, when I should have dared ev- erything and ridden to Miriam's res- cue! INow, if I had been near the Sioux encampment, when all the war- riors were sway, how easily could I have liberated Miriam, Always, it is the course we have not followed, which would have led to success we have 'failed to grasp in our chosen path. So we salve wounded mistrust of self and still, in spite of manifest proof to the 'contrary, retain a magnificent -conceit, , I cursed' my blunders with .a vehem- ence usually reserved afor other men's entors, and at once decided to make the be st of the 'present, letting .past and futute each take care of itself, a course which will save it man gray hairs over to -morrow and give him a well -provisioned to -day. Arming myself, I -resolved to be among , the bargainemalters of the Mandanes rather than be bargained by the Sioux, Wakening Little Fellevv, I told hixn rny pian and ordered him to slip away north while the two tribes were p,arleying and to await me a day's march front the Sioux camp. He told me of a waded valley, Where the could rest with his 'horses concealed, and af- ter seeing him off, I rode straight dor the 'band of assernbled Man -daises ancl surprised -them lbeyond all measure by eking a place in the forefront of nado. Ascending the slope ata gallop, whooping and beefing their deems, they charged pest es, and .dlown at dull speed through the villages 'displaying a thousancl dexterities of horseman- ship and prowess to strike terror to the -Mandanes, Then they dashed ha* and reined up on the hillside -beneaelt our forces, The men were naked' to the waist and their faces 'were ;blackened. Poroupine -quills, beavers' claws, hook- ed 'hones, and hears' claws stained red hung round their necks in ringlets, or adorned gorgeous belts. Feathered crests -and broad -shielded mats of .wil- low switches, 'on the left 'arm, 'complet- ed their -war dress. The leaders had their 'Meek -skin leggings strung 'front hip to ankle with small hells, an,d car- ried firearms, as well as arrows and stone lance's; but the majority had only Indian weapons. In that respect —thoneth we were not one third 'ascii number—we had the .advantage. All the Mande -nes carried- firearms; 'but I do not believe there was enough am- munition to average five rounds man. Luckily, this was' 'unknown to the Sioux, I scanned every face. Dia- ble was not there. Scarcely were the ranks in position, when both Sioux and Mendene ,chiefs rode forward, and -there o.petted -such a harangue as I have never heard since, and hope I never may. "Oer yourig man has 'been killed," lamented the Sioux. "He was a good warrior. His 'friends sorrow. ,Oue hearts are DO longer 'glad. Till now our hands 'have been white and our hearts clean. But the yoeng Mall has been slain and we are 'grieved: Of the scalps of the enemy, he brought many. 'We hang our heeds. The pipe of peace has not been in our council. The whites ane our enemies, New, the young MOD 1S •dead. Tell us if we are to be friends or enemies. We have no fear. We are -many and strong. Our bows ere good. lOur arrows are pointed with flint and our lances with stone, Our shot -pouches are not light. But we love peace, Tell us, what doth the Man-darsa offer for the blood of the young man? Is it to be peace or war? Shell we be 'friends or enemies? Say, great chief of the lvlandanes, what is thy answer?" This and mere did the Sioux -chief vauntingly declaim, 'brandishing his war club wed addressing the four points of the -compass, 'also the sun, as he shouted out his defiance. To which Black Cat, in louder voice, .made reply. 'Say, greet chief of the Sioux, our dead was brought into the camp, The body was yet warm. It was thrown at our feet. Never before did it enter the heart of a Missouri to seek the blood of a 'Sioux! -Our messengers went to your camp smoking the sacred calu- met of peace. They were 'hes of the Mandanes. They were friends of the white men, The white man is like mag- ic. He has given 'guns to sour warriors. His shot begs are full and his guns many, But his men, ye -slew, We are for .peace, but if ye are for war, we warn you to leave mar camp before the warriors -hidden where ye see them not, break forth. We cannot answer for the white man's magic," ,and I heard my power over -darkness and light, life and death, magnified- in a way to terrify my own dreams; 'but Black Cat cunningly wound up his bold declamation by aeking what the Sioux chief would have of the white man for the death of the messenger. A clamor of voices arose 'from the warriors, -each claiming some relation- ship and attributing extravagant vir- tues to the .dead Sioux. "I ant the afflimed father of the youth ye killed," called an old warrior, putting in prior claim lor any forth- coming -compensation and enhancing its value by adding, "anti an ivory wand he carried in his hand" "Ile who was -killed' was my bro- ther," cried a third, "and he 'had- a new gun and much -Powder." "He was braveretthatt the buffalo,1' declared another. "He had three wounds!" "He had scars!" "He wore many scalps I" came the -voices of .others. "Many 'bells and -beads were on his leggings'!" "He had ,garnished moocasins!" "He slew a bear with his own hands!" "His knife had a handle of ivory!". "His arrows had .barbs of beavers", claws !" If the noisy -eleimapts :kept on, 'they would presently Imake the dead man a god. 3 begged Black -Cat to 'cut the 'parley short and demand ex- actly what gift would compensate the Sioux for tilt -e loss of so great a war- rior. After another heli -hour's jang- ling , in which I. -took an animated part, 'beating -down their exorbitant request for two hundred guns, with ,beads and hells .enough ;to outfit the whole Sioux tribe, we oame to terms: Indeed, the grasping' 'rascals well- nigh cleared out all that was.)eft of my trading stock; Ibut when I saw they had no ineentionof figIttiog , held back at the last end ,demanded the sae -render of Le 'Grand Diable, Miriam and the chili in -compensation for Da Robe Noire. -from the SOO and the moon to eh Then, they swore by everythinge,. cow in the in.eaclow, that they were not responsible for the doings Of Le Grand Diable, who was an Iroqtto s. Moreover, -they -vowed Inc 'had 'hut- riedly taken his -departure for the north four 'days before, -carrying with -him the strange woman and the White -child. As I had no 'object in arousing their resentment, 3 -Itieu,d thcir words .voithaut voioing MY own suspicions and tgiving over the booty; whiffed pipes with them. But It. bed no intention of ibaing tricked, by the rascally Sian; land veleile they aed while they and the Mandanes, Fele. -brated the ,peace treaty, I saddle my horse and epurred Off for their en- campretent, glad to see the last of a region where I had suffered much and gained nothing. CHAPTER XVIII The warriors had :spoken truth to the •Mendartes. Le Grand Dialble was not in the Sioux lodges. I had been at the encampment for almost a. week, daily expecting the warriors' retail, 'before I -could persuade the people to grant me the eight to search through the wigwams. In the end, I succeeded only 'through artifice. Indeed, I was becoming too proficient in -craft -for the maintenance of self-respect. A chil-d—I explained to the serly men who barred isiy way—had beeh confused with the Sioux slaves. If it were among their Icklges, I was will- ing 10 pay well for its redemption. The phi squaws, eying me distrustfully, averred I had come to steal .one of their naked brats who swarmed on nty tracks with a tantalizing persistence as the vicious slogs, The jealous mothers would not hear of my search- ing the tents, Then I was -compelled to make friends with the -bevies of young squaws, who ogle newcomers -to the Indian camps. Presently, I gain' ed the'run .of all the ded-ges, Ind'eed, I needed not a little -diplomacy to keep from being adopted as son-in-law by one pertinacions -old fellow a kind af ,enebarrassinent not wholly confined to trappers in the wilds, Bet not a trace of Diable and 'his -captives -did T find, I had hobbled my 'horses—a string of six --in a valley sorne distance from the camp and directly on the traid, where Little ,Fellow was awaiting me. Returning from a look at their condi- tion one evening, I heerd a band of hunters from -the Upper Missouri. I was sitting with a .group of men squat- ted before nty fatherly Indian's lodge,. when somebody walked np behind us and gave a long, low whistle. 'Mon Dieu! -Mine frien', the enemy! 'Tis -hel Thou -cock-brained idiot! Ho —hol Alone among the :Sioux!" came the -astonished, half -'breathless exclam- ation of Louis Laplante, mixing his English .and French as he was wont, when off guard. Need I say the voice -brought me to my feet at •ene 'leap? Well I remem- bered 'how I had left thim lying with a snarl between his teeth in the 'door- way of Fort .Douglas! Now was Isis chance to score off that gred.gel I should not have Ibsen surprised if Inc ha -d paid rne with a stab in the back, "What dor—come yote--here?" he slowly demanded, facing me with a re- vengeful gleani in his eyes. His Eng- lish was still mixed. There was n -one of the usual- light end -airy -impudence of his manner. ''You -know very well, Louis," re- turned witleout quailing. "Who should know ,better than you ROT -the sake of the old days, Louis, help to undo th-e -wrong you allowed? Help me arid before Heaven you shall command your own price. Set her free! After- wards torture .me -to the death and' take your full pleasure!" have it, anyway," retorted Louis with a hard, dry, mirthless laugh. "Know they—what dor—you come?" He pointed to the Indians, who understood not e word of our talk; and we walked a pace -off from the lodges. "Nol I'm not always a fool, Louis," said I, "though you cheated me in the gongel" "See those stones?" There was a pile of rock on the edge of the meine. "I do. What of them?" "All of your Indian—Aft after the dogs—it lie there!" His -eye question- ed mine; }but there was not a vestige of fear in me towards that boaster. This, I set down not vauntingly, but fully realizing what I -owe to Heaven. "Poor fellow.," said I. "That was cruel work." "The .other man—he fool them----" "All the better," I interrupted. "They not be cheated once more again! NO—no—mine frien'l To come here, alone! Ha—hal Stupid Anglo- Saxon ox I" "Don't waste your breath, Louis," quietly remarked. "Your names have no more -terror for me now than at La- va/1 However big a 'knave you are, Louis, you're not a fool. Why don't you, make something out of this? I can reward you. Hold me, if you like! Scalp me and skin me and put me un- der a stone -pile dor revenge! Will it make your revenge thy sWeeter to tor - PROFESSIONAL CARDS Medical DK E. A. MeMASITOR—Graduate Of the Faculty of Medicine, Univers- ity af Taranto, and of the New York Post -Graduate School and Hospital. Member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Office an High street. Phone 27. Office fully equipped for x-ray diagnosis and for eltra ,slhert wave electric treatment, sera violet sun lamp .treatment and infra red electric treatment, Nurse in attendance. DR. GILBERT C. JA'R'ROTT — Graduate of Faculty of Medicine, Un- iversity of Westeen 'Ontario. Member of College of ,Physieians and'Suageons of Ontario. Office 43 Goderich street west. Phone X. Dourt 2-4.30 pane /.30e9 pm. Other hours hy appoint- ment. Successor to Dr. Chas. 'Mackay, DR. H. HUGH ROSS, Physician and Surgeon Late of Lyndon Hos- pital, London, England. Special at- tention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Office and eesidence behind Dominion Bank, Office Phone No. 5; Residence Phone 104. DR. F. J. BURROVVS, ;Seaforth. Office an:d residence, Goderich street, east of the United Church. -Coeoner for the Cotenty of Huron. Telephone No. 46. DR, F. J. R. FORSTER— Eye Ear, Nose and Throat Graduate In Medicine, University of Toronto 1007. Late Assistant New York Ophthal- mic and Aural Institute, Moorefield's Eye, and Golden Square throat hospi- tals, London. At Commercial Hotel, Seaforth, third Wednesday in each month from 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. DR. W. C. SPROAT Physician - Surgeon Phone 90-W. ,Office John St. Seaforta- Auctioneer. GEORGE ELLIOrr, Licensed Auctioneer for the County a Huron. Arrangements can be made 'tor Sale Date at The Seaforth News. Charges moderate and satisfaction guaranteed. F. W. AHRENS, Licensed Aucttion- eer for Perth and Huron Counties, Sales Solicited. Terms on Application, Farm Stock, chattels and raj estate , ProtPertY. R. R. No. 4, Phone 6.34 r 6. Apply at this office. WATSON & REID REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY (Successors to James Watson) MAIN ST., SE/WORTH, ONT. All kinds of Insurance risks effect- ed at lowest rates in Eirst-Class. Companies. • THE McKILLOP 4 Mutual Fire Insurance Ca HEAD OFFICE—SEAFORTH, Ont.. OFFI CERS President, Thomas Moelan, Sea. forth; Vice President, William Knox, Londesboro; Secretary Treasurer, M. A. Reid, Seaforth. -AGENTS P. MoKercher, ERA, Dublin; John, E. Pepper, RAU, Brucefield; E. R. G. Jur-mouth, Broclhagen; James Watt,, Blyth; C, F. Hewitt, Kincardine; Wm. Yeo, Holmesville, DER/EC-TORS Alex. l3roadfoot, Seaforth No. 3; James Sholdice, Walton; Wm. Knox,, Londesboro; George Leonhardt, 130m -holm No. 1; Frank (McGregor,. Clinton No, 5; James Conmoliy, God-. erich; Alex MeEwing, Btlyth No. 1; Thomas Moylan, Stator* No. 5; Wm. R. Archibald, Sealforth No. 4. Parties desirous to effect insurance or transact other business, will be promptly attended to by applications. to any of the above named officers addressed to their respective post - offices. ,tore a helpless, white woman?" Louis 'winced, 'Twas the .first sign of ,goodness I had seen in the knave, and I credited it wholly to his 'French an- cestors. "I never *torture white woman," he vehemently declared, with a sudden., flare-up of his proud tetnper. "The son of a seigneur_—" "The son of a seigneur," I broke in, 'let 'an innocent woman go hito cap- tivity by lying lio mei" "Diet harp on that!" said Louis -with a scornful laugh—a laugh that' is ever the refuge of the cornered liar, "You Day me hack by stealing des- patches." (To Inc continued) Times, 3 am.—"Whates the matter,. sir Lost your key?" • "No, officer; lost my eerve."