Adventure Magazine Cover — page 119: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

War Wampum PONTIAC, followed by his lieuten- ants, departed and the warriors scattered to their kettles and the Wyandottes retired to their huts. Ballou rejoined his friends and related all that had taken place. After finishing his recital of facts he surmised: “Pontiac is very cunning. He half-sus- pects some of his own men killed the Dela- wares. He dodges responsibility by claim- ing the scalps were taken before he came down the lake. Unwilling for Tamaque to examine the hair he destroys it.”’ “He’s a fox,” agreed Meekly. “But he can’t dodge the fact that some one has been near his camp and dropped the hoops while his scouts were working to the east- ward. I ’low there’s several things that’s worrying him just now.” Black Beaver sat in stony silence, his wooden mask clasped to his breast. To him Meekly said— “All your good work has been burned up, my red brother.” ‘The next time it will be Ottawa hair,” hissed the Beaver. ‘‘That is too poor to put on hoops. that to burn very soon.”’ The Beaver was now concerned with but one desire—to wipe out the insult Pontiac unwittingly had thrown upon him. The scalp-locks of brave men were not to be burned on a camp-fire. To lay a careless hand on the scalp-lock of a living man was to give.great offense. Taken in warfare the lock was proof not only of the slayer’s cour- age and skill, but also the evidence that some manito had decided the victim’s al- lotted span had been finished. The burning of the scalps was an insult to the Beaver and to the dead men. The Beaver had great respect for the four dead men. They had fought very bravely. Ani- mated by a desire to show the Ottawas lounging by the Cuyahoga how to fight they had pressed on to their death. The Beaver had intended only great honor to the dead in preserving the trophies. Ultimately he would have offered them to the sun, or the water, or the earth, and the ghosts of the slain would have approved. “Tf the Beaver had been here alone,” he said, as if speaking to himself, “‘he would have taken the scalps and told the Ottawa dogs they belonged to brave men. ”’ “And Pontiac would have burned you along with the scalps,” snorted Meekly. Pontiac shall have some of 113 ‘“‘What is a little fire? All men must die. But ghosts do not die. The Beaver will ask the False-faces to tell the Leni-lenape ghosts that he did not burn their hair.” “The ghosts can not blame my red brother for what Pontiac has- soothed Ballou. But the Beaver was not so sure of this. Even manitos were whimsical in granting and withholding favors. Ghosts might be even more erratic. The Beaver turned to the wooden mask for comfort, but, although he listened long, the swollen lips and pro- truding tongue had nothing to tell him. He withdrew to one side and threw his blanket over his head. “The derned fool is gitting skeered of losing his medicine,” grunted Meekly. “If he takes the notion his medicine is gitting weak along of them burnt scalps he’ll face Pontiac and tell everything. What with him all upset, and with Rickards stumbling ‘round and blurting out whatever comes into done,” -his crazy head, Enoch Meekly is guessing it’s high time we was leaving Sandusky. Git your head to working. We must grab the gal and run for it.” ‘“‘We must make a plan at once,’ Ballou. ‘The big job will be to get her away from the cabin unseen. If we can get her into the woods with a fair kind of a start we'll stand a chance.”’ “Better she’s killed trying to git away than to fall into the hands of the Rat,” sighed Meekly. Only Rickards slept soundly that night, his vacant mind nursing no fears. Black Beaver remained seated under his blanket and had no speech for his friends. Medicine isa state of mind. He believed his medicine had been grossly insulted by the destruction of the scalps. It did not impress him as being illogical to believe a medicine which could protect him in battle and at other times of great dangers was helpless before the affronts offered by mortals. He had failed to protect his medicine; ergo, his medicine would fail him, either from inabili- ty to help or because of resentment. Meekly, more philosophical than his young friend, remained calm outwardly, but his heart ached as he brooded over the plight of the white girl. Ballou’s mind was crowd- ed with feverish plans, all of which proved fatally defective once he sought to analyze them. When he slept for a few minutes at ’ agreed a time it was to dream of calamities. Stark. COnnicloooks C©