Red Plume — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

A SOREHEAD. 27 two men had been slain, and another vias brought ‘home severely wounded. Nipanuck-we had surprised an emigrant camp, but’ had not reaped the entire fruits of his victory, for he had lost two of his men, through lack of generalship on his own part. Although he had found the camp unguarded, he had found its inmates wide awake, and had met with a warm reception. | He had, also, overrated their strength, or he might have exterminated the party. Then ensued» a scene which baffles description. The women and children, especially the relatives of the deceased, tore their hair and garments, cast.away their tinsel ornaments, and filled the air with such horrible screechings and howlings, as could only have been heard in Bedlam, in the. days of chains and dungeons. The crestfallen warriors stood motion- less, with downcast heads and sorrowful countenances, until the clamor at last subsided, when they were taken a the hand and invited to enter the village. They had brought home two prisoners, a young man and a beautiful girl, who, as may be surmised, were none other than Frank Steele and Ellen Carver. The grief-stricken women demanded that these should be instantly immolated, to appease the manes of their fallen relatives; but the chief had no idea of putting to death such a handsome girl.as Ellen, and he told the people that he would reserve Frank for the present, until their revenge could be made complete. Accordingly, the girl was taken to a lodge, where she was carefully) guarded, and young Steele was ignominiously tied to a tree, to be cursed, jeered at and vexed, by the angry old women wag their a of children. Nip-muck-we returned 1 in a very bad bine Indeed; the Fat Bear might well have been termed, that morning, the Bear-with-a-sore-head, for hé was as cross and uncomfortable as any unfortunate bruin that ever climbed for a honeycomb and excited the indignation of the belligerent bees. As soon as he had performed his pressing duties as chief, he listened eagerly to old As-moo-tah’s. account, told with abundant ex-- ageerations, of the meeting between Kotselo and La-la, after which, he entered the lodge of the offending female, and had a stormy time, judging by what could be heard on the out- side. He could not, like a civilized human, break the dishes, connicioooks.conn