Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 272 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

— eel Seth Sl —— AT < T Se clutched at him as they passed, leaning from the saddle. Then he began to comprehend they were only making game of him, for no one bad drawn a weapon on him, and to show that he also understood the game, he lay as flat as he could, to make the exploit ef picking him up the more diffi ult, For all thet, the very first pair of men that swooped over him caught him up and swung him across the saddle-bow of the left-hand In- dian, when he immediately turned in the sad- dle, clutched his captor in his turn, and pulled him off his horse, so that they rolled on the ground together. A howl of delight showed that the act was appreciated, and Slocum, who was a good boxer, gave his captor acrack in the eye that broke bis hold, then sprung up and ran to the pony, thot! ° halted the moment its master fell, W, an active bound he reached it and —— a SE ee =a een _ Ai. i A A A ee en —e—————— eu oe = = — TT . ocum, Railroad Surveyor. 15 | a Then you are my son, not my brother, and = _ a — — — + —_ ae wr ' swLopin | EES _ bound to obedience, Dismount from your borse; go into the plain; lie down, and trust to the mercy of the brethren, 1 have spoken,” The young man knew that in the rules of this Indian Order, asin the allied branches of Masonry, the strictest obedience was required of the member, to be rendered to those above him in degree, when commanded according to the rules, and he saw that the Indian was only trying him. ith a gesture of respect, he sprung from his horse, advanced to the midst of the plain be- tween his commander and the body of hunters, ani threw bimself down on bis face. He heard the chief call out some orders in an unknown tongue; which was followed by a tremendous yell from the Indians, who came down on him, firing pistols as they came. beard the bullets whistle by bis head and body, felt the sting of the dirt knocked swupez bimself into the saddle, then waved his | over him, but tried hard to control bis nerves, | and lay still, bis heart beating rapidly. hand with ashbout and dashed off, followed by the Indians, yelling with laughter. He began to realize that their seeming] ferocious yells were only part of their roug play, most of which was evidence of their joy at the success of the fall hunt, Away they went after him, and he turned and wound bis way through tke midst of them, evading their grip and every now and then sweeping an Indiun back over the croup of his 0) . Me found that he was far stronger than most of the Indians he met, being a six-footer and a trained gymnast, thoug he bad never had any a in the peculiar sports of the Sioux. t last he bad threaded his way clear through the whole gang. when he saw before him, in the valley, Bat Richards, riding slowly toward him, in company with an Indian who did not seem to have been in the hunt at all, for he was wrapped in a Jong painted buffalo-robe and wore on bis head a lofty crest of eagle-plumes, No sooner did the young surveyor see bis friend, than he made toward him; while the dignified Indian by Bat’s side raised his head with a slight repellent gesture, which seemed to be completely understood; for the rush behind Slocum instantly ceased, and be was left alone, Then he rode up to Bat, expecting to be greeted politely, and made the sign of the Order to the dignified chief, It was instantly returned, and to his surprise be was addressed in French, with the same Canadian accent as that shown in Bat’s talk. ‘“ You have done wrong, brother,” said the dignified Indian, ‘‘ You have not trusted to the Black Cloud, and you have struck a brother in the face.” His tone was stern and harsh, and he con- tinued in the same way: ‘You say you come from the rising sun to teach us the mysteries of the Cloud. You will find you bave much tolearn yet. Howsball we know you are nota spy, come to help our foes?” Slocum bad come prepared for this, He knew ‘that the Indian Order, in imitation of Masonry, had adopted various emblematic de- ees. into all of which, but one, had he been duly initaited, among his friends the Mobawks, at one degree was said to be in the posses- sion of only three men in America, one of them being the head survivor of the Six Nations of ancient fame; the other two unknown, The only bar to Slocum’s success in bis quest for the missing field-book, Jay in bis want of the only bar to this latter was the possibility that one of the two men who held the higher lived among the Sioux. de his he could bardly believe possible; for the reason that the taking of this degree involved the possession of a knowledge of reading and writing, as he hed beard, and of some other ac- complisbments difficult to acquire in the case of an Indian. He answered oat) eh mh of the dignified In- dian by saying boldly: af Text 4 oF gs e, The Horse Chief is a bro- ther, of a lower rank than I.” The Indian fixed his eyes upon Slocum, and made the sign of one of the lower degrees, ask- ing: ‘+ Why do we place our bands thus on enter- ing the lodge?’ ’ Slocum answered him readily, and gave him back a question in a higher degree to which the dignified Indian answered: _ ‘That tool know; but cannot answer in the presence of a brother who is not a chief in the ”? oeoat Richards instantly took the hint and rode axay, when the strange Indian answered Slo- cum’s signal, retorted with another in a bigher rade. and carried him up, to the limit of his owledze, in less than five minutes. | Then the Indian looked the white man in the eye, and asked; . | i 4 ‘‘ What is the crown of all? . As he spoke he made a circle of his forefinger r 4 The strange Indian allowed a grave smile cross bis face as he sai‘: nn cs to | ability to gain the confidence of the chiefs, and. Slocum colored deeply and was forced to an- Then the rapid patter of feet came nearer and nearer, with the incessant cracking of fire-arms, ' and he felt himself unable to lie where he was. In a desperate state of excitement he rolled over on his back, and saw the whole body of the hunters close on him, the men leaning over from their saddles and firing at him, asif deter- mined to kill him, for there was no mistaking the murderous look of their faces. : At the head of all, on Major Ireland's bi roan, came Bat Richards, who had outstripped the rest by a length. Slocum heard bim yell: ** Ne bougez pas! Ne buogez pas!” (Don’t budge! don’t budge!) Then hesaw the half-breed, when just over him, set his teeth, make a dive from the saddle, and clutch him. The next moment be was swung up, single- handed, by Bat, in front of the saddle, and the big roan scoured away like an antelope, under | his double load, followed by a yell of admira- : : | | ? . tion from the hunters, who ceased firing, and gave up the chase forthwith. ‘‘It was just in time I picked you up,” re- marked the half-breed, when be bad slackened his pace. ‘‘ They would have killed you!” CHAPTER XVIT. THE INDIAN CAMP. As he spoke, they came up to tke dignified Indian, who still sat on his pony, stoical as a statue, Slocum’s black horse cropping the grass by bis side, ‘* Monsieur le Taureau Seant,” said Bat po- litely, *‘ fat sauve notre frere, Ilva obeir de- sormais vos ordres,” Siocum was astounded as he looked ‘at the quiet Indian, who carried not so much as a knife, Bat bad said; ‘‘My lord the Sitting Bull, I havesaved our brother. He will henceforth obey your orders.” The quiet Indian, with the grave, dignified face, was the great Sitting Bull, the Sioux Na- poleon, who had driven back Genera] Chester's column and stop the progress of the North- ern Pacific Railroad, besides spy destined to achieve greater fame yet, in a later year. And this was Sitting Bull! Siocum could hardly believe bis eyes. He had heard of Sitting Bull as a great warrior, and had expected to find a brutal-looking giant, with a whole arsenal of weapons in his belt, like Powder Face, LT hl L RS en ee since. fourth,” trating way. of Bat, and was stan bow, looking up. the Si ux chie me that [ was too young, and | have vot seem him for a year past.” Evidently Sitting Bull was a man of superior intelligence to those around him, bat how much: did he know? French was nothirg. He bad known Indians. who talked English well, and yet were but igno- rant men. He must be on his guard. After all, he had no fear of bis ability to out- wit the Indian in a contest of brain against brain. He was a civilized man, and Sitting Bull only a savage. With these thoughts in his mind, be assumed bis most smiling air, observing: ‘* If, as I apprebend, you are one of the three. men in whose hands rests t' at secret, | am a bumble disciple'to you, I cae bere to see with my own eyes whether the Brothers of the Black Ci.ud are prospering.” “And for no other purposef’ asked Sitting Bull, keenly eying him. | But S'ocum, now that he had recovered bis. coolness, had his nerves in control. ‘‘For no other purpose,” he answered, “I know that my mentor, Pe-to-pe-kiss, head chief of the Six Nations, made two brotbers of his inner circle, when be was here twenty years You are one, it seems, but I know not. the other. J am desirous of becoming a Sitting’ Bull looked at bim in the same pene+ The young man had &£ i ng at the chiel’s saddle— ou not ask Petopekiss?” arked sternly. ‘‘ He could have given the degree bad he wished.” | ‘*T have asked bim; but he bas always told “Why did y ‘Yet you told our brother be sent you,” was: the instant reply, indicating Bat, Slocum nodded bis-head. eet A, er ni — ’ : ot off the horse in front — ‘*That is true; but 1 doubt if Leould prove it. to you, because his authority is written in Latin, It is here,” He felt in the secret pouch of bis couble girdle: and prodeced a smal) iece of folded parchment, which be banded to Sitting Bull. ‘ It was written in the clumsy, monkish Latin taught in French-Canadian schools: by the priests; his mentor, the Mohawk ehbief, vaving received bis education in Lower Cunada, lke meny other rich Indians of the East, To bis surprise Sitting Bull took the parch- ment, glanced over it, and read it alond, This wonderful Indian understood Latin, and Slocum felt as if be could bardly believe bis senses. Sitting Bull perused the parchment with per- fect gravity, and then returned it with the ob servation, In a more gracious tone: ‘* You are entitled to visit our lodges, and none shall binder you, Jon be faithful to you. But to know the bigher mystery is not for one of your race, That ie reserved for one of the true blood,” Slocum felt disappointed. Hs .ou are. faithful to the Black Cloud, the bretuico will ‘*Do you mean that no white man has ever attained it?’ The chief smiled gravely. .- ‘‘One did, but it was long ago, in the days when our people in the East Jived in the forest. He was adopted one of us, : nd as 1 have beard, warred against your people a bundred ) ears ago at a plece callea Wyoming,” ‘Was bis name Sir Williar Johnson?” asked Slocum, remembering tbat singular character, Instead of that, he beheld a man of medium | half feudal baron, half savege, who had been so hight, with a gentle, quiet look; featuresrather distinguished among the Tories, small than prominent, with nothing about bim | but an air of authority to denote that he was | i i anything out of the common, His eyes were keen, to be sure, but not so keen as those of many a young-warrior, and his bare arms were straight and by no means mus- cular. His mouth wore a gentle, woman like smile, and the jaw wasrather small than otherwise, though it had a way of closing that denoted a good deal of firmness on occasion, And this was Sitting Bull, smiling and gentle, talking French like a native, and unarmed! His dress was rather plain for an Indian, and the only marks of rank sbout him lay in the circlet of eagle-featbers on his head, In his girdle was not so much as a knife, only a small bag made of the skin of an ocelot, which hung on the right side, while he held a pipe in bis hand, ornamented with the scarlet feathers of the sacred ‘‘ medicine bird.” locum, as soon as he recovered from bis as- tonishment, said, as politely as if he were ad-— dressing a gentleman at home: “lam charmed to meet the Sitting Bull, and me to have the honor of bis friendship.” | Sitting Bull waved his hand. ‘That is for the future to determine, mon- sieur. You belong to a race that is driving mine to the wall so fast that we have not much paone ws ag ioe ead Mag You _ bave yes : nkin D es, au have found yo gnorant savages 6 crown of all our Order, the last secret of the Black Cloud? I think not.” st Slocum did not quite like bis way. , ; | a = —>— —_— eee lly, mm your mistake, Do you yet know | ! Sitting Bull shrugged bis shoulders: ‘‘Ic is vot for metosay, I am a savage who ves by the hunt, and ceres not fer the learning of books, though once | knew as much as some. We call him the White Fother Cuief, and revere his name, togetbe with Tl ayendanegea,’” ‘'Thayendanegea? Brant? Have you heard of bim, too?’ asked Slocum, stiil more. aston- ished, for it upset all bis preconceived notions. of Indian savagery to find a Sieux who bad @ knov ledge of bistory, even of Lis own race, Sitting Bull smiled rather scornfully, ‘“You are too curious, my sop, tor one who has known what our race can do for itself.. Have yon never beard that a red-map_“a4as &. tiusted officer with ington?” ‘* With the President?’ ‘* Certainly.” “Yes Ive heard that Cap head chief of one of the Six your great fatber at Washb- ations, was on: our President’s staff in the war, and served as Indian Commissioner.” Sitting Bull nodded. ‘You see we are not ignorant savages, us, Have you ever visited the Cherokee Na- tion, and read their books?” on Slocum shook his bead. rte’, sere “T’'ve never been there, but Ive read their books and newspapers. But that is notbing np bere. These men are not like the Cherokees, whoarecivibzed.” Sy The chief threw up bis head proudly. ‘*No, they are not, : fathers, and defy the white map. Whe ain Parker, the: They live as lived their eur f all of time comes to live like Cherokees, we will sub- COMICcDOO cS co