Newspaper Page Text
w mum.
A liiOoKAcd Iron steed* are hers,
More Sect than hart or hind ;
Tbeir tramp the mountain echo wire,
Their breath is on the-wind,
laden with stores from Labor's hand,
And treasnres from Pacific’s strand.
Her iron slaves rash through the land.
And commerce sends her vasseis forth,
Ships winged by steam or sail.
And tar o'er seas of 8oothand North,
Our flag floats on the gale.
Aye, shore and ocean loudly vannt
That wealth is not our country’s want.
She needs not beauty : lips and eye*
L’nfbid beneath her sky,
Might tempt a saint of Paradise
To one voluptuous sigh.
And high, white bosoms—pleasure rife—
Heave with the joy of love and life.
Aad nature far and wide has flung
Her beauty o'er the land,
And cliffs by mighty woods o’erhung,
And rivers broad and grand.
And lone, blue lakes and mountains bc,d
In song and story have been told.
Nor wants she genius ; in her bowers
Kach muse eecurflv^lld
ey guiher flowers,
On her fair plains tb
■P 1 - -
And laurels on her hills.
The world will own our land ere long.
The Attica of wit and song.
What needs she, then—this land of otre,
So rich in wit and wealth.
With grace and beauty for her dower.
Hearts strong with youth and health,
Her path winds up to ’’perfect day.”
What lion cronches in her way ?
Hie ship that rides the stormy sea,
When clouds the heavens o’ershade,
May strong in ropes and timbers be;
V et. If there be not laid
A steady hand upon her helm
The waves will the strong bark o'er whelm.
Our country needs this steady hand
To guide her ship of State,
She needs a spirit to command—
One calmly good and great—
(*ue firm and true, to whom is known
•Ve inter*Hie but his eotmtrv * r~~
THE LOST CHILD;
-OR,-
The Wolf-Woman.
I
{ repeated he, as it striving to drink in the foil
| meaning of the words.
‘ Yes, yes. Let go your hold. I must—I will
I follow my child !’
But not more than a child was he, in the
hands of the trapper and Buffalo Hoof. They
■ forced him behind a pile of rocks, so as to be
j 0Dt the way of the arrows of the Indians, who
A Terrible Situation.
‘Wal, here yer see the print of three long ones
and one short one and the thumb. Poor fel
ler! I might just as well have gone and—what
in thunder ere the redskins at now ?’
Carefully peeping out from behind the rocks
that had proved their best friends, they saw the
Indians gathered in a little group, and point-
ing upwards in evident I^ach one was
had now reached the opposite side of the river, j standing by tbe side r.N , . , -
Cyan'Ll vn Hit*' b?>MPe wjjk.. rdra- , hoen eanc^jt «».. : r. > . Vv^his back, as it all
! drowned horses, confident that their revenge ■ thought of strife had been vanished from their
| would be both swift and certain. Fortunately j minds. And so it was. They had seen a sight
the guns of th6 teamster yet remained to them, | they feared more than they loved plunder—one
1 and these Fisher and the Indian secured, hop- that made their superstitious hearts quail with
! ing by their skilful use to hide their weakness ! terror.
j in the matter of arms. There was a hope, too, j ‘By heavens ! It is her you call the wolf-wo-
that the rifles dropped on the other side would j man !’ said Curtiss, laying his hand upon the
; remain unnoticed. In that case, one of the two ' arm of the trapper, and directing his eyes to a
THRILLING STORY OF
MOUNTAINS.
THE ROCKY
BY W. H. B.
CHAPTER V.
AMErsGADE—THE DESKBTED—A MTPTWUO* NTK8E.
Leaving the horses t-o the care of hired drivers,
well knowing that their fears would urge them
onward as rapidly as possible, the trapper, Cur
tiss, and the Indian followed behind, to hold
their pursuers in check. Bat in this running
fight little injury could happen to either party,
and thus the bank of tbe swift river was reached.
Cross it they mnst, to gain a place of perfect
security, aad the moment the trapper arrived, j
guides would endeavor to secure them, no mat
ter how dangerous the undertaking might be.
And thus was the savages keptffrom crossing
the river by the plainly visible muzzles of the
two guns, and the little party intently watch
ing from behind the rooks. The moon disap
peared, the Btars veiled their eyes of fire, and
the darkness that ever precedes^the dawn, came
upon them.
‘Now is ther time of ther greatest danger,’
whispered the trapper. ‘Ef we kin only man
age ter keep the red devils at er distance ontil
sunrise, we’ll give’em er hard fight yet But—’
‘The weapons left by the palefaces ?’ inter
rupted Buffalo Hoof.
‘We must have them ef it oosts us our life.
You stay here and keep guard, and I’ll go and
be seized the whip from the hand of the terrifi
ed drivers, and began lashing the half frantic
steeds.
One crossed in safety at the usual fording-
place; but the other one, containing the woman
and ohildren, missed the shallow water, was
suoked down by the strong current and parting
from the rnnning-gear, floated rapidly down
stream.
•My God ! My wife, my children !’ burst from
the lips of Curtiss, as he saw all he loved on
earth drifting away to certain death, either in
the madly foaming waters, or beneath the knife
and tomahawk of the still more merciless savages.
‘ Fisher, Buffalo Hoof! What shall we do ?’
The answer of both was by actions, and not by
words. In an instant they had given their rifles
to the care of agonized parent, and plunged in
to the waves, thinking that he would find his
way across, and meet them with the rescued
ones on the other side. Little, however, knew
they of the love of a husband’s and father's heart.
Could he stand idly there—Btand without rais
ing his hand for their safety?
Fer a moment only he did so, and then casting
away not only the rifle that had been given to
him, but his own, he also sprang in,—sprang
from the dizzy brink just as the wagon contain
ing all the precious freight upset, and he saw
them struggling with the waters. Lnckily for
him he was drifted ashore, and dragged out by
the teamsters just as strength was exhausted.
Had it not been so, the dark waters of the Mis
souri wonld have snng his requim forever. But
the others failed not in their misson. Dripping
like Neptnne they came ashore—one with Mrs.
Cartiss, and the other with the little boy in his
arms, but the girl was missing.
‘ My daughter !’ shrieked the poor mother, as
Bbe fell insensible into the arms of her husband.
‘My daughter ?’ asked the father questioningly.
A wild scream, apparently ooming from the
clouds, oansed them to look up, and to tbeir hor
ror, they saw a form, clothed in skins, leaping
up wildly from rook to rook, with the child in
her arms.
‘ The wolf-woman !’ whispered the Indian aad
the trapper in a breath.
‘ 'Woman or devil, I am going to follow her!’
Bhonted Curtiss; and he would have done so,
bad he not been forcibly detained.
* Yer not goin’ one step !’ said Fisher, resolute
ly-
* It would only be ter yer own destruction,
and besides, we want yer here ter help ns fight.
Whar ar thar weapons V
* The rifles ? I don’t know. I left them—’
‘ Left them ?’ thundered the trapper. * Left
ther rifles?’
1 Yes on the other side of the stream.’
1 Left them on the other side of ther stream !*
My brother muBt stay,’ answered the Indian,
firmly. ‘Iftheredman should fall, there will
be none to miss him on earth, and his wife
and little ones are waiting for him in the happy
hunting grounds of the Spirit land.’
‘But I tell yer that yer shan’t go. Ther’s too
few like yer, on the top of the airth, now.’
‘And soon there will be none, ’ replied the In
dian, sadly.
Even in that moment of extreme danger, he
could not keep from mourning for his race.
‘Soon will the red man have faded away like
the summer flowers, and their graves be b eaten
level with the prairie. None shall knew of tbeir
bravery—none of their skill as hunters—none
of their loves—none of the Great Manitou, they
worship.’
And before he conld be answered, he had
disappeared.
But how truly had he spoken. ‘The pale man
no sooner came here,’ said an Indian orator,
‘than he thought of preparing for his posterity.
The red man never thought of this.’ And he
was right. So, too, was Buffalo Hoof, of all the
things of which he had spoken, they—
••—Will with the ted man perish,
For tbeir language leave* no scroll,
Nor tradition writ, to cherish
Such immortalneas of soul.
So the names that they have given
To the cnarms of Nature here—
Streams, cascades, lakes hill and valley—
Let us fervently revere.
For though civil life effaces
All else they have gloried in.
Yet this poetry of plaeee
Shall remind us they have been;
Therefore, white man, pioneering
Par and farther in the west.
Let the Indian names be sacred,
Though thou ravage all the rest.”
Bat all who remained, felt that Buffalo Hoof
had sacrificed himself in a vain effort to save
them; and while Curtiss was hopelessly trying
to calm and compose his wife, and the now
somewhat reassured teamster, helping the trap
per to make a show of resistance, they watched
in intense anxiety the return of the Indian.
Dawn came, the snn rose hot-breathed and
fierv-eyed, but still he came not. Yet they re
ceived sad tidings—tidings, that to the expe
rienced eye of the trapper, told of sndden death.
A little raft formed of light and dry wood,
drifted ashore near where they were ambushed,
and on it were two of the coveted weapons—
those of Fisher and Curtiss—covered with blood.
‘By tbe great hearings!’ exclaimed the trapper,
‘poor Buffaler Huff bes gone fer it! Thar is a
print of bloody hands on one of the stocks.’
‘How do yon know it is his ?’ asked CnrtisB.
‘Didn’t yon ever notice that he hed lost the
first finger of his right hand, squire ?’
‘Yes. He told me it had been bitten off by
a bear.’
high, jutting point of rock that hung over the
opposite shore.
‘Wal, I’m mighty glad on it, and that’s more’n
I ever thought I should be ter see er witch.’
‘Why ?’
‘Because the redskins won’t follow our trail
no longer arter she has once crossed thar path.’
‘Can they be such fools as to dread—to believe
such things ?’
‘Yes, and you’ll believe it, too, before yer get
out of these mountings, fer yer’ll have to go
every inch of ther way on foot.’
‘You are crazy, man. We still have one pair
of horses.’
‘Yes, dead ones. ’
It was but too true. The faithful animals had
been exposed, and the Indians, in their savage
fury, had made them targets for their arrows,
and they were as bristling with feathered shafts
as a porcupine is with quills. A heavy sigh
escaped tbe lips of the husband as he realized
his great loss, but his attention was called away
from it again by the voice of the trapper.
‘See! how they hurry erway like dorgs that
have bin stealin’ sheep. In er few minutes yo
won’t see them for their dust, and they won’t
oome this way ergin in a hurry, I kin tell yer.
They had far ruther see all the white men that
you could crowd onter the perarer than one of
the evil speerits. Yes, see, they are mounted
and off,’ and the trapper stepped boldly from
behind the rock, and fired a parting salute at
them.
‘Now,’ said Curtiss, ‘ to find my child,’ and
he looked at the spot where a few moments be
fore, the woman had been standing, bat nothing
was visible.
‘I reckon we had better look arter Buffaler
Hull' first,’ and the trapper, having assisted the
teamsters, to roll the carcasses of the horses in the
stream so that they would float away and not
beoome offensive in casil they should be forced
to remain long in that particular spot, began to
arrange matters so that be conld go on the trail
of his lost friend. Not that he expected to find
him alive—the bloody imprint upon the rifle
was proof positive against that—but still he
would find the body if possible, and give it a
decent burial.
‘Yon are not going alone ?’ asked Curtiss, who
was still determined to search for his loBt child.
‘Wal, yer kin go along ef yer have a mind ter.
But first, let me tell these ar boys how ter fix np
things, so as ter be kinder comfortable,’ and he
directed them to draw the wagon still farther out
of sight, and to pile np the siones in front so as
to completely hide it from all eyes, in case any
straggling Indians should come that way.
When all was arranged to his satisfaction, and
both CnrtisB and the trapper had convinced the
poor, heart-broken mother, after a long and
hard struggle, that there was not the slightest
danger in remaining, and after they had instruct
ed the teamsters, in case of anything threaten
ing, to fire two shots in rapid succession, they
loaded their almost emiraculonsly-recovered
rifles and hastened to cross the river.
Soon the eagle-eved trapper had discovered
the spot where he had picked np the wood, and
the point at whieh he had launched the little
raft In vain, however, he looked for the body
or the place where it had been thrown into the
stream.
‘By the Heaving* ! b*t it’s mighty strange, he
muttered to himself, and then began to look
more intently aronnd than ever, for some cine to
the mystery.
Trampled grass, torn bushes, and great spots
of blood—all the evidences of a fearful struggle
j he soon found; and then he saw what he had
, before feared—that the body had been flung in
to the waters. From that, he traced the foot-
; prints backward, and after following them for
| nearly hall a mile up the stream, they saw a
sight which added greatly to their astonishment.
In. front ol a little hut built of branches and
£-.5? c ? v ered all over with skin, so as to
By the Lord ! if ii ain’t Buffaler-Hnfl arter
all!’ exclaimed tbe trapper, as he dashed for
ward, regardless of the rough and dangerous
nature of the path—dashed forward until he
had reached the side of the kneeling Indian,
and was shaking his hand with the utmost vigor.
‘My brother is glad to see the red man again !’
said Buffalo-Hoof, as soon as he could release
his fingers from the iron grasp of Fisher.
‘ Glad ter see yer! I never was so gJad of
anything in my life. I found whar thar had
been er scrimmage, and lots of blood, and
thought you were gone for sartin.’
Swiftly the Indian lifted the skirts of his kilt
so as to reveal a fresh scalp to his eyes alone,
and as swiftly dropped it again. He knew how
Curtiss, long as he had lived upon the frontier,
looked with horror upon such things, and he
was too much of a gentleman—one of nature’s
moulding, red man though he might be—to
even let his eyes rest upon it. The trapper in
stantly understood all, and continued;
‘ What have yer got here, Buffaler !’
By this time the Indian had lifted up the form
he held, so as to be plainly visible to them. It
was that of a young man apparently just recov
ering from the effects of a severe illness, for he
was emaciated to the last degree. A strong-limb
ed man he must have been in the days of his
health, but now, feeble as the child at its moth
ers breast The light ourling hair hung matted
around the sallow brow and cheeks; the lips were
cracked by fever, and even the fire in the dark,
gray eye was transient and dim,
‘ In the name of Heaven !’ said Cartiss, as he
sprang to his side, and handed the trapper the
flask of spirits he always carried with him to
take the cup from the bottom, and prepare a
drink diluted with water; ‘in the name of heav
en who are you and how did yon come alone in
this desolate spot ?’
‘Wait ontil he gets er drink,’ said the trapper,
‘it’ll loosen his tongue, and put some courage
inter his heart so that he kin talk, I’ve seen er
blind buffaler that had been starved ter death,
and he want any more of er skeleton tl an this
poor critter.’
‘ No matter; my wife will soon nurse him back
to health again. Buc hush, he is going to speak.’
‘I was taken sick, robbed, and deserted by
the party I was traveling with, and wandered
here to die,’ said the suffering man to whom the
spirits bad given momentary strength, and the
rosy flush of health.
‘ How long have yon been here ?’
‘I don’t know. It seems a long time. I re
member nothing, except lying down and pray
ing for death to relieve me from my sufferings,
until I found this little shelter built above me,
a blanket of skins thrown over me, a bark onp
of some kind of tea, and some food placed near.’
‘But who did it ?’ questioned Fisher, almost
wild with excitement ‘Who, in the name of
goodness, could have done such a thing er way
in the middle of these ar mountains ?’
‘That is more than I can tell.'
‘It must have been er woman, fer the red dev
ils would jest have scalped yer, and left yer ter
die yer own gate.’
‘It was a squaw,’ replied the Indian, who had
picked up and carefully examined the cap and
dishes, formed of; bark, and neatly sewed with
the yonng and pliant roots of the pine.
‘Yes, them are’s proof enuff. Some old squaw
did it—kinder took compassion on yer, and
fixed np things jest as nice as she conld before
she went on with her tribe. Well, Buffaler
Huff, there’s some good in yer race yet, for she
kept it all from ther chiefs and braves.
‘The women of all nations are the same,’and
then tnrning to the sick man, he asked, ‘Did
the one, who the fever-fiend had kissed with
its hot lips, know that the squaw had been here
more than once ?’
‘Yes. It is a week, I should think, since I
recovered my senses, and she must have been
Here more than once a day, for as .often as I
have slept, I have found both the water and
food renewed.’
The eyes of the trapper and Indian met as it
to exchange opinions, and then there was a rapid
motion ot their hands, but their lips uttered
not a word. Evidently, they were very much
mystified. Curtiss, however, continued the
conversation by again asking:
‘Did you ever see this mysterious visitor ?’
‘I am not certain. I have a dim recollection
of a soft, light hand placing cool bandages upon
my throbbing head—of a sweet voice whisper
ing in my ears, though I could not understand
the words; but the rest is all dim—visionary-
darkness.’
‘Then you never saw her ?’
‘I have a faint impression that I did—once at
least; but it is so mingled with my feverish
dreams, that I cannot distinguish between the
two,’
Far more practically engaged, Fisher and the
Indian had been making rude litter of branches,
covering it with the skin that had been used as
the roof of the little hut. That finished, they
lifted the sick man into it, and were preparing
to start with him, when Curtiss again asked;
'Have you any recollection of how the one
you fancied was your nnrse, looked ?’
‘Yes. I think she was young, and dressed in
skins.’
‘The wolf-woman .” exclaimed the trapper and
! Indian, in abreatb;the latter adding, solemnly,
i 'May the Good Manitou protect us !
‘Look !’said the invalid, pointing upwards,
‘If my memory is not deceptive, she is stand-
| ing there now!
i All looked, and, poised upon a rock above
them, and so as to be within sight and hearing
j of all that transpired, they saw the wolf-woman,
! as they had learned to call her.
‘My God ! my child !’ exclaimed the father, as
he dashed up the rocks in pursuit.
CHAPTET IV.
As Curtiss disappeared, the trapper exclaimed.
‘ The man is mad—mad as er wolf in er trap,
Buffaler Huff, and we must carry this ar poor
feller and give him inter the care of ther woman,
and then toiler the squire jest as fast as ever we
kin. He’s mighty desperate, and thare’s no tell-
in* vhaf Ha will Ia ’
den at the feet of the astonished Mrs. Curtiss.
‘ Where did you find him ? Who is he? Where
is my husband?’ she asked, in rapid succession.
In a few words the trapper explained the little
he knew, concealing however, the fact ot how he
had been nursed, and where her husband had
gone.
«We left him on the t’other side of the river, ’
he said. ‘He told ns ter bring this ar poor
stranger ter you, because you’d just know how
ter fix him up. We’ll be back ergin soon,’ and
motioning to the Indian, he hastily departed,
with his mind filled with strange fears.
But the trail of Cartiss was far too broad for
them to miss, and very soon they came upon him
as he was standing, apparently lost in thought,
upon a huge and fiat rock.
‘ By Heaven !’ he was muttering to himself, ‘it
was here I saw her last, and here are the prints
of her feet. ’
‘Prints of moccasins, and mighty little ones,
too,’ responded the trapper.
‘And that proves she is a woman.’
1 No more than it does that I am one.’
‘ Pshaw ! I am out of patience with your
nonsense. Let me hear no more about a being
that is part wolf and part woman. ’
‘ The catcher of beaver is right,’ interrupted
the Indian; ‘she has feet like a squaw, and claws
like a wolf.’
‘ And a head like both ?’
‘But one at the same time.’
‘ And can change whenever she pleases, I pre
sume?’
‘ Sartinly !’ replied the trapper, who was not
easily silenced. ‘ Sartinly she kin, as you’ll find
out before yer git done with her.’
‘ I would like to put it to the proof. But here
are her tracks, and I am determined to follow.
If you are afraid, you can go back.’
• And leave yer ter fate! Ef I do may 1 be
blessed ! But jest lend me some silver—mine’s
all gone—ter make inter er bullet. We may
have need on it before we know it.’
Unable to move the superstitious trapper until
this request had been complied with, Curtiss
was forced to comply, though inwardly chafing
at the ignorance and superstition that could fos
ter such an idea. But as soon as the rifle was
loaded, to the satisfaction of the trapper, he
took the lead in the search, following the foot
prints as a dog wonld have done, nntil he stop
ped by an overhanging rock, and shonted:
‘ Here’s ther den of the oritter, anyhow !’ and
he pointed to a gathering of leaves and bone*.
• Yes, here’s whar she sleeps and eats.’
* My God ! if my child should—’ began Cur
tis*, but the thought was far too horrible for him
to give it utterance.
Both of his companions wonld have spoken
words of comfort, but what conld they say?
Their fears rested npon deeper grounds than his
did. Had they seen the poor child lying before
them torn limb from limb, they wonld not have
been astonished. Such stories had been familiar
to them from infancy, and all the wild and hor
rible legends of the Nomad races of wildwood
and prairie thronged their brains. And so all
stood terrified and undecided how to act Not
that Cartiss even then gave the least credence
to their marvellous descriptions, although its
constant reiteration was beginning to find its
way to both his heart and brain. He thought
of the strange being as a crazy woman, and was
fearful that in an hour of anger she might have
destroyed his little one. Very suddenly, how
ever, they were aroused into action. If their
ears, strained to the utmost, did not deceive
them, they heard the cry of a child, and instantly
followed in the direction of the sound.
‘It’s little Clara’s voice,’ said Cartiss. ‘I
wonld know it among a thousand. Great hea
ven ! if—’ and again fear silenced his toneue.
‘It was er ory of pain,’ whispered Fisher to
his red companion, ‘and I pray to the good
Lord that we may not be too late ter save her.’
Bat not a word escaped the lipB of Buffalo
Hoof. He stood rooted to the ground, as if cast’