A SHORT STORY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13670, 8 April 1908, Page 8

A SHORT STORY.

BY M. SILINGSBY.

I" .A FORTUNATE ESCAPE;

"Did I; ever meet with an adventure among the Indians?" demanded Hank Faxon, reiterating my own interrogatory. "That is a curious question, Slings by" (ho always called me Slingsby, for short},, "to ask an old stager Ifke me, who has marched through the heart of the Indian country with a knapsack on his back, a quadrant in hand, -and a rifle on his shoulder r and* who has waded knee-deep through the South Pass in a snowstorm. Yes, my boy, X have met with scores of them;, but most of them were so uninteresV ing; and so very dry of detail, and incident, that they. WQuld hardly serve the purpose of the romancer.," . ''But 1 mean." I hastened to correct myself, Ydicl you never encounter, any serious bodily nerii among them, or meet', with anyliairbreadth escapes?" Hank scratched his head reflectively for a full half-miriute before responding to this last and more pointed question. Hank Faxon had belonged to the first corps of civir engineers employed in surveying and laying out the plan | of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and I had but recently returned from the section where his last useful labours had been performed. "Hairbreadth escapes?" he repeated after me, at the ,conclusion of the above-mentioned pauses. "Yes, I recollect one case in point, and it was a rip-up-and-down hair-lifter, a,s sure as you live. In fact, I was the pnly one in a pajrty of six that escaped with my 1 life; 'and it was almost a miracle that I did/ " '■'--/, "How was it?'' I demanded, having already become' keenly; interested, for Hank has an astonishing faculty of vivifying and vitalising all Tie touches. "It was a "sign sijnply, tiiat saved me— a Freemason sign,'* he ,said, puffing oat a coil of blue" smoke, "but it wasfmore like an interposition of Providence than , anything else, that the idea of making It occurred to me. But I» will tell you the story, and perhaps you will be able to make something of it. Well, we had been busy a lcmg time with our surveying when we arrived- within a few hours' ride of the , Irhanktons, x>ne of the bloodiest and most e^ruelly vindictive bands of all the off-scourings of the- Sioux nation. Fagged out with the monotony of contfrmod exertion. we determined to camp forra few days' recreation.; and enjoyment in one of the loveliest ravines, that ever inspired pbet of painter. It '■ was certainly the most chattroinE spot s I ever remember 1 to havfc 'seen. Like a . convenient house it had .everything handy for the cpdk — wood,' water, arid plenty of game *11 about as. ' , 'f While in camp there oilr party gradually swelled fjrom* fourteen tb~ twenty^even, iiicldaing'.eilfgine^rsj engineers^ assistant's, and the fifro teamsters who, drove' the waggons contain^ing?4he company store^.'" xt was in the latter end of September *" and you never experienced such glorious weather as \ We had there. The strong prairie winds \ were completely headed off, and we ! could Jie in the open air with a jingle blanket,' tea times ipore cbinfdrtable than in a Fiftli' Avenue palace, 1 with la bed or down nrider rift; ' "After we Tfrkd rested" a, couple of days in campi some of .the . Boys, growing weiry of'^he monotony of eating, drinking, and 1 jismoking;.'* proposed, a hunt. Six ;x of,'the party accordingly started nexf morning, leaving the rest to keep camp, 4Sch, taking with him a blanket and i*ro*isions ftfr "two_ days, besides plenty" tif ammunition,^ and a pocket-compass, to every 'nian J of us, which was as iindisperisahle^almost, as thevrifle itself. ' •'A " stretch or prairie ran to the south apd east $f us. and so we struck ■ due north, as that direction furnished us a much more 4 abunditnt'grbwth of timber, and consequently much* better facilities for htihtmg. wV were fully determined at tho start not io come back empty-handled if/we Were compelled to linger there a*wedc: for some off the boys in camp bad laughed. at us, and depreciated our skill a* hunters, afld^we determined to" make them laugh on the other .side of their Vriouths, oy showing them "what we could do'. 1 k "The first day out we bafeged plenty of squirrels and partridges, but nothing larger in the way of game to add to our crowning" glory as sportsmen. We had agreed upon signals before starting so that w£ might concentrate our forces at sunset, ana prepare some sort of a temporary catop or shelter for the night. We stretched out in a line, some two hundred yards ,apart, each making our way due north by tKe aid of our pocket-compasses, and thus cf- J fecfcuailv scouring 1 the coYitttry for a i space of cojjsideraMy more than half a mile <,Jii width. In this manner «'c managed to keep within hearing distance of each other; and still had i territory all alone by ourselves to hunt over. We thought we were doing a big thing, and 4 might easily establish a new system of tactics for, old hunters. ! "An hour before sunset we all cjimo together and made hasty preparations ifor camping. *We selected the shelter of. a small belt of "timber; though the lAnd.VWas slightly elevated above the deads-level of the prairie, thinking that the trees might- help to break off the wind, which had begun' to freshen towards evening,.- with a visibly increasing chill in it, which threatened 1 to render 'our first night rather an uncomfortable one. "We accordingly very indiscreetly 'collected a larse supply of deadwood, sufficient J to keep a good fire tnrouzh the night. The Indians, if we thought of them at all, were our least concern. ;In fact, >ye had been too fortunate .than far in our experience of them to <?njtcrtain mt;ctt fear of tbejr being str.orw; •enough in numbers to think ot molesting six able-bodied, well-armed white nieii. ' "... _ , - v „ , i "Experienced woodsnfen would have b,een more cautious, even where tty/ro 'was less probability of danger. With I perfect confidence in our capability to jiwotect ourselves with six Spencvr 'rifles and the same number of reyolivers, we heaped up ottr fuel and kindled a ■ fire. We then dressed some of the birds and squirrels, and roasted them on the coals. Then wo had recourao to our pipes, from which we drew solid comfort for some tune, after which*- we replenished the fire, and, wrapping ourselves in our blankets, without even taking the precaution to post. a guard, wo stretched out in various picturesque attitudes abound the fire. • , "\V* were all pretty well fagged wjjrh Uhe day's hunt, and it elidn't require much coaxing from the soughing wind overhead to lull v* into profound slumber. The fire rendered oxir situation -v«rv comfortable, and our blankets added to the general warmth of .the situation. ; I "I know I" was sleeping like the seven potable individuals we read of, when tbo . startling occurrence transpired which forms the basis of the wesent yarn. How long I had slept I know not. Indeed, I had no means of knowing, for I had no time or opportunity to refer to my watch. 'My first impression was that of an oppressive weight, upon my chest, and someone fiercely

grasping my throat and wrists. In a wild state of alarm I opened my eyes, andf beheld two dusky forms bonding over me in the dim firelight. Ihoy were savages, and I realised in a moment that I was a prisoner. . to make my story as brief as possible, they lashed my wrists together as securely as though they hadsbepn screwed in a vice, and I was allowed to stand up. When I looked about me, half-bewildered by the suddenness of the 'attack, I saw that my companions were all in ijie same fix. There were sixteen of the savages in all,- and they had certainly played, their little game to a nicety. Not one of. the party understood more than a word or ' two of , English, but they made us understand signf tha* we might all he down 'and rest till morning. "As soon, however, as daylight began to dawn, they routed us all up like a flock of sheep, and. drove us in tho direction of their village, where we arrived just before" sunset. A council was held 'that evening in reference' to the. way in wMoh we should be disposed of; but, not one of. our number understanding their jargon, it was impossible for us to come to any conclusion as to the, fate that awaited us. , "After the council broke up we were huddled into # wigwam and a strong guard stationed over us. The next morning at an early hour the savages we/c awake and astir, and we knew from tKe commingling sounds or excitement and hilarity that something ot more than ordinary interest was on foot. .We were soon" to be enlightened, however^ for in about a couple of hours; we were driven forth, Adhere we saw the work of prepaTatiotf'fora terrible tragedy still going on. "; "• ' ' 7 "Six stakes had beon driven into the ground, arid nearly 1 tho whole village were engaged, irt, /heaping up wood around them. In 1 an instant the dinlest of the party comprehended the fearful doom that awaited him. I looked into the startled faces of my companions and saw that they were blanched deadly white. We all realisedto the full the horrors of our situation ■l-doomed to the stake Mo , be' burned alive, without the faintest hope of esca*. None but those who have felt death staring them in the face, with no visible avenue of escape, can form anything like ah adequate conception of the fearful emotions that overpowered US; , ' : , .;- "The jsavages could riot understand üb; neither could we make ourselves understood by them, but must perish without a remonstrance or a sign. "The* chief, a very old' man, was seated on a heap of skinff ? smoking, as Well ascomplacently" regarding the prey partitions; for 'torture tfeat Were now going* forward; and Occasionally throwing a scowling glance upon us poor fellows. Our hairas wer© now at liberty, ■ for the strips of raw f hi3^ with whicli' they had been Sound had been cut immediately on' oW arrival in the village, i had r«ad of such things' as Freemasonry being hot entirely tinI'nown ainorig' the savage tribe* of the West, arid in the rajdst tof my desperation, although 1 the chances were- but as the weight of a straw of its being • Of "any avail, I made the old chief a, *Bigri/ the first opportunity I had of catching his eye. ' . ' *'To my ©xtfenio astonishment, as w^ll as pleasure, he v answered it promptly;, arid spritigitfg from his pile of skins he' came anff'%nook me by the hand with great He had Out few words of English ii h^is command, how4*kcijsb r%ais at)le, after a time, to make but from his broken arid dis* jointed sentences, -that forty ye'drs r before he arid two other chiefs had visited the big " villages 'of the white men, where they had fteen induced to become Masons: He tfue^tidnedme in regard tb my companions; but as I could riot quite clearly make Tiini understand 1 that they did, not belong to the fraternity, he steppeS but \ n of our little jiarty and gave tliree "of the Masonic signs. 1 was the only one who an^ swe'red them/ Shaking his, head At mf ■unfortunate ' coriipariioris, he said tO them : ' 'No brother ! '' Burn—burn ! ' "Then turning to me <vith an air of protection, he added. w,ith a smite: '. '"TtfrfiMe— no s kfflr " f . , , "And an hour later his half-unintel-ligible w,brds were Verified to the hor^ rib}e letteir. Mf^fe- companion* were b'urtied to ashes bef'ord my eyes. Even now 'I can hear their fearful dying shrieks ringing in my ears. "But enough. I' have no tasto or heart for detailing such a narrative of horrors. Suffice it to say I— perhaps the least Reserving of tho crowd — was saved. But! s&all always thank Heaven and that Masonic sign for it. , ■ -"'I was set at liberty the .moment tho tragedy was over, and a guide was furnished to escort m» bftck to the spot where wo were takcir'prtsoneri. On 'our. way -thither T ascertained, roy escort, partly by word, partly hv sign, that the party into whoso hands we had fallen had been out on a foraging expedition against the Arapafloes» but, meeting with a horse-tram protected by seven shooters, and upon whom they indiscreetly pitched for the purpose of plunder, they were defeated with a, loss of half their warriors. And this it was which reride^ed it imperative that the innocent blood of my unfortunate companions should atone for their own savage rapacity and indiscretion." ' ,