Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About The Ione independent. (Ione, Or.) 1916-19?? | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1931)
The Plains of Abraham By James Oliver Curwood C by EoubWdny Poran Co, lag, WNTJ Service. CHAPTER VII Continued 15 That the explosion of the gun would reach the ears of the Mohawks was la Jeeres' uiiud as he comforted his hocked companion. For a few mo ments It was difficult for her to be Here the combat was over and that the fiend who lay like a great spider on his back was no longer a menace to them. To her relief and her faith In Jeems was added an emotion of Joy when she saw that Odd was alive. The dog had dragged himself to his feet and stood watching the slain man grlmlyi The dead man stared up at them as they passed. In their path lay the ar row which had gone cleanly through him. 'Tolnette could not keep back the hysterical sob which came In her threat, but she looked at Jeems with uchwonder and love In her face that lie Keard only the throbbing tumult In hf$ heart and brain. He had fought for sjf-r and won 1 And he had fought on that same ground where almost six years before he bad failed to whip PaulTachel "The Indians have heard the shot and will return," he said. "This white nan must hsve discovered some sign of ns and came to do murder and have his spoils alone. Dear God, when I think" He was looking at Tolnette's tresses, which had burst free from their plaited bonds. "We must run," he said. They passed the barn and went through the deserted field behind It, Odd following them. "There Is a stony ridge less than a mile from here," he encouraged. "If we can reach It, I know of twenty places where bare rock will let us throw them off our trail." "We will reach it," breathed Toi lette. lie pointed the way and let her go ahead of him, turning his head every dozen steps to look behind. Along the hardwood knoll where the Lussans had gathered their fuel, Tol nette sped like a graceful nymph, her long hair streaming about her In the un until at times Jeems saw nothing but Its beauty; and In the contempla tion of its loveliness a shuddering horror ran through him. In the stump field at home Hepslbah had told him how both the English and the French had begun to make nse of women's hair, and that many a gentleman and courtly dandy wore ' shining curls taken by the scalping knife In wilder ness orgies of rapine and murder. In the narrowness of Tolnette's escape, the thought oppressed him with sick ening force. Soon her lack of endurance com pelled them to slacken their pace, and when they reached the rocky ascent which led to the crest of the ridge, Tolnette's breath was breaking sob blngly from her Hps and for a while she could go no farther. She gazed In the direction from which they had come, unterrlfied, and almost with challenge in her look, ber breast wild ly throbbing, her band reaching out to Jeems. Each of the few minutes that passed seemed an hour to him. Theh they climbed to the crest of the ridge. Here Jeems picked his way, choosing the places where their feet would not touch scattered stones or grass or soil, until half an hour of slow and tedious progress lny between them and the point where they had come from the valley. "If they come this far, they will think we have taken the wider and easier country," he explained. "Can you hold out a little longer?" "It was the running that turned me faint," said Tolnette. "I am as strong as you are now, Jeems. But may I stop and brnid my hnlr? It Is cum brous and warm, .and I wish you would cut It off!" "I would cut off my arm first," de clared Jeems. "We will be safe farther on. and If von will watt until we have put ourselves beyond that mass of rocks off there " Ills words remained unfinished. From behind them come a cry. It was not fierce nor one that seemed to carry menace, and bore with It a strange and almost musical softness. Jeems knew its meaning. The Mohawks were on the ridge. One of them was calling his scattered companions to evidence of their passing which he had discovered. Jeems hastened Tolnette over the rocks. .' "They have found some sign of us," he explained. "It mny be one of Odd's claw marks on a stone, or the scratch from a nail In your shoe. Whatever Jt Is, they only know we hove come tliln wnv nnrt will at 111 hellev v hnva taken to the plain." Tolnette saw how desperately he was trying to keep from her the real nearness of their peril. "I hnve seen Indians climb over rocks and windfalls. They are like cats and I am so slow and clumsy," she said. "You can move faster than any Indian, Jeems, Hide me some where among these rocks and ga on alone. I am sure they will not harm me if they should happen to discover where I am." Jeems did not answer. They laid come to the rocks which ho had spoken of a few moments before. Here, If anywhere, was a place for concealment, It was tilled with dark and cavernous refuges, and where the boulders met and crushed together were hidden pockets where their bodies might lie unseen. Tolnette perceived these things with a heart that light ened with relief and hope. A dozen steps from where they stood were three boulders apart from the others. One of the three had split Itself so that one hnlf of It was a slab that formed a roof for the crevice between the other two. Jeems' eyes revested a deeper ex citement as he pointed It out to Tolnette. "We will hide and In there!" he cried. "Make haste, Tolnette! It Is smooth rock and will leave no sign behind us. Go In and keep Odd with you 1" He began to throw loose stones about the huge boulder heap. Some he flung over the top of It so that they fell on the opposite side, and at last he sent a few Into the edge of the valley, each farther than the other. He finished by shooting an arrow which descended in an open space at the foot of the ridge. Tolnette watched him in amazement and alarm until he commnnded her In a sterner voice to crawl quickly under the stones. She waited no longer but pulled herself a few Inches at a time beneath the boulders. Jeems, thrust ing Odd ahead of him, had greater difficulty In performing this same feat, and for a little while they squirmed and twisted until they found a dark recess in which they could crowd themselves and even sit upright Jeems explained to Tolnette the mean ing of his strange behavior outside. "First they will find the loose stones and the marks I made and search for us in every hole and cranny of the pile," he said. "When they discover the arrow I hope they will believe we have fled Into the forest." They waited in a silence wherein the beating of their hearts was like the sound of tiny drums In the glra of their hiding place. A shudder ran through Tolnette, but she whl.pered: "I am not afraid." She felt Jeems fumbling for his hatchet and heard him place It quietly on the naked rock at his side. Then the rock Itself seemed to give forth a faint sound as if some one bad tapped It gently with a stick. This sound grew Into others that were soft and swift, and Jeems knew that moccaslned feet were all about them. Low voices added themselves to the patteung tread. Tolnette fixed her eyes on the crack through which came the shaft of light, and occasion ally It was darkened as a body passed it The tread of feet came and went, and they heard the clatter of rocks. Dut for a time alt voices died away, and it was this silence which became almost unbearable for Tolnette. This clutch of a danger which they could tot see or cope with seized upon her until each moment she expected to bear a ghostly creature stealing Into their hiding place or to see a pair of flaming eyes on a level with her own. It was a feeling of horror Instead of fear, and with it came a strong desire to cry out and ease her suspense in a cream. - Jeems, too, had almost found him self In the grip of something which he could not control. Not more than a quarter of an hour passed In this sus pense, but It seemed to be a lifetime. Then there were voices again which increased In number and excitement until, above them all, a yell rose from the valley as'one of the searchers dis covered the arrow. When Tolnette raised her head, she heard no evidence of life other than their own on the ridge. "Thank God, they think we have gone Into the val ley 1" said Jeems. Tolnette touched Mm with a cau tioning hand, and In the same mo ment he was aware of the sound her ears had caught 1 Some one was near the rock ! More than one there were two I Their voices were distinct though low, and they .stood so close that their forms shut out the 'light from the crevice. To tils astonishment Jeems heard a language which Hepsl buh Adonis had taught him, and It wai not JMiawk. These were Senecas. The discovery thrilled him. He hated the Mohawk hatchet wleldurs who were the scourge of the. southern frontier, hut the Senecas, also brethren of the Six Great Nations, he doubly feared, for while the Mohawk killers were the wolves of the wilderness, the Senecas were Its foxes and panthers combined. One was a creature of dark ness und surprise, the other a light ning flush that cume and went with deadly swiftness. He might trick Mohawk, hut a Seneca Was the clev erest of his kind. He felt his blood turn cold as he listened to the two. One was arguing that the arrow was a ruse and that the fugitives were somewhere not far away; the other, whose mind was still on the huge pile of stones, discredited the thought that It had been thorough ly searched and set off to find some proof of his suspicions. The first of the two speukers remained, and neither Tolnette nor Jeems could hear hlui move. It seemed an Infinity of tlmo before movement came again ontslde the rock. Metal scraped It as the Seneca made a resting place of It for his gun ; footsteps went away, re turned, and halted close to the narrow aperture through which they had squeezed their bodies under the stones.. The suvngo wns looking at the en trance to their hiding placet Jeems pictured the warrior, his doubt nnd hesitation, nnd wns as mire In his lslonlng as though no harrier lay be tween them. Ho heard a grunt. The Seneca was on his stomach, peering In, and the grunt was an expression of the foolishness which had made htm grovel like this. In a moment, he wruld rise and go away. But tho mo ment passed. One two three a dozen. Tolnette was like ono dead tinbrenthing. Odd, sensing a mighty danger, knowing that It was coming, crouched like a sphinx. At last the silence was broken so softly that the disturbance might have been that of a tress of Tolnette's hair falling from her shoulder across Jeems arm. The Indian hod thrust In his head. He was listening smelling then advancing slyly and cautiously like a ferret on tho trull of prey. There could no longer he a doubt. Ho knew there wns something under the toeks and, with true Seneca courage, foreseeing glory for himself even If death paid for It, he was coming alone. Every Instinct reached Its highest tension In Jeems as a danger ap proached which he would be able to touch with his hands In another mo ment or two. He removed himself gently from Toluette's embrace end prepared his arms and body for action. Their eyes had grown more accus tomed to the gloom, and Toluette could see him as ho crouched forward and gathered himself for the struggle which would mean life or death for them. Suddenly she understood that It would not be a struggle. When the Seneca's bead appeared Jeems' hatchet would smash It In. She could see the hatchet It was poised to strike. There would be no cry no moan only that terrible, hidden sound. She listened to the doomed man slowly coming. The feathers of hla tuft appeared first, then the long black scalp lock, the hair-plucked head, a pair of shoul ders. Jeems put all his strength be hind the upraised hatchet He knew there must be but one blow well placed In the middle of the skull. That would end It. He almost closed his eyes and the hatchet descended a little, an overwhelming sense of the horror of the thing holding back his stroke. It was not simply killing: it was mur der. The Seneca turned his head and looked up. Ills eyes were trained for nse at night and he saw more clearly than Jeems. He saw the white fuce, the hatchet, the death behind It, and he waited, transformed to stone. No voice came to his lips and no move ment to his cramped body In this mo ment of shock and stupefaction when he must have realized that all the power of his forest gods could not help him. The pupils of hla eyes glowed darkly. He did not breathe. Conscious of his Impending end, he was amazed but not terrified. Ifls fine countenance did not shrink from the steel about to sink Into his brain. Into Jeems' face as he paused for a moment to study the ground about them. For a second more the blade did not fall, and In that second Jeems' eyes and those of the savage met steadily. Then, the hatchet clattered to the rock floor, arid with a protest of revulsion at what be had almost done, Jeems clutched at the Seneca's throat The Indian was at a disad vantage, and though his powerful body strained and fought to loosen the chok ing grip, his position was so hopeless that in a short time he was limp and unconscious. The Seneca's adventure, and the combat If It could be distinguished by that name had not terminated a moment too soon for those concealed under the rocks. The trail hunters were now aware that the placing of the arrow had been a ruse to delay them and began swarming back to the ridge. Half a dozen warriors gathered In a fierce and animated debate close about the rocks. If Tolnette's nerves were on the point of breaking, then Odd's were in no better .condition when tho Senecas returned to th ridge. His heart was breaking In its subjection to Inactivity and stillness. Now he looked again on victory. Ills master was triumphant as the Indians returned and crowded about the rocks. Defiance rose In hU soul In an overwhelming flood. He hated the smell outside. He hated the creatures who made It. Without warning, bis passion broke loose In the howling rage of a beast gone mad. Tolnette's arms and Jeems hand: were futile In their efforts to stop It The Seneca on the stone floor moved a little. Outside there fell an awful stillness. Then Odd realized what ho hud done and grew quiet They could feel rather than hear a velvet footed, voice less cordon gathering about them in a ring of death. (TO II K CONTINUED.) Expurgation , Cromwell's "Handbook for Tender and Writers" says that to "Bowdler ize" means to expurgate a book. Thomas Dowdier In 1818 published an edition of Shakespeare's work In which nothing Is added to the original text; but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with pro priety be read aloud In the fumlly." This was In ten volumes. P-owdler subsequently trented Gibbon's "De cline and Kail of the Itomun empire" In the same wuy. Alphabet Long ia Ui? That Semitic merchuiiis who lived before 2000 B. C. In Asia minor knew the use of the alphabet, Is the con clusion of a scholar who builds up his evidence without having any of the writings of these Semites, since their records were on perishable parchment Current ' Wit A? EXPLAINED The uplift worker looked in on the prisoner In the deuth cell, "My good uiaa," she asked, "what brought you here?" "Trying to clear myself of the charge of bigamy, lady," the condemned man explained. "But they can't execute a man foi that" "Well, yon see, I shot one of tnj Ives." POCKET EDITION "He must be a religious man be studies the prophets a great deal." "Yes; but It's the profits usually mentioned along with the losses, my friend." Learning sad Sociability "Co." stands for Comtrr." And there Is Information. That "company" the mint will be Of the "Co-education." Ia (he Heights "Don't you admire the Shakes pearean drama?" "There are two forms of entertain oient" replied Miss Cayenne, "that I can't properly appreciate. . Ona la Shakespeare and the other Is a trapeze performance. They are both too far over my head." Washington Star. Encouraging aa Author "How was your novel received!" "Very favorably," answered Miss Cayenne. "Critics said It was Immoral." "Which was very kind of them. That Itnn it rammAnt in wloit irftvn mv j 1! id pie, soul-confession most of Its popularity." Washington Star, Out With It Small Girl (entertaining brother! fiancee) Is "Disaster" your Christian name or your surname? Fiancee What on earth do yon mean? Small Girl 'Cos I beard daddy tell ing mummie that that was what Keg gle was courting I The Humorist SAME OLD STORY Mime) buns Daughter, I.. is the duke told you the old, old story, as yetl Daughter Yes. He says be owes about 200,000 bucks. A Sad Old Story Mistakes are often tnsde, we know. The record long must Irave ue sad, For hletorjr will too often show Eiperlmenta tone to the bad. Following Orders "So you have been bedridden for three years?" "Yes, the doctor came three years ago and wild I was not to get up until he came again, and he has never been here since." Kurlkaturcti, Oslo. Firit Thing First "Do you always look under the bed before you any your prayers?" asked the flapper niece. "No, darling," said the old maid, "first I say my prayers.1" Clear to Him Papa, it siiya In this hook: 'The woman sobbed, tore her hair, bout her breast and fainted' What does thai mean?" "That she wanted a new fur coat, my son." Not So Cood "I wish the boys wouldn't call m Big Bill." . , "Why?' "TJictie college names stick. And I'm studying to be 0 doctor." The Boyhood of Famous 'By Americans fiUgerald Owen D. Young Tho Ufo of a county boy In rural Now York fifty years ago wns 111111U1 tip of much work and little play. It meant getting up before daybreak on tho cold winter mornings, helping with the stock, cleaning studies. It mcntit cutting ami hauling wood, plow ing, seeding and harvesting In sea son. F.nrly to bed and early to rise was the program. Mont of the day .JIV. during the summer was spent In tuxks Unit made for a strong body. The de velopment of the uilnd wus left large ly for the winter. Then a hoy took his hooks and sometimes trudged miles through the snow to the Utile rural school house, lie had t quit a warm lied, dress by eunillcllntit In a chilly room and do his share of the chores before he set out on his tramp to school In quest of an education.' That was the sort of a life Owen D. Young, chairman of tho board of the General Electric cuiiipuny, financial genius and diplomat, led aa a hoy. lie was born In Van lloruesvllle, N. Y., In 1874. Ills ancestors had settled there before the Itevolutlon. Ills father owned a farm five miles from the town. The boy had to perform all the tanks tbut fell to the lot of other youngsters In the same environment. The Young farm was 13 miles front the railroad. Itinerant peddlers were Its chief contact with the outside world. Their coming was eagerly awaited. Trips to town were taken only when necessary. Such excursions meant much lost time In the days of tho horse-drawn wagon and poor roads. Electric power, which has lightened the work In rural sections, the radio, which tins put the farmer In touch with the world and lis af fairs, were not thought of as farm equipment when Owen D. Young wns a hoy. They were mnde largely pos sible for the farmer through his genius for organization. Education, beyond the rural school, was seldom considered worth while for farm boys of the time unless they planned on a professional life In town or city. If they could rend and write and do simple problems In arithmetic, they soon qualified for the Jnh of run ning a farm. Such a rudimentary train lug with books was bolstered by hard and practical schooling In matters of agriculture. Owen I). Young was not the average farm boy. lie walked five miles a day to the rural soIicmiI and buck during ' the term, helping his futherthe while with the chores. He was an only son. It was a red letter day In the boy's life when he wns taken to Coopers town, the county sent of Herkimer. Dressed In blue Jeuns he went to the I courthouse and heard the lawyers sr I gue a rase. They wore boiled shirts, I stiff collars, black ties and broadcloth, Impressive arh to the little boy from the farm. Their arguments fusclnuted htuv He decided that when he grew up he would be a lawyer. But there were many obstacles In bis puth. He had to obtain a better education than the rural hool of fered. If he wns to qualify fur his chosen profession. Any effort to gain advanced schooling meant that he would have to leave home. Ills father needed him on the farm. When an uncle came to help his father the way to an educutlon opened for the lud. He went to the Kuet Springfield academy, encouraged by. his parents In his ambitions. Ills father drove Owen to school each week and brought him hark hon e 011 Friday. His mother prepared the food on which ho lived while awny from home. Each week the hoy car ried awny with him, pinked In a big box, the good things his mother cooked for him to eat ' . lie was ready for college when he was fifteen years old. He wanted to gir to Cornell, thinking he could win one of the state schoHinililps there, BUt he was too young to bo eligible to try the competitive examinations. So lie returned home to help his father agnln. He became Interested In church work and conducted tie Sunday school In tho little church In Van Hornesvllle, Alpheus Baker Harvey, then presi dent of St. Lawrence university, came to the town to preach. Ho heard Owen Young speak in church. The lad Inter ested so much that, the educator persuaded the elder Young that the boy was deserving of a college educa tion even at a great sacrifice to his parents. So the father borrowed $1,000 nnd on that money, and his own earnings, Owen D. Young went through college. Ilo got his bachelor of arts degree from St. Lawrence In 1801. He still held to his ambition to be a lawyer. He entered Boston university, knowing that he would have to work his way through the law school. Ho served ns a librarian and tutor to earn all Ihq money needed to meet his modest expenses. He completed the three-year course In two yenrs. After being admitted to the Massa chusetts bur he went to work for the General Electric company. Ills pro motion wus rapid. The farm hoy of 00 yenrs ago Is now the orgunl.lng genius of the electrical Industry and one of the flnnnclnl wizards of his time. (.bjrThe North Amerlcen Ncwupeper Alllince.) Aged War Veterans Daniel C. Hukciimn was the last pensioner of the Itevolullonary war. He died 8(1 years after the close of the war nt tho age of ono hundred nnd nlno years, eight months and idght days on April 0, INTO. I Brum Cronk woj tho last surviving pen sioner of tho War of 1812. He died on Mny 1.1, llXW, at the ago of one hundred nnd five years and six teen days. Owen Thomas F.dgnr, last surviving pensioner of the Mex lean war, died In Washington, Sep tember !. 1I'-U Narrow Thoroughfare The narrowest street In the United Stales Is said to be Treas ury street In St. AuuunIIiip, Fin. It Is 6 feet 1 Inch wide. This street was shown ns a street on the map of St. AugiiNtlno In 17117, and called Treasury Street bemuse the old treasury was on the corner of this cross street and 81. George street. Carriages used to drive through it, nnd a stone was placed at the entrance on Boy street to prevent this. The old treasury building Is still standing. Not Much Difference Tho words fort and fortress era often used Interchangeably. In tht United Sliiles nil pcrimineully gar risoned places, whether fortified or not. are termed forts. In fortifica tion fort Is usually npidled to a work entirely Inclosed by defens ible parallels, Fortress generally designates a fortified city or town, or any piece of ground so strongly fortified as to lie capable of resist ing an attack. It Is a permanent fortification. Famous American's Nickname "Old Man Eloqurnt" wns one of the nicknames of John Qulncy Adams during (he latter years of his life while he wns a member of the houso of reprexeiitntlves, Milton applied the phrase to Isocrates, the famous Greek orator, who Is said to have died of mental shock and grief when he learned that Philip of Macedon had defeated the Greek allies at Chnerotien. Pathfinder "Mngasln". Hero's Reeling Place fleorire ltogers Clark Is burled In Cave Hill cemetery In I-outsvllle, Ky. Oenersl Clark founded the city of Louisville In 1770 after return ing from his military expedition to the Northwest, He spent most of his declining year In Louisville, Ky and Clarksvllle, I ml., serosa the Ohio r'ver from Louisville. This town was also founded by General Clark. Had Enough of the Sea On account of a shipwreck la hla teens when he was emigrating from England to South Africa, Mr. Clark of Bonhof, Orange Free) State, mnde his way Inland, and vowed that he would never cast eyes on the sea again. He actual at Boshof, where he built up an ex lenitive general dealers business, and left a large fortune at hi death. Loving Wife Avne In millinery shop, wife sd dresnes husband: "You see, my dear, this Is the hat I adore most passionately, but since you prefer thnt other one, I shall take them both. Just to please yon!" Firit Uied by Holme.? The expression "mutual admira tion socle'y" was probably coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The phnso appears In "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." One Point efeView He Is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds pence In hla home. n MM When you feel a headache coming on, it's time to take Bayer Aspirin. Two. tablets will head it off, and you can finish your shopping in comfort. , ; Limbs that ache from sheer weari ness. Joints sore from the beginning of a cold. Systemic pain. The remedy is rtst. But immediate relief is your for the taking; a pocket tin of Bayer Aspirin is protection from pain wherever you go. Get real aspirin. Look for Bayer on the box. Head the proven direc tions found inside every genuine liayer package. They cover head aches, colds, sore tbroat, toothache, neuralgia, neuritis, sciatica, lumbago, rheumatism, muscular pains, etc. These tablets do not depress lh heart They do nothing but stop the pain. Every druggist has liayer Aspirin in the pocket size, and ia bottles. To save money, buy tho genuine tablets by the hundred. Don't experiment with imitations.