Show erskine dale pioneer by john fox jr by cherles Scrib aces sm bof 1 I CAN WAIT to the Xen kentucky tucky wilderness outpost commanded by jerome sanders in the time immediately preceding the revolution comes come a white while boy fleeing from in a tribe of 0 shawnees by whom he had been captured and adopted as an a son or of the chief kattoo lie he Is given shelter and attracts attracta the favorable attention of davo yandell a loader among the settlers sett lera the bol bo warns of the coming of a shawnee war party the tort fort Is attacked and only saved by tile the timely appear anco ot of a party of virginians the leader of these Is fatally woun wounded dad but in hla his dying mo recognizes the fugitive youth as his son at red oaks plantation on the james river virginia colonel dales home the boy appears with a m message oss 1 age for the colonel who after r r reading it the bearer to his bis daughter barbara as her cousin erskine dale erskine meets to t o other cousins harry dale and hugh willoughby yandell tandell visits red oaks at tle tl e county fair at williamsburg erskine meets a youth dane arty and there at once arises a bittle antagonism between them grey in liquor insults Erb erskine kine and the latter tor for the all indan draws his knife yandell disarms him ashamed erskine leaves red oaks that night to return to the wilderness yandell with ith harry and hugh who he have been permitted to visit the sanders fort overtake him at the plantation the boy had left a note in which he gave the property which Is his us as tile the son of colonel dales older brother to barbara the party Is met by three shawnees Shawne cs who bring news to erskine whose indian name to Is white arrow that his foster father Nali too Is dying and aid desires him to come to the tribe and become its chief after a brief visit to the fort erskine erskene goes to the tribe he finds there a white woman and her halfbreed daughter early morn and saves the woman from death lie he tells kattoo he Is with the americans against the british an enemy crooked lightning overhears him CHAPTER vill continued tomorrow said tile the old chief they shall hunt each shall take ills bow anil and the same number ot of arrows ot at sunrise and return at sun sundown flown the next nest day they shrill shall do the same with the rifle ride it Is enough for today the first snow fell that night and at dawn tile the two lads started starred out each with a bow and a dozen urro arrows Ws erskines woodcraft had not suffered ered and the nights story of tile the wilderness was its as plain to ills fits keen eyes ns as a printed page for two hours lie tramped ped swiftly but never sign of deer elk bear or buffalo and then nn an hour later he heard a snort from a thick copse and tile crash of an unseen body in flight agh the brush and be loped after its trucks tracks black wolf came in at sunset with a bear cub which lie he had bad found feeding apart from its mother ile he was triumphant and crooked lightning was scornful when white arrow appeared empty handed ills his left wrist wua was bruised and swollen and there was it gash the length of tits ills forearm fore follow my tracks back lie he said until you come to the kill willi a whoop two indians bounded away and la in tin nn hour returned with a buck 1 I ran him down said white arrow and killed him with tile the knife lie he horned me and went into his tent the bruised wrist and wounded fore arm rm made no matter for the rifle was the weapon next day but white arrow went another way to look for game each had twelve lib bullets liets black wolf came in with a deer and one bullet white arrow told them where I 1 I 1 I 1 it f IX I 1 L 0 I 1 komorow To said t the he old chief they shall hunt they coult could find a deer a dear bear a but aulo anil and un bo elk and lie showed fight bullets in tile the palm pain of tits ills and ka fee noted now that thai tile the lall an girl was alwa algaw an observer of each cou test lest and that slie she always went swiftly back tu to her tent to to tell ills his deeds to the white woman wo man within there was n feast and a dance that night nod and could have gone to tits lathers and ana left the lad young as he be was as chief but not yet was he be ready and crooked lightning too bided hla his time dressed as nn an indian ealline Erl line rode forth next nest morning with a wampum belt tind and a talk lor for the council north where the lie british were to meet shawnee iroquois anil and tonquin al gon quin and urge them to enter the great war flint was just brooking breaking forth there was open and angry protest against sending so young a lad ind on so great a mission tui nut the old chief haughtily brushed it aside ile he Is young but his feet are swift ills arm Is strong his fits heart good and ills fits head Is old lie ile speaks the tongue of the paleface besides he Is my son one question the boy asked as he be made ready the white woman must not be burned arned while alle I 1 am gone no ko promised the old chief and so white arrow fared forth four days lie he rode through the north woods and on tile fifth lie li strode sti ode through abrou ah the streets st of a town that was yet filled with great forest trees a town at which lie hid had spent three winters when the game aali as scarce and the tribe had moved north for good ile he lodged with no chief but slept in the woods with his feet to the ire the next night lie he slipped to the house of the old priest father andre who had taught ta aught him some religion and a little french and the alie old nad man welcomed welcome him as a son though he noted sadly tits his indian tit an dress and was distressed when hei be heard tile the lads mission ue ile was quickly relieved 1 I am no royalist he be said nor am I 1 suld said erskine Ersh lne 1 I come came because Nali kattoo too who seemed nigh to death be begged ged me to come I 1 nin am only a messenger and I 1 shall speak ills talk hut but my heart Is with the lie amei leans and I 1 shall light fight with them the old priest put its his fingers to tits ills lips asb sh h h it Is not wise are you not known erskine hesitate earlier that morning he be hall had seen three officers riding in following was it a youth not in uniform though ile he carried a sword on the contrary 11 he e was waa dressed like an english dand dandy and then lie he found litin self face to face with dane giey with no sign of recognition tion the boy had met ills his eyes and on there Is but one man who does know me and lie he did not recognize roe me ills his name Is dane grey I 1 am wondering what lie he Is doing here can you find out for me and let me know the old priest nodded and erskine slipped back to the woods at sunrise the great council began on lils ills way erskine met grey who fill ap patently parent ly was lenling with a hand band of traders for detroit A agnan gain ui erskene met tits ills eyes anil and tills this time gre smiled arent you white arrow somehow tile llie tone with which he spoke the name mime was an insult acs Cs then its true we heard that flint you had find left your friends at the fort and become an indian again yes so you are not only going to leht with the indians against the whites but with the british against america what I 1 am going to do Is no bustness business of yours erskine sold said quietly lut but I 1 hope we shall not lie be on the same side we may meet again greys face was already red with drink and it turned purple with anger when you tried to stab roe me do yon remember romer olier what I 1 said erskine Ersk lne nodded tie contemptuously well I 1 repent repeat it whatever the side ill fight you anywhere nt at any time flute find and in any way you please why not now this Is not the time for private quarrels and you know it erskine bowed slightly an act that came oddly from an indian headdress 1 I can walt wait and I 1 shall not forget the day will conic come the old priest touched erskines shoulder is as the angry youth rode away 1 I cannot make it out lie he said ne claims to represent an english fur ur company ills talk Is billish hut but he told one man lust last night when lie he was drunk that he cou could id liae hae h commission in the lie american anny the council tire fire was vas huilt built tile the flaites crackled and the smoke rolled upward oil and swept sept through the lie atless le trees three british agents sat on blankets and around thein the chiefs were ringed all day tile llie powwow lasted each agent spoke oil and tile aur burden of ills his talk ailed very little the american palefaces had find driven the indian over the cicat wall they were killing ills his leer buffalo and elk robbing him of his land and pushing hlin him eer backward they were ere ninny and they would become more the british were the indians friends the americans were his fits enemies and lliel rs could they choose to fight with fill their enemies rather thau that with their friends each calef answered in turn and each cast wampum until only Ei ershine shine who had sat eat silent remained and pontiac himself turned to jilin what says the son of kattoo Ka htoo even as tie he rose the lad ind saw creeping to tile llie anter ring tits hla enemy crooked ed g bot ant lie he appeared not to see the whites looked surprised surprise when his boyish figure stood straight and they were amazed when lie addre addressed sed the traders in french tile the in english and spoke to the feathered chiefs in their awu tongue me lie edit cast the belt for forward wara that Is Kah Kuh toot toos wk talk but we toll la Is mine who had bad driven the indian from the or great waters to tile the great wll wall the british who were the Amerl americans amerlean ran 1 U until a now british why w were e th the americans fighting now because the british their kinsmen would not give them their rights it if the british would drive the indian to the grent great wall would they not go on doing what they charged the americana with doing now if the indians indiana must fight why fight with the british to beat the americans lind and then have to fight both a later day if the british would not treat their own kinsmen fairly was it likely that they would trent treat the indian fairly they had find never done so yet would it not be better for the indian to make the white man on his own land a friend rather than the white ann who lived more than a moon awny across the big seas only one gesture the lad made he lifted ills hand high ht h and paused crooked lightning biad ha sprung to his feet with a hoarse cry already the white men had grown uneasy for the chiefs lad had turned to the boy with startled interest at his first sentence and they could not know what lie was saying say ins but they looked relieved when crooked lightning rose for tits ills was the only face in the assembly that flint was hostile to the boy with a gesture pontiac bade crooked lightning speak the tongue of white white arrow Is forked I 1 have heard him say say he would tight light with tile the long knives against tile ia tnt the knople are angry they say you are arc a traitor and a spy british and he would fight with them even against its ills own tribe one grunt ot of rase rag ge ran the round of three circles circles find yet pontiac stopped crooked LIht lightning nIng and turned to the lad ind slowly the lie boys uplifted hand came down with a bound he leaped through tile alie headdress head dress of a cliplef in tile the outer ling ind sped away through the vill village some started on foot after him some rushed to their ponies and some sent arrows and bullets after him at the edge of the alie village the boy gave a loud clear coil call and then another as lie ran something black sprang snorting from the lie edge of the woods with pointed enra ears and eyes another call came and like the lie swirling edge of a hurricane driven thundercloud firefly swept after tits his master the boy ran to meet him caught one hand in ills fits mane before lie he stopped swung himself up and in a hall of arrons and bullets swept out of sight CHAPTER IX the sound anund tf it pursuit soon died away hut erskine kept firefly tit nt tits his best for lie he knew that flint crooked lightning would be quick and fast on ills his trull trall lie he guessed too that crooked I 1 mil already told the tribe dint he had just told the council and that hint lie he and tile the prop prophet liet luul imil ril already ready made all use of the boys threat aire it to in tile hie shawnee town he le knew even hint it might cost him film lila Is life it if lie went hack back there and once or twice lie started to turn through tile wilderness and go back to the fort it was tile llie thou thought glit oa of the white woman who was to lie burned th that at kept him going 1101 nol split sant him openly and fearlessly into tile lie town lie he knew from tile the sullen looks flint met him from tile fear in the lie auces of ills foster mother find and the white woman who peered blindly from her lodge anil and from the triumphant leer of the prophet eliat ills his every suspicion was true but eliut nil all the lie more leisurely did he swing from ills his horse borse all tile anre e stalk to militia Kiili too 3 s tent lent an and 1 I file lie tit old cliplef looked very grove when llie file lad told the story of the lie council ond and all that flint lie he had said and done tile people are angry they say you are n tractor ond and a spy ally they say you must die and I 1 bennot help you I 1 am too old and the prophet Is too strong and the white woman they thought hotd yoi d turned injun agin ho he saiu but itts it all right now TO BE |