Show AN INDIANS WRATH several years ago my husband built and conducted a hotel for he of the miners and teamsters team stera at the terminal point of one of ane california railroads like many other small towns in the northern portion of the state it indian rancheria ran cherie or settlement within its environments environ menta jahe half civilized inhabitants of which played a more or less import ant part in its local history with few exceptions they were u moderately industrious com abo men spending their time in hunting and fieh irig and the women doing the drudgery anch as procuring fuel for the fires the laundry work of their white neighbors etc every now and then however the wild nature of the red men either through the medium of firewater fire water or intense passion would become aroused and at such times crimes of various degrees of enormity were almost certain to bo the result we had one child a bright little fellow about two years old who by reason of his cute babyish antics had become a great favorite with the patrons of the hotel and they as a token of their affection presented him on his second birthday with a diminutive iron bunk in which each of the miners and teamsters had dropped a silver dollar As day after day came and went dollar after dollar found its way into the little ure bos till at last it became so heavy that baby could no longer lift it and I 1 placed it for safekeeping safe keeping upon a bracket in my dressing room one evening after old julia the indian woman who did our laundering once a week had performed her usual hard days washing it occurred to me that I 1 had done a very careless thing in permitting her to go into my room for the soiled clothes and knowing the propensity of her raco to steal I 1 at once proceeded to ascertain whether anything was missing babas bank had gone old julia had stolen it it was too late to do anything that day but early the next morning we had their hut searched with the result that fragments of the broken bank were found but no money they were bountifully supplied with provisions however and inquiry at one of the stores elicited the fact that a large bill of goods such as had been found had been purchased there the evening before by old julia and her spouse the woman was accordingly arrested and after being convicted was sent to the county goal in tho adjoining town for a term of three months many predicted that this would not be the end of the affair as the comans womans husband was a dangerous character and might seek to avenge his cifes imprisonment but neither my husband nor myself shared their fears and the matter was forgotten after a day or two one day about a fortnight after julias conviction I 1 was assisting the dining room girls to prepare the table for luncheon when suddenly the sound of a low guttural threatening voice at the window drew my attention looking ap startled and frightened I 1 beheld a savage hide ous looking indian glaring in at me it was indian jack old julias husband seeing my frightened look he advanced still closer put his swarthy baca faca in at the open window and shaking his fist at me grunted out yon no give me back my julia me kill you pretty soon I 1 had him driven off at once and as I 1 watched wat chad him slowly making his way back to the rancheria ran cherie on the river bank half a mile to the rear of our house and saw his threatening angry gestures I 1 confess I 1 was badly frightened this feeling soon wore off however and as my husband was inclined to think it no more than a game 0 bluff his visit was quite forgotten by the time luncheon was over that afternoon the table girla went out iu the woods for ferns the cook was also out and as my husband was seldom about the house except at meals I 1 was for the time being alone to while away the time I 1 picked ap a paper and was just becoming interested in some article when I 1 was started by a ened scream from my little boy who was playing in the back yard springing up I 1 ran to the window just in time to see indian jake snatch up my child in his arms and hasten away in the chaparral A terrible frightful thought instantly flashed through my mind he was gorog to avenge the incarceration of his wife by taking the life of my poor innocent boy there was no help at hand if he was saved I 1 alore must save him and with a desperate hope spurring me on I 1 bounded out of the door in frantic determined pursuit believing his movements had been unobserved the indian had not made as hurried a flight as he might have done and before half the distance to the rancheria ran cherie had been traveled I 1 was close behind him bring back my boap cried I 1 in frantic tones kill me if you will bu fc spare my child 7 an angry grunt was his only reply upon finding me in pursuit and placing his hand over the babas mouth to still his piteous cries he quickened his pace so as to keep oat of my way still I 1 ran on begging in sobbing tones for my child but if it had any effect at all upon the fiendish brute it was to encourage him in bis horrid purpose for now and then he would pause look back with an exultant devilish expression upon his hideous face and then swagger off again with a low gloating chackle that pierced my heart like a dagger in this mancier the race was kepic up until his hut was reached when he bounded inside closed the door with a bang and then locked it in van I 1 pounded the door begged wept and pleaded the brute was as immovable as a rock and 1 I could hear my poor baby pleading in plaintive wailing accents for mamma mamma mamma the soend of my lamentations attracted the attention of a score of half naked sleepy looking indians who rushed pell mell from their cabins to learn the cause of the unusual commotion and to them I 1 renewed my pleading no eabe was all I 1 could get out of them and I 1 returned to the door again knowing that jake could at least understand me ho gave me no answer however contending himself with holding an animated confab in ins own dialect with his comrades on the outside what they talking about of course I 1 could not tell but I 1 was not to be kept long in ignorance for I 1 was suddenly seized dragged to an adjoining hut and rudely thrust inside with the sound of the key turning in the lock I 1 was made a prisoner and the feeble wail of my child ringing in my ears I 1 fainted the intensity of my mental anguish was more than I 1 could endure how long I 1 lay thus I 1 do not know but when I 1 awoke to consciousness all was silent I 1 listened but I 1 could not hear my childs plaintiff cry in the adjoining hut A horrible thought flashed into my mind had the demon jack killed him my distracted mind had not yet found the answer when the sound of my door being unlocked was heard and the next moment jack entered my presence locking the door after him I 1 rushed toward him and frantically grasped his arm my boy where is he what have you done with him the indian shook me rudely away Ugh grunted he deboy boy no good too much yah yah all time d boy I 1 would not be thus put off and still assailed him with my entreaties he endured it with stolid indifference for several moments and then as if prompted by an uncontrollable impulse took one hasty stride toward me and rudely clutched my arm you tell jail man let my julia come backa demanded he savage ly I 1 told him I 1 would do all I 1 could but it was now beyond my power to effect her release you tell injun lie cried he jail man let her go you tell him to I 1 again told him as I 1 bad before that I 1 was powerless to do as he asked the answer seemed to goad him on to greater fury his grip tightened upon my arm his dark eyes emitted a fiendish wicked glitter and drawing from his belt a keen edged dirk be leaned over me and hissed you lie and jack kill you I 1 saw the gleaming blade ascend and hang trembling above me and then with a loud piercing despairing shriek I 1 lost consciousness when I 1 opened my eyes I 1 found my husband bending over men and a group of familiar faces all around me whom I 1 at once recognized as the regular patrons of the hotel the fight of indian jack and my frantic pursuit had been observed by soma men working in a slaughterhouse near the rancheria ran cherie and fearing something was wrong they bad rushed to my relief my babyboy baby boy was found fast asleep in jacks cab in which accounted for my net hearing him when I 1 recovered from my swoon some time before As for jack after being hauled mauled to the hearts content of the indignant miners he was given notice to leave the community at once which he did making a bee line for the foothills lying beneath mount shasta the noble hearted miners and teamsters not satisfied with ridding the neighborhood of indian jack donated a larger and stronger bank to my boy and showed no relaxation in their generosity until it was even heavier than the one old julia stole As for myself well I 1 am no longer a resident of that part of the state end though I 1 were to live a a thousand years I 1 should never for get the horrors of that eventful day or how nearly I 1 became the victim of an indians wrath |