Show Men of the by Captain G. G Elliott Nightingale Elliott Nightingale Nigh Copyright ht WHEN SITTING BULL REALLY SAT DOWN DOWNTO To VIOLATE an old age Sioux law and to do doso so in the presence of a few ew hundred Sioux warriors whose whose- weapons s still Il glistened with the white blood of the Custer massacre massacre mas mas- sacre to do such an unheard of thing and get away alive such was the distinction that came rather suddenly to one of the smallest men ver e-ver ever seen In the ranks of the Mounted The untouchables of In India India dia had little on the theold old time Indian medicine men when it came to keeping fellow humans at a distance distance dis dis- dis tance and one of th the most famous of untouchables among American Indians was Sitting Bull BuIl medicine man and mad magician of the hard hard- fighting Sioux After the frightful butchery at Littie Little Lit Lit- tle tie Big Horn the Sioux Sioux- knew that if they stayed where they were they would soon have thousands of American soldiers on their necks men who would wreak the fullest measure of revenge for the terrific slaughter of Custers Custer's brave troops It was a case of fight or fly so after much debate and wrangling the Sioux decided to fly to Canada to Manitoba and seek sanctuary tinder under un tin- der the British flag until the thc excitement excite excite- ment meat over the Custer affair had died down Six thousand Sioux and a 3 few hundred Nez Perces took refuge on Canadian soil and the Northwest Mounted Police began to be a bit curious about the newcomers so an inspector and ten men were were dispatched dispatched dis dis- dis patched to contact the Sioux and find out what they intended to do doIn doin doin in regard to the thc future whether they intended to stay in Canada and become wards or i if the they planned raids and depredations against the white settlers in Canada After much piping peace-piping and parleying parleying par par- Sitting Bull the spokesman assured the police inspector that the he Sioux were on a peaceful mission and that after a breathing spell they would probably return to the U United States Satisfied the Inspector and his men returned to quarters The Sioux Siom settled down to the more or less uneven tenor of their semi semi- savage ways Things went along quietly until some of the braves grew oi restless and staged a horse st stealing horse foray This was mis mistake ke number one Mistake Mistake Mis Mis- take number two was that they had been foolish enough to steal some of the best horses from the Northwest t Mounted Police and among these was Inspector Allens Allen's favorite favori mount This was as Allen AIlen put it ita it a bit too thick so with two men he returned to the Sioux and demanded de do- that all the stolen horses be beat beat beat at once brought to him Sitting Bull shouted and waved a few times and soon some of the stolen horses were led up to the Men of the Mounted Wheres the rest of them queried que que- ned ried the inspector quietly Find cm em yourself said several Sioux simultaneously As time passed other horses were found and the Men of the Mounted were feeling feel ing quite lucky except for the fact that the inspectors inspector's horse had not been found Then came a moment when Inspector Allen AlIen saw his horse and its rider was Sitting Bull him him- sel self Giving the sign of friendship Inspector Allen head and shoulders shorter than any Sioux brave around aroundhim aroundhim aroundhim him and probably half the size of Sitting Bull pointed to the black mare and said My Mj horse You must give it back to me My horse P Pony ny Soldier shouted Sitting Bull That horse carries my brand my mark said Allen softly y as he moved close enough to have Sitting Bulls Bull's left knee come under his shaven clean-shaven chin My horse screamed Sitting Bull At this hundreds of Sioux warriors warriors warriors war war- sensing trouble c closed in on the quarreling pair Allen stood his ground however Again he parleyed parleyed par par- with Sitting Silting Bull and again received a flood of abuse and insolence insolence insolence inso inso- lence and a threat of sudden death It was then that Inspector Allen Alien violated a Sioux law as old as the Sioux the law that decreed sudden death to anyone offering or committing committing commit commit- ting violence upon the sacred personage personage personage per per- of a tribal medicine man Bracing himself himsel and reaching upward upward up up- ward Inspector Allen caught firm hold of Sitting bull yanked him out of ot the saddle and landed him squarely on his sacred sit As Asa a tremendous and deafening uproar broke out and several braves made dangerous passes at Allen the latter latter lat lat lat- ter vaulted swiftly into his saddle Without showing any of the thc nervousness nervousness nervous nervous- ness that he hc certainly must have felt Inspector Allen sat at stiff still attention attention at at- for a minute or two then nudged his horse and guided it deftly through the pack of howling Indians Fifteen minutes lat lator r with all but a few of the stolen stoler horses herded for the trip back to quarters quarters the inspector and his two men rode quietly out of the Sioux en en- Allen carried with him the thc distinction of of being the only white man ever to man handle the great and sacred Sitting Bull and live to tell about it i |