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Show The Deseret Eap-k- : SUPPLEMENT. MARCH AN INDIAN SCARE. A Tale of Life Up Hie Yellowstone When Iletla Were Plenty. Oq the sunny side of a pile of square timbers down on the river bank a Journal reporter encountered a company of old river men. They pr.TT yr.z yarns about old days i .11 hi- una Missruri, and maty and marvelous were tbe tales they told. Mostot the men had been captains or piio s or oillcers of some sort, but at length a stalwart fellow, whose tawny mustache and keen eyes showed 110 sign of agr, threw away the stub of vr.-r- p 1 - the cigir he had been pulling and spoke : I was a pretty lusty kid when I was booked asdtckhand on the steamer Key West, then about to set out on her txploriDg trip up tbe Yellowstone. It was in 1ST3, whin Sitting Bull and Spotted Eagle were at the zenith oi their career, and were supposed to guard Jealously all the upper country from the intrusions of civilized institutions, and alter we passed Fort Ick we never thought of t)iDg up for a night without throwing out pickets. Gen. Forsythe was iu command of the expedition and was exceedingly vigilant, but day after day was passed without our dbcovering any signs of Indians. It wishis habit to tie up for the night wherever there was a supply ol dry wood sufficient to Are the boilers for the succeeding day. Frequently we would reach such a point early iu the afternoon and when we had gotten the requisite quantity of wood chopped the hands were in the habit of going flshiDg. It was on one of these easy days that I wan 'ered up the river and sat down on some dry brushwood to tlsb. I was be ond the picket lines, but having go- d luck with my fishing, 1 thougnt nothing of that. I sat there until dusk, and bad Just hauled in a fine big catfish, when I was startled by hearing some twigs crack on tbe bank above me. I listened and thought I could detect the sound of footsteps coming toward me. For a time I was too much frightened to move, for fear of hastening the fate which I felt was hanging over me. Presently the cracking of a branch nearer than before sent my heart into my throat and convinced - me that 1 mush 1 5, 1 892. at at OLce. I had two lines at work, end dropping both of them I slid as noiselessly as possible into the current and swam down until I knew by the boat's lights that I was Inside the picket lines Then I crawled out, and going to headquarters reported Indians lurking on the bank above. Yellowstone KjJly was scouting for us, and taking m with him led the way up tbe bank. We passed the pickets, who win i they heard of my discovery cocked their rill 's and prepared for the worst. It was now perfectly dark, and Klly, baiting, asked me in a whisper if we were near the place I had been ibhing. Before I could answer there went up the most unearthly howl from a point Justin front of u, accompanied by a crashing in tbe brusn. I found myself holding ay gun horizontally at)Ov- my head ;is if to fend oft the blows ui ihc torn j hawks I m raentarily expected would plunk down into my oralis. .My Knees s'jook aud I could not buv-- drawn breach if it had saved me from the late I apprehended. "I stood there until a touch of some thing wet against my face made me yell out In spi e of myself. It was a hand, aud I was convinced it was wet with Kellj's blood, for when the yell went up he ha4 plunged dowL the bank into the brush. Imagine my relief when I heard Yellowstone's voice say- j ing, ''Coyotes, ye blamed fool!" and striking a match he held up all that remained of my string of llsh. A couple of coyotes had bien making a flue meal off them." Sioux City Journal. BE INDEPENDENT. AN ARMY KI TEN- - One evening towaid the close of the. war, while Union soldiers lay in camp on a hillside near the S'.auiron iivr, in Virginia, the cry ol "Halt ! Who go s there?" from a sentry, staitid every lounger to his feet; aud stvcnl f the more curious ran to the guard-lin- e to find out what the trouble was. A minute later all knew that the night visitor c who bad been challenged was no enemy. A little girl, about ten years of age, holding a white kitten iu her arms, came forward into the light of the lire?, conducted by two soldiers, who had told the sentry to pass her iu, and who looked as proud as if they were escor a queen. The whole regiment gatht-i- ng ered including the colonel himself, to look at the child and hear her tell her story. A very short story It w aa rcirc ly a paragraph; but there wa matter enough in it lor a full chapter. She lived near by, with her fath r, wlo was sick and poor; and tiv-Northerners, she said, and "Union folks." Her mother was dead, nrd her brother had been killed while ti.'hting in the Federal army. She "wanto.l to give something," and, when the Union soldiers came, she thought she would bring her pet kitten and present it to the colonel. The colonel took the little girl in his arms and kissed her, and said he was not a bit ashamed of his weakness. He accepted the kitten with thankn, and its innocent donor was gallantly waited on to her humble home loaded wiih generous contributions. The wh'lte kitten was adopted by tN. regiment, but continued to bo t m property and the special pet of the colonel; and when the war v.as over he took it home with him. Like the white limb that stayed and fed with the victor after the battle of Antietam, that little creature, during its short but stirring army life, was a daily inspirtion to better feelings aud thoughts, in the presence of all that is worst a living flag of truce gleaming among the thunder clouds of human passion and strife Watchman. y ? In the Torouto schools, primary teachers are not supplied wth reading charts, but each teacher is ri quired t make her own readingchart. Why may we not apply the sain', within limits, to other studies? Did it ever occur to you what you would do if you should suddenly find yourself obliged to teach grammar, for instance, witnout any text book? Some close, hard thinking in that line will do much toward making us independent of the book. We all lean too much on the book, or the "course" or the superintendent cr West Point Military Academy estabsome other outside influence. We our- lished in 1S02 has graduated 3,284 perselves must be strong. Inter Mountain sons, enough to officer quite a large Practical Educator. army. |
