Volume I Part 66 (1/2)
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE WEDDING BREAKFAST
The Crocodile sped swiftly along that day Clary, who had becooverness sat in a chair near the bed and drea Clary asked the captain whether they were in sight of land
”Yes,” replied the captain
”And how long will it be before we enter the harbor?”
”About two hours”
”Good Let me make you a proposition We can dine now, and you can tell us the conclusion of your story”
An hour later dinner was concluded, and the captain continued his narrative
”At the moment I put foot on the threshold of the cabin I heard a peculiar noise, and at the saed itself in the door Where had the arrow come from? What to do I knew not Suddenly an inspiration came to me The cabin was pretty solidly built, and the roof was constructed of thick canewood Around the four sides were thick planks, which offered me shelter in case of an attack That my enemies were Indians I felt sure I locked the door, barricaded it from the inside, and felt sorry that the rattlesnake was dead, for it would have been a splendid weapon against the Indians
Going up to the roof, and lying flat on my stomach, I peered out I shuddered when I saw my enemies They were Indians of the worst kind
With the Sioux and Chippee had kept up friendly relations, but these were Arikaras, our bitterest foes This tribe were deadly enemies of the whites, and the refined cruelty hich they tortured their prisoners made them feared by all They were all armed with muskets, and nuroup I sao Sioux
One was a man and the other a woman The man was Tu-Sam-Ba; the woman, his wife, the 'Prairie Flower,' the present Mrs Wharton They seeht of the custom of the Arikaras to roast their prisoners alive, a thrill of horror ran through my veins The attitude of the 'Prairie Floas so noble that she iht, and firel”
The ”angel” tried in vain to allay her husband's excitehter whenever she looked at the angel Clary, on the other hand, preserved her gravity, and cals, captain; continue”
Wharton bowed profoundly and proceeded
”The Arikaras surrounded the cabin, while I lay es now began to break in the door and soon effected an entrance Immediately I heard a loud noise They had discovered the two dead bodies and the rattlesnake They thought the thites had killed the rattlesnake, which is regarded as a sacred animal by them, and that Manitou, their God, had struck them dead A place which Manitou visits is sacred to thely Indian, who see speech to his subjects At its conclusion the Indians ather brushwood They piled it in heaps on the floor of the cabin and the chief set fire to it Presently the s dick and Osborne's bodies At the saun exploded in consequence of the heat, and, half dead with fright, I fell into the roup My fate was settled now
They surrounded me, boundI--”
”Captain,” interrupted Clary, ”don't you think we have reached Bona yet?”
”No,” replied Wharton, vivaciously, ”not before the next two hours”
Clary laughed loudly, and the captain saw that he had committed a blunder
”I fainted,” continued the captain, ”and when I caround, bound hand and foot By the flickering light of a ca their pipes Tu-Sam-Ba was tied to a post, while the Prairie Flower crouched at his feet I detere, I exclaie:
”'Comrades, do you intend to let ?'
”'You are an enemy of our race You killed the sacred serpent'
”'Should I have waited then until it had killed me?'