' '
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6 'Cbe Conservative *
TO WHOM IT MAY APPLY.
When Bill was a baby , a wonder was he ,
As cute and as smart as a baby can be ;
That he knew how to bellow I needn't tell
you ,
But one thing he did which few Infants can
do
J'nl hit fool in lilt mouth , ( you will certainly
know
By his foot I mean only , of course , his big toe. )
We were proud of that feat of that foot , I
should say
And boasted to all who to listen would stay ;
If we heard other parents their offspring
exalt
We knew to speedily set them at fault :
"Can Hour bo.i/ put lilt fool in hit month t" we
would ask ,
And they'd own that was quite an impossible
task.
Now Bill is a man , he is powerful and great.
He holds high position in Church and in
State ;
Above all he's an orator , satisfied never ,
Unless he can speak and keep speaking for
ever ;
And yet he's a failure ; for , try as he will
His hearers all think that he'd better keep
still ;
When he opens his mouth to say something
sublime
lie puts hit foot in it every time.
Is it our fault , I wonder ? I fear it is. Oh 1
I wish we had kept down our Billy's big tool
For in matters of State there's no greater
crime
Than to "put your font in it" every time !
E. EVANS.
A TRUE STORY OF AN EARLY IN
DIAN SCARE.
[ Written for THE CONSERVATIVE , by Rufus
D. Mason. ]
The Sac and Fox Iiidiaiis , under the
leadership of the famous Blnckhawk.
were at one time the source of more
trouble and danger to the early settlers
of the West than any other tribe. In
1842 they ceded their lands to the gov
ernment and were placed upon reserva
tions iu. Kansas. Many of them were
not satisfied with this plan and in 1858
about 800 returned to their old haunts
along the Iowa river in Tama county ,
Iowa. The state of Iowa passed a law
allowing them to remain as long as they
were peaceful , but this arrangement
was not satisfactory to the government ,
and it tried to induce them to return to
their reservation by cutting off their
annuities. This having no effect the
authorities at Washington issued an or
der commanding them to return , but
they flatly refused to obey. Seeing that
they could not be coaxed or driven back
without considerable trouble they were
allowed to remain , and in 1867 wore
again allowed their annuities. This
particular branch of the tribe were
mostly Musquakies , and their return to
Iowa was looked upon with a good deal
of alarm by the early settlers , for
while they were considered peaceful , it
was well known that their savage nature
might get the better of them and serious
trouble ensue.
On the afternoon of May 24th , 1865 ,
two boys whom we will call Bert and
Frank , were hunting along the Iowa
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river not far from the Indian village ,
and as might be supposed , their
thoughts wore about Indians rather than
the game they were seeking.
"What if we should see an Indian ? "
said Bert.
"I'm not afraid of Indians , " replied
Frank , "we both have guns and can de
fend ourselves ; besides , the Musqua
kies are a peaceful tribe and not likely
to hurt anybody. "
"I know that" said Bert , "but you
can never trust an Indian , and I would
not like to meet any of them out here
in the woods. "
"Oh , don't be a coward ; we are
hunting squirrels and not Indians. "
Just then a large red squirrel was
seen in a tall oak tree some distance in
advance. As Frank had a better gun
than Bert it was decided that he should
try and bring down the much-coveted
game ; so resting his gun in the forks of
a small tree , he took deliberate aim and
pulled the trigger ; both were delighted
to see the squirrel come tumbling down
through the boughs of the tree , but
scarcely had the report of the gun died
away before they saw two Indians
standing upon the veiy spot where the
squirrel had fallen ; where they came
from was more than the boys
could tell , but there they were arrayed
in all the gaudy trappings of the
wildest savage ; when the boys saw their
hideously painted faces , red blankets
and head dress of feathers they were
terror-stricken.
"Let's go" whispered Frank. "Come
on , " replied Bert m'a iuu& tone ; so-
leaving their game , they hastily moved
away. As they started to go they
noticed that the Indians were coming
toward them ; this frightened them still
more and they began to run ; upon
glancing back they were dismayed to
see that their pursuers were running
also , and that they were both armed
with guns. Their fear caused them to
put forth their best efforts and they ran
with all the power they possessed. As
they looked back the second time they
could see that the Indians were gaining
upon them and to their frightened im
agination they seemed to have increased
in numbers until there were a dozen in
stead of two , and they were gesticulat
ing and talking loudly , the meaning of
which the boys could not understand ,
and they expected every minute to hear
the report of guns and feel the imprint
of bullets in their backs , but no shots
were fired. They now threw away
their guns ; their caps had long since
disappeared.
Thinking to throw their pursurers off
the trail , they made a short turn to the
right while temporarily hid behind the
brow of a small hill ; this turn brought
them squarely against an osage fence
along which they ran for some distance
before an opening could be found large
enough for them to get through ; finally
Ba mall hole was found , scarcely half
large enough and surrounded with n
perfect thicket of thorns , but time was
precious and thorns were to be preferred
to savage Indians. Taking a last look
behind them they could see no sign of
the enemy , but , thinking that they had
only thrown them off the track and that
they were still coming , Bert plunged
through the thorny opening and was
quickly followed by Frank. Their
clothing was nearly torn from their
bodies and blood ran freely from
scratches upon their hands and faces.
They now found themselves upon a pub
lic road which they followed for a short
distance when they came to a small
farm house. Hastening to the door
they found it locked and no one at
home. Going to the stable they found a
horse which they mounted and rode
rapidly away.
As the shadows of evening were fall
ing , the little village of Toledo , four
miles north of the Indian settlement ,
was startled by seeing two boys , both
bareheaded and mounted upon one
horse , with hands and faces streaked
with blood and the clothing nearly torn
from their bodies , ride wildly into town
shouting : "Indians ! Indians ! the In
dians are coming ; the whole tribe will
soon be here. " The story of the ex
cited boys , together with their dilapi
dated appearance and the foam-covered
horse , caused great excitement. The
news quickly spread and grew in mag
nitude until it was the general belief
that several persons had already been
murdered and many houses burned.
As it was well known that a short
time previous to this the Sioux had
actually killed several hundred persons
in Minnesota and burned their houses ,
the story of an uprising was more
easily believed. When it was also re
membered that nearly all the able-bodied
men were in the army and that any de
fense made , must be made by old men
and women , it seemed that the situation
was indeed critical.
Although the writer was but four
years old he remembers well the feel
ing of alarm and fear that prevailed
as darkness settled down upon the lit
tle , unprotected town. The fiendish
yell of the wild savage was momen
tarily expected , and many yet live who
did not expect to see the light of another
morning. The country was new and
but thinly settled. The government
was just emerging from the civil war
leaving the Indians to do about as they
saw fit , and their natural disposition to
get into mischief when not watched ,
had caused several uprisings and mas
sacres among tribes generally consid
ered peaceful. There were few guns
and but little ammunition in the town
and a sad scarcity of able-bodied men
to use what was at hand.
A hurried consultation was held and
it was decided to put the women and
