Then with a grip of steel on my shoulder, he jerked me
from the trunk and fairly slung me over against the wall, and turning
to Faye with his head thrown back he said, "Whisk! Whisk!" at the same
time pointing to the trunk.
The demand was imperious, and the unstudied poise of the powerfully
built Indian, so full of savage dignity, was magnificent. As I calmly
think of it now, the whole scene was grand. The rough room, with its
low walls of sand-bags and logs, the Indian princess in her
picturesque dress of skins and beads, the fair army officer in his
uniform of blue, both looking in astonishment at the chief, whose
square jaws and flashing eyes plainly told that he was accustomed to
being obeyed, and expected to be obeyed then!
Faye says that I missed part of the scene; that, backed up against
sand-bags and clinging to them on either side for support, stood a
slender young woman with pigtail hanging down one shoulder, so
terrified that her face, although brown from exposure to sun and wind,
had become white and chalky. It is not surprising that my face turned
white; the only wonder is that the pigtail did not turn white, too!
It was not right for Faye to give liquor to an Indian, but what else
could be done under the circumstances? There happened to be a flask of
brandy in the trunk, but fortunately there was only a small quantity
that we had brought up for medicinal purposes, and it was precious,
too, for we were far from a doctor.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111