Edward Sylvester Ellis

“ Left alone, the Burning Cloud pondered long and deeply upon her course. The skein was twisted, and she saw no way of unraveling it. The motives that swayed her were various, and each was strong. Love was the master passion, and if driven to extremity, she would sacrifice every thing to that. But revenge upon the renegade was burning strongly within her soul, and longed to be satisfied with blood. As for the beautiful Olive, gratitude to the physician would do very much for him, but yet she had no very strongly marked interest in her fate, save that she would keep her from torture. ”

“ His hair and whiskers were clotted and his face streaked with gore, and between the crimson lines was white as chalk, while the working of the muscles—twitching constantly with pain—made the strong-hearted scout shudder and grow faint even to gaze upon.
Night passed, and with every mark of the horrid torture removed, the village rung with notes of joy. It had become known that the white man wished to be adopted into the tribe—that he was to take the Burning Cloud for a wife and that he had already notified the chief to that effect. ”

“ No flinching of muscles or winking of lids betray consciousness, and bending over him she breathed in the softest of whispers as her lips touched his:
"Ne-ne-moosha, sweetheart, how much I love you!"
"And so do I you, Cloud!" replied the scout, who had been watching her—"playin' 'possum," as he would have said—as he sprung up suddenly and clasped her in his arms and returned her caresses with usurious interest. ”

“ The massacre of men and helpless women and innocent children followed, while the air rung with shrieks for mercy and the groans of the dying as they were cut down, hewed by hatchets, pierced by arrows, crushed by clubs, scalped and hurled into the plundered and burning wagons, even before life was extinct.
An hour after, three wretched prisoners—all that survived of the band of emigrants—were dragged along with ropes around their necks—tied to the horses' tails of the exultant Indians—three only—Olive, the doctor and the scout. ”

“ Then the Little Raven arose and noiselessly sought the side of her pretended lover. She bent down so that her face almost touched his and listened long and earnestly, and having satisfied herself that his slumber was no counterfeit one, she returned to Olive, laid down beside her, and whispered:
"Now the pale squaw may talk. The ears of the chief are like those of the deaf adder. Little Raven is her friend. ”

“ For all the darkness around she could see the scaly folds of the numberless savage reptiles, that, disturbed by their footsteps, wormed in a living mass like boiling waves breaking upon some rocky beach. Horrible—the like of which earth holds not, and what could she do to avert such a fate?
Renounce the scout—perjure her very soul and become the wife of the one she not only detested but who would even thus dastardly seek to make her his own? The bare thought nerved her to even greater strength, and the battle became fierce indeed. ”

“ Never did a man get more quickly out of a hateful place. So great was his anxiety to be beyond the horrors he had endured that it forced a smile from even the grim lips of the Medicine, as he led him to a wigwam, where he was treated as a welcome guest might have been.
Relieved from terror, and with his bodily wants supplied, the first thought of the renegade was for the girl, her lover and the scout. The latter he was told had fled like a coward, but swift-footed warriors had started upon the trail and it was more than probable that his scalp was even then hanging at their belts. ”

“ They whisper lies into the ears of the red-men—they trail them on to shame, and when they are asked for the father of their children they can only bow their heads into the dust."
"Burning Cloud is the daughter of a great chief," she answered, drawing herself up proudly. "He who couples her name with disgrace must beware!" and she half-drew her knife.
He knew as well as she did her pride of birth, and was determined to sting her upon the most tender point.
"The daughter of a chief when she stoops to love an enemy is worse than any other." ”

“ Be ever near him and yet never in sight. Hear every word that issues from his lips but let yours be dumb as death. Be secret as the mole and crafty as the spider. Let your footsteps be as light as the falling snowflake, and your ear as sharp as the stag. Let nothing escape you. More than you dream of hangs upon what you may learn—perhaps even the fate of the whole tribe. ”

“ Still the old man was dumb—sat with open mouth and staring eyes, shivering in every limb and vainly endeavoring to command himself.
"Will you not speak?" questioned the voice. "Then pale-face come hither."
Obey the red-man could not, and the white one stepped forward, raised the skull, and after holding it for a moment, held it toward the Medicine, who saw that the unnatural light had faded away, but reeled back again as from the fleshless lips came the words:
"Coward, you have lost the opportunity to learn wisdom. Take me back and bury me. Never again will I come at your bidding. ”

“ The life of the pale-face is in the hands of the Medicine of the Sioux. One word from his lips, and death would follow—another and the path would be open for him to return to his people. Which shall it be? What would the pale-face give for freedom? ”

“ Not far from here is the home of the rattlesnakes. Burning Cloud knows it well. If she will not be my wife I will throw her into their midst and none will ever know of her fate. Thousands of forked tongues will be darted at her—thousands of poisoned fangs be buried in her flesh—thousands of slimy bodies crawl over and around her while still living! ”

“ Fortune favored him. He came across an outlying spy—trailed his rifle, and turning the open palms of his hands toward him, advanced. It was a sort of freemason sign, well known to all the dwellers of the prairies, and it was not long before he and the Indian reached the main body of the savages, and he was soon seated in council with them.
But the Indians, crafty as treacherous, inquired deeply into the motives that made a man thus turn against his own people, and give them to the tomahawk and scalping-knife, or to torture. ”

“ But resistance would have been useless, and with any thing but pleasant feelings he handed over rifle, knife, and hatchet.
"I will go with you and show you the way," he said, seeking to gain their favor.
"The red-man needs nothing but the stars to guide them at midnight—nothing but the smoke of the pale-man's fire to tell them where he lies hidden. Let the braves take him to the Medicine and tell him to keep him safe until they return. If his words are true he has nothing to fear. If not, he will learn what it is to be treacherous to the red-man. ”

“ The prisoner strained his eyes and was certain he could see the arms uplifted as of one struggling in pain, and it made his very flesh creep to think of such a death. But the Medicine quickly recalled him to a sense of his own situation by saying:
"The torture of the pale-face will be no better. He will wish for death for hours and days before it comes—will not even have carrion birds to help bring it, and though wolves will howl around and serpents hiss, they will not come near enough to destroy, beg as he may the Manitou for them to do so." ”

“ In an instant he was by her side and his heavy hand was laid upon her shoulder, and his harsh voice hissed into her trembling ears:
"So the pale-face thought to escape and has nearly perished in the wilderness? But she will wander no more. The wings of the dove shall be clipped so that she can not fly, and the limbs of the doe fettered so that she can not run."
"Merciful God, protect me," was all that she could gasp, as she was hurried along with more than brutal rapidity.
"The red-man has been constantly upon her trail," he continued, "since she escaped from the wigwam of old Metiz. ”

“ And as the old fiend bent over him, with looks of hatred and ferocity lighting up his dark features, he registered the most solemn oath that ever was formed within a human soul, that if he should survive and gain his freedom he would rival him in revenge.
But when to the tortures of fire was added the equally terrible one of water falling drop by drop upon his head, he felt that his agony was fast becoming too great for endurance—every fiber of his frame shuddered, and he knew that he was rapidly becoming insane. ”

“ I have never met you before."
"The pale thief has a bad memory or lies."
"I am certain I am right."
"Listen."
She briefly recounted what had transpired at their first meeting, and he trembled as a coward, as she proceeded:
"More than that, he has lied to the Little Raven, and this poor white squaw. But the dark-mouthed wolves of death are upon his trail."
"You are wrong," he stammered.
"Wrong? Does he know her?" and she dragged the unwilling Olive forward, and turning to her, said, as she held out her knife: "Take this and revenge yourself until your heart is satisfied. ”

“ It was a terrible consummation of the bright dream of love, and yet, any thing was better than to think of her being the reluctant and agonized wife of the remorseless renegade. Even death was a release from never to be told suffering, and through the profound darkness, there is a very faint hope of escape. ”

“ And very long would have been their council had not the renegade Parsons obtained means to summon the chief privately to him, and explain, as far as he was able, the mysteries that had transpired—that such things were not uncommon among the white men—that he had seen many do the same—that he was simply cheating them—had no more power than any other man, and that the voice they had heard was not that of any spirit, but simply a gift of nature that enabled him to disguise his own, so that it sounded as if coming from a distance. ”

“ She could scarcely draw one poor bruised foot after the other, and it was evident even to her reeling senses that her end was very near—that she would soon have to perish in the wilderness—die alone without a single soul to pity, or kindly hand to close her eyes, and that her body would become the sport of wolves' whelps and foul carrion birds.
The idea was too horrible to be calmly endured, and a great cry of misery escaped from her fevered lips. She reeled against a tree, grasped it within her arms, and stood motionless as if turned into stone. ”

“ Quick as thought the Indian was upon the renegade, kneeling upon his arms and rendering them useless, while he felt of the point of his knife with a smile, and then ran his fingers along the ribs to make certain of the locality of the heart. But yet he hesitated to strike, and his face wore the look of the serpent when the bird is completely within its power, and it has only to dart out its forked tongue to bring death.
"Will the pale dog beg for his life?" ”

“ Yet you live among them?"
"I fear them not—fear nothing—am strong and know how to take care of myself. The pale-face is weak as a little pappoose."
"Will you not go with me?"
"What if I should? Your feet are swift as those of a doe, mine heavy, as if my moccasins were lead. The chief gave her into the keeping of Metiz, and she must stay in the wigwam." ”

“ Her heart longed for him as the deer for the salt-lick."
"For the love of heaven," exclaimed Olive, "save me from this brutal man. He has killed—"
"If the maiden of the white skin would live she must keep her tongue between her teeth," hissed the Indian girl, with a scowling face and half-drawing her knife.
"You are right, Raven," responded the renegade. "She must not speak, for she would utter nothing but lies."
"Has the pale chief visited his people and brought her present?" again questioned Little Raven.
"No. He found this girl and was hastening back to give her up to the tribe." ”

“ It is no good spirit that would have him go free, but an evil one that wishes harm to the Sioux."
The speech was received with applause, and those who had trembled saw in it a solution of the difficulty and became tenfold as anxious for the torture to begin. But, before the fiendish work could be commenced, the voice was heard again in contradiction:
"The words of the chief are false. His tongue is traveling a crooked trail. It is the good spirit—the friend of the nation that speaks. He would save them from lightning and tempest, the ice and snow, from famine and the black death." ”

“ But awake she did, and that suddenly, and a scream burst from her lips as she saw the old squaw kneeling by her side, with her face bent closely down to her own.
"Oh! heaven, what do you want?" Olive asked, shivering with undefined alarm.
"The sun is seeking to hide itself behind the western mountains, and the young squaw of the pale-faces must be hungry. Metiz has brought her food and drink."
She saw that the eyes of the hideous Indian woman were upon her, and, fearing to make her angry, she arose, and by dint of a mighty exertion of will managed to eat. ”

“ Guided far more by impulse than reason, she grasped one of the largest of the branches and struck the hideous beast in the face, and then, as it drew back in astonishment, she sprung forth screaming, to the full extent of her lungs—sprung forth and ran swiftly away, the bear following, and it would very soon have torn her limb from limb had not the plaintive cries of its cubs recalled it, and with nature triumphing over passion it returned to the tree, giving her an opportunity to escape. ”

“ But, fear not, for you will be safe as long as you remain quiet. If you attempt to escape, a dreadful death will follow."
From the moment the reptiles had been set free, the Medicine had stood at the door of the cavern, through which a little light came in. Now he quickly retreated, shutting the entrance after him, and, more dead than alive, George Parsons was left to the most horrid companionship that the mind can think of. Every moment he expected would be his last, and hours passed of sufficient misery to have driven him stark mad. ”

“ Her lover trembled like one with the ague, then nerved himself with a mighty effort, and returning the defiant looks around him, answered:
"Is it well, great Medicine, that I should tell to other ears than your own the secrets that are whispered by the dead?"
"The pale-face is a dog," commenced the old man, but before he could finish the sentence, a voice was heard coming from the wigwam in which the prisoner had been confined, forbidding that any thing should be told. ”

“ There was a brief council, and then the great war-chief of the nation took command, and having heard a garbled story from the Medicine of what had transpired, and seeing nothing in it to excite particular terror, especially as the old humbug had intimated that the voice was his own work, he stepped forward, and striking his broad hand upon his breast in defiance, exclaimed:
"The great Manitou is ever the friend of the red-man, and when a pale-face dies his laughter can be heard shaking the hills. ”

“ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
The old Medicine of the Sioux, when he came to reflect upon the manner in which the prisoner had repeatedly untied himself, was mystified, and though he determined to have no rival yet he believed he might learn some things he could turn to account before the white man was put to death by holding out false ideas of safety and life. To that end he had the prisoner brought to his wigwam, and to his great joy he found his chest there and uninjured. ”