This was his epitaph. He died as he had lived, boldly and defiantly, and found a soldier’s grave.
The power of Black-Hawk was broken, and the old chief a fugitive, soon to be a prisoner in the hands of the whites. Then it was that Samuel Wescott kept his promise to Minneoba, and gave her a shelter under his roof. The teachings of Sadie soon changed the forest maiden so much, that she loved a domestic life, and when Sadie was married, soon after Black-Hawk’s visit to the east, Minneoba was there, and witnessed the ceremony. When it was finished, Cooney Joe stopped the clergyman:
“Stop a little, stranger,” he said, sheepishly. “Got another little job for you, I have.”
And to the surprise of all, Minneoba took his hand, and they were married.
Unknown to every one, Joe had obtained the consent of the old chief, who knew that his daughter was better fitted to live with the whites than with the tribes, and Minneoba became the wife of Joe Bent. She never had cause to repent it. Rough though he was, he was a true man, and worked nobly for her sake, and strange as it may seem, became in time, one of the richest farmers in that region.
Captain Melton also settled there, and the two families were constantly together. And above the mantel, in Melton’s study, hangs the costume of the Forest Fiend.
Tom Bantry was for years a successful boatman upon the Mississippi, and at last a Captain. Samuel Wescott died at a green old age, honored and beloved by all who knew him.
THE END.
DIME POCKET NOVELS.
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY, AT TEN CENTS EACH.