“Come,” he whispered, “we must go home now.”
“They will follow us,” replied the younger brother.
The older boy put his hand to his lips, not daring to utter a sound. He then placed the only gun the Indians had with the muzzle close to the ear of one of the sleeping Mohawks. “Now,” he whispered to his brother, “I’ll take the tomahawk, and when I give the signal you pull the trigger of the gun.” When all was ready the brave boy lifted the hatchet and his brother pulled the trigger. The Indian shot by the gun rolled over dead, but the other was not killed by the first blow. Nothing daunted, the brave youth rained blow after blow on the skull of the stunned Mohawk until the warrior lay quite still. The boys had lost their way, but after several days they finally succeeded in getting out of the forest. As they entered their home they heard their mother moaning to herself, “My poor boys, they must be killed.” With a great shout they ran to her and threw themselves into her arms. It is inborn bravery such as this that conquered the great wilderness and opened up the vast country that was called the Wild West.
INDIAN KNIFE
INDIANS OF THE PLAINS
A CROW CHIEF
OFFERING A CHALLENGE
STEP by step the Indians were pushed out of the land that was theirs by just right. The white man made treaties with them, but did not keep them, and on every hand the strong force of advancing civilization drove them toward the land of the setting sun. Any attempt at resistance by the Indians was usually met by conquest and the most relentless punishment. “There is not one white man who loves an Indian,” said Sitting Bull, the warlike chief of the Ogollalas, “and not a true Indian but hates a white man.”