"Lolo will like to work in the shop with you. He can now make the best bows in the tribe, and he makes fine arrows." And Lolo exhibited some of his handiwork, which, from the standpoint of the native weapons, was really creditable.
Returning now to Unity, we shall have to relate some very singular thing's which should be mentioned, as it shows the peculiar beliefs and practices of the natives.
On the day the force left the village occurred the first death in Unity. This was one of the[p. 131] warriors, who had been wounded during the last fight with the Tuolos and Illyas, and he had lingered along until he finally succumbed. He was one of the best men, and was mourned by the Osagas, of which he was a member.
Singularly, another of the same tribe died the following morning, who was the exact opposite of the warrior. Within six hours of the death of the latter his friends carried him away, and he was buried. The warrior, however, was not buried, but, instead, his body was carried to an open place, fully a half mile beyond the town, and placed on a hanging cot suspended from two trees.
The boys witnessed the ceremonies, and could not understand the meaning of it.
"Why do they bury one so soon after death, and keep the other for several days, and then suspend his body in the air?" asked Tom.
The Professor, who attended both ceremonies, responded: "This action on their part has a great significance. In most savage countries there is no more noble thing than to die on the battlefield. Usually those who die in that way are not accorded a burial, generally, because, in case such a warrior belongs to a defeated party, his friends do not have the opportunity to inter the body.