New National Fourth Reader Part 59

The first year, both father and mother were much benefited; but not long after, father began to fail.

I remember that he used to take his chair out in front of the house in pleasant weather and sit there, with his eyes turned toward the blue horizon, or into the depths of the vast wilderness which was not more than a stone's throw from our door.

Mother would sometimes go out and sit beside father, and they would talk long and earnestly in low tones. I was too young to understand all this at the time, but it was not long afterward that I learned the truth.

Father was steadily and surely declining in health; but mother had become strong and robust, and her disease seemed to have left her altogether. She tried to encourage father, and really believed his weakness was only temporary.

Scarcely a day pa.s.sed that I did not see some of the Sioux Indians who were scattered through that portion of the State. In going to, and coming from the agency, they would sometimes stop at our house.

Father was very quick in picking up languages, and he was able to converse quite easily with the red men.

How I used to laugh to hear them talk in their odd language, which sounded to me just as if they were grunting at each other.

But the visits used to please father and mother, and I was always glad to see some of the rather ragged and not over-clean warriors stop at the house.

I remember one hot day in June, when father was sitting under a tree in front of the house, and I was inside helping mother, we heard the peculiar noises which told us that father had an Indian visitor. We both went to the door, and I pa.s.sed outside to laugh at their queer talk.

Sure enough, an Indian was seated in the other chair, and he and father were talking with great animation.

The Indian was of a stout build, and wore a straw hat with a broad, red band around it; he had on a fine, black broad-cloth coat, but his trousers were shabby and his shoes were pretty well worn.

His face was bright and intelligent, and I watched it very closely as he talked in his earnest way with father, who was equally animated in answering him.

The Indian carried a rifle and a revolver--the latter being in plain sight at his waist--but I never connected the thought of danger with him as he sat there talking with father.

I describe this Indian rather closely, as he was no other than the well-known chief, Little Crow, who was at the head of the frightful Sioux war, which broke out within sixty days from that time.

The famous chieftain staid until the sun went down. Then he started up and walked away rapidly in the direction of Lac Qui Parle. Father called good-by to him, but he did not reply and soon disappeared in the woods.

The sky was cloudy, and it looked as if a storm was coming; so, as it was dark and bl.u.s.tering, we remained within doors the rest of the evening. A fine drizzling rain began to fall, and the darkness was intense.

The evening was well advanced, and father was reading to us, when there came a rap upon the door.

It was so gentle and timid that it sounded like the pecking of a bird, and we all looked in the direction of the door, uncertain what it meant.

"It is a bird, scared by the storm," said father, "and we may as well admit it."

I sat much nearer the door than either of my parents, and instantly started up and opened it. As I did so, I looked out into the gloom, but sprung back the next moment with a low cry of alarm.

"What's the matter?" asked father, hastily laying down his book and walking rapidly toward me.

"It isn't a bird; it's a person." As I spoke, a little Indian girl, about my own age, walked into the room, and looking in each of our faces, asked in the Sioux language whether she could stay all night.

I closed the door and we gathered around her. She had the prettiest, daintiest moccasins, but her limbs were bare from the knee downward. She wore a large shawl about her shoulders, while her coa.r.s.e, black hair hung loosely below her waist.

Her face was very pretty, and her eyes were as black as coal and seemed to flash fire whenever she looked upon any one.

Of course, her clothing was dripping with moisture, and her call filled us all with wonder. She could speak only a few words of English, so her face lighted up with pleasure when father addressed her in the Sioux language.

As near as we could find out, her name was Chitto, and she lived with her parents at Lac Qui Parle. She told us that there were several families in a spot by themselves, and that day they had secured a quant.i.ty of strong drink, of which they were partaking very freely.

At such times Indians are dangerous, and Little Chitto was terrified almost out of her senses. She fled through the storm and the darkness, not caring where she went, but only anxious to get away from the dreadful scene.

Entering, without any intention on her part, the path in the woods, she followed it until she saw in the distance the glimmer of the light in our window, when she hastened to the house and asked for admission.

I need scarcely say it was gladly granted. My mother removed the damp clothes from the little Sioux girl, and replaced them with some warm, dry ones belonging to me. At the same time she gave her hot, refreshing tea, and did every thing to make her comfortable.

I removed the little moccasins from the wondering Chitto's feet, kissed her dark cheeks, and, as I uttered expressions of pity, though in an unknown tongue, I am quite sure that they were understood by Chitto, who looked the grat.i.tude she could not express.

She soon began to show signs of drowsiness and was put to bed with me, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

I lay awake a little longer and noticed that the storm had ceased. The patter of the rain was heard no more upon the roof, and the wind blew just as it sometimes does late in the fall. At last I sunk into a sound sleep.

Language Lesson.--Let pupils write a short letter to some friend, taking as a subject, "A Visit from Little Crow," as given on pages 272 and 273.[16]

Let pupils add _y_ to each of the following words, make such other changes as may be necessary, and then define them.

earth air fire water sleep

rain rust fun fur stick

What two words double their final letter before adding _y_? _Fiery_, from _fire_, is irregular in spelling.

[16] This lesson.

LESSON LVIII.

de'mons, _spirits; evil spirits_.

groped, _found one's way by feeling with the hands_.

pre'vi ous, _going before in time; preceding_.

in clined', _leaning towards; disposed_.

dis tract'ed, _confused by grief_.