Treasury of American Indian TalesRessler, Theodore Whitson
General
Treasury of American Indian Tales
Ressler, Theodore Whitson
Indians of North America -- Folklore; Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
It was not too long after this that Running Bear and his rescue party
arrived at the place where the struggle had taken place. It was soon
evident to all the braves in the party that Little Horse had been taken
prisoner, for once past the marks of the struggle, it was easy to pick
out the markings of his moccasins in the soft earth of the trail and
Little Horse had made sure to come down heavily on his feet in order to
leave a trail plain enough for any who might follow to see.
Running Bear and his party pressed forward, going more stealthily now,
for they were deep in the territory of the Iroquois and from all signs
quite close to the village. Suddenly Running Bear stopped and signaled
the party to flatten themselves upon the ground. Through the trees he
had seen the feather of an Iroquois and, hardly daring to breathe, they
waited. Detection now would mean almost certain death, for they were
tired from their long race through the forest and the Iroquois, being
close to home and fresh, would have made easy victims of the Delawares.
The lone Iroquois brave had stopped and looked around and then
satisfying himself that nothing out of the ordinary was around had
continued along the trail in pursuit of the rest of his party which had
Little Horse captive.
Running Bear, when he felt it was safe, gathered his friends about him
and then spoke in a whisper.
“We will wait until it is dark and then I will approach the village and
see if it would be possible for us to rescue Little Horse and return to
our village. It is very late and surely he will not be in danger
tonight, for the thieving Iroquois will go into council to decide what
to do with him. He is definitely a prisoner and most likely since he is
young and strong but yet a boy they will make him run the gauntlet
tomorrow as a test as to whether he will be permitted to live or must
die.”
When darkness fell, Running Bear slipped through the forest to the edge
of the Iroquois village and there, hidden in the brush, he was able to
view the happenings in the village. He noticed one particular wigwam
being well guarded and this he presumed was where Little Horse was being
held prisoner. Then as his eyes wandered about the village he noticed a
number of older men entering the large council lodge.
This was a fairly large village of the Iroquois, and Running Bear felt
that it would be useless for his small band to attempt a rescue of
Little Horse.
Suddenly he heard a slight rustling to the side of the trail and peering
into the darkness he saw the figure of a brave approaching the trail. He
waited and when the brave was almost upon him he reached out and
throwing his arms around the throat of the Iroquois he drove his knife
into the brave’s heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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