HIS MEDICINE” ROBE
JBY FRANKLIN WELLES CALKINS
’ One morning, as I was talking
with the Indian trader at Iteau
moyt, a man nearing middle age
nnd of a brisk and businesslike
manner alighted from a buggy and
entered the store. He talked with
the trader for a time, making in
quiries as to certain reservation
residents. J noticed with interest
the man's strong and virile face,
iwhieh seemed Indian in profile,
and his nervous, decisive manner,
“Who was that man?" 1 asked
Kelly, after his visitor had gout
out.
“Corwin,” replied Kelly, “Orant
Corwin. He’s English on one side
and Yankton Sioux on the other,
His father was an attache of om
post below, and died while the boy
was a little kid. You wouldn’t
think that Corwin had lived in i
tepee until he was 17, would you?
“Well, he did, and the only Eng
Jisli he knew was pidgin trade
talk. \\ hat lie is to-day is the re
sult of an accidental hap|>euing,
though there was a foundation all
right to build on. As I had some
thing to do in a small way in shap
ing the man's future, I’ll tell you
about it if vou like."
I disponed myself on liis counter
to listen.
“About 22 years ago, when our
Dakota boom was on. a man
named Hazen started a colony and
built a store some *10 miles east of
here. His was the nearest settle
ment to us and there was no rail
road within 2(10 miles. So, as out
supplies came up tin* Missouri by
steamer, Hazen took advantage
of our transportation to stock his
store.
“It was about the first of March
of the following winter that he
ran short of sugar, and came
across to see about getting a bar
rel of me. There was a good hard
snow on, and he drove a pair of
half-bred ponies to a light bob
sleigh.
“I had the sugar and few shoes
and dry goods that he wanted, and
Hazen would have got off with his
little load the next morning, but
that night it set in snowing and
blowing, and kept it up for 24
hours, and then came off cold as
Greenland. We'd been having
beautiful weather for several
weeks, and Hazen, not being well
acquainted with our climate, had
come unwholly unprepared for 50
below zero.
“I conldn’t help him much. I'd
Fold my robes in the fall and none
had come in yet, and i couldn’t
spare my beaver coat. 1 had plen
ty of woolen blankets, but in such
weather a man would freeze under
u stack of them.
“Hazen sat round in the store
that day pretty glum. He wanted
to get home to his family. He was
hovering over my big box stove in
the afternoon, when a woman
rame in wrapped in a robe made
from the pelts of buffalo wolves.
The woman was Mrs. Good Hear,
one-time widow of Tim Corwin, i
Lad known her since she was a
girl, hut I'd never seen the robe
she was wearing. It was a new
and a mighty good one.
“ ‘Marie,’ I said, ‘here’s a man
I think will buy your robe.' She
could speak a little English, but
she shook her head and laughed.
Hut Ila/.en had fastened covetous
eyes on her wolfskins, and while
tin* woman was making some lit
lie purchases he kept asking what
she would take for the robe.
“Finally Marie threw it from
her shoulders and spread it on the
counter for our examination. It
was made of eight big grav white
wolfskins, which had been finely
Ft itched with small sinews. A
bushy tail was sewed on at each
corner, and the inside had been
beautifully rub-tanned and wa*
painted with all manner of Indiat
figures. Altogether tin* robe wa>
a very fine piece of Indian work
“ Uazen,’ I said, ‘I’ll give £4<
for that robe.’
“ ‘Very well.’ said Ilazen, Tl
give .'Sod, and here’s the money.’
“Still Mrs. Good Bear shoo!
her head, this time to my astonish
ment, until she explained.
“ ‘My boy, White l’ony, heei
robe,’ she said. ‘Ho gone to veesit
gome jteople. Las’ winter many
ponv die and wolves come. My
boy go after deni with traps, lie’s
jus’ boy, but I thingk somethingk
wot awe’—she shook her hands
vaguely—‘ees help heem. He
catch lot so have dream an we
make heem medicine robe.’
"This was a long speech for Ma
rie* but she understood that she
was putting aside a great deal of
money. Finally, however, il was
arranged that she should leave the
robe with me until her boy came,
and that we should bargain with
him as best we could.
"White I’ony was expected to
return that day from visiting some
relatives up the river, but he
failed to put in an appearance.
The next morning Hazen came
into t lie store, put #50 on the coun
ter, walked to the back end of the
room and picked up the wolf-robe.
" ‘Tell the boy,' he said, ‘that
I’ve taken his robe because 1
couldn’t get home without it, and
if he doesn't want to sell it you are
to send me the $50 and I'll return
tin* robe with $- for its use.’
"This wasn’t what I would have
done myself, but under the cir
cumstances I could hardly refuse
im n i 111 ill uwi i w ^ ~' -
know that Mrs. Hood Hear would
want tho hoy to sell it. So Hazen
rode away well cased in warm fur.
“Well, about an hour later in
comes W hite Pony, asking for his
robe. I had to sit down and go
over the matter patiently in the
Sioux tongue. All the time 1 was
explaining the boy looked at me
crossly, and at the end went away
muttering something about his
wotawe.
“That’s as far as 1 had anything
to do with the robe business, only
to pay back Hazen's money when
the time came. The rest of tin*
story belongs to his trip home, lb*
didn't tind as good sledding as
when he came, but he got out to
Mallard creek, about 2(1 miles from
here, a little after noon. A wind
had risen and the snow was drift
ing hard when la* entered the
rough lands along the creek. Tin*
wind cut up so rough on the high
lands that lie was afraid to at
tempt tin* prairie beyond Mallard
creek. So lit* went into camp in a
coulee, where there was some
cover of willows and young
growth, and plenty of wood for n
fire.
“lb* tii*d one of his ponies and
turned tin* other loose to browse
upon the willows, and busied him
self wit h gathering wood and cook
ing his dinner. After the meal he
saw some grouse walking over the
snow away up the coulee, and he
look his shotgun and went after
them. Ib* tried his wiles on them,
but they got off scot-free. Then,
as he was returning to camp, he
was astonished to see h man. au
Indian, to all appearances, dart
away from his sled with a targe
pack under his arm.
“Somebody stealing his goods!
There were two or three families
of half breeds on the creek, and
tins was some sneaK-miei mmi
their cabins, no doubt. Ilazen bad
no mind to i>e robbed, so he fired
a load of small shot after the fel
low, and then started in to run
him down. He did not stop to see
what the man had taken, but
chased hard after him. The fel
low dodged into a ravine near the
mouth of the coulee, and Ilazen,
when he could no longer see him,
followed his tracks. The hard
heels of his moccasins left plain
prints on the snow.
‘ Mallard creek i-- very crooked
and bluffy, with ravines and
coulees running in every direc
tion. Going at his best speed,
Ilazen chased his man uponeeou
lee and down another, across the
creek and among the bluffs on the
other side, until he lost his track
entirely on a wind-swept ridge.
‘‘Then he concluded that he had
bet ter hurry back to camp and look
' after his horses and what goods
he had left. In ihe excitement ol
his chase Ilazen had bucked
against the hard wind without es
; peciallv noting its force. Bui
• i now he was tired and sweating
and a chill struck him when hi
; stopped running.
“The wind was rising, too. It
was one of those fiO-miles-an-hour
pales which last from 18 to ‘{f>
hours, kicking up a fearful storm
of dust under a clear sky. Hazen
found clouds of snow whirlinp
into the ravines, and the wind
frequently knocked him off his
feet as he turned the points of the
bluffs. Thes^ bluff coulees were
so numerous that lie soon became
lost amonp them. The stream was
very crooked and its valley nar
row. and Haasen was so confused
by abrupt turns and twisls that
he could not tell on which side of
tin* creek his camp was situated.
“For a time, knowing that lie
was lost and freezing, the man
was desperately alarmed, and
then this feeling passed off and he
stumbled on, knocked about in the
wind, going here and there, up and
down the creek indifferently.
“It must have been close on to
aight when a person muffled in a
big robe suddenly came up to him
and shouted: ‘How! Howl You
come.’
“The man was an Indian, and
Hazen stumbled after liim. noting
that he was wrapped in the same
wolfskin robe that he himself had
worn that day.
‘“He dragged along after his
guide for some distance up a nar
row coulee, until suddenly the
man stopj>ed him and pointed to a
hole in the drift. Then the Indian
beckoned him to follow, and
crawled into his burrow. Hazen
followed. It was easier to crawl
than to walk.
‘“He had to go but a little way
through before* lie* found himself
in a roomy space hollowed out in
the drift, with a tire* going in the
•(*nter, its smoke passing out of a
hole at the top.
‘“Hazen saw that he was inside
a snow-tepee, newly made. And
here his guide unwrapped and
spread’ the wolfskin robe for him
to sit on. In the light of the fire
and stripped of his robe Hazen
saw that his rescuer was a young
Indian and it dawned upon his
hazy brain that the real owner of
the wolfskin robe had followed
and simply taken his own prop
erty at the first opportunity. He
felt apologetic, and seated him
self, stretching his stiff limbs to
the fire.
“Tin* young Indian took hold of
tin* toes of his snow packs, gently
working them to and fro to see if
there was any bend to his ankles.
Then he tried to take off the packs,
and, failing in this, promptly
pulled hie knife and split the leg
gings from top to toe.
“Hazen understood that his feet
were badly frozen, and that the
Indian was doing what he could to
care for them. The young native
worked swiftly, packed tin* white
man’s feet and his legs to the knees
in snow, and wrapped them in his
own blanket. Then la* went out of
his snow tejiee and was gone some
15 or 20 minutes. When he crawled
in upon his return, he dragged
after him the white man s own
blanket roll, some bread and ba
con and his light ax.
‘••Hull! he Saul, seeing
Ilu/.en was coming to life in the
warmth of his fire. ‘How! I fetch
blanket—make warm to-night.
You boss gone—broke rope wolf
co’ * scare, I guess.’
“ Tazen’s tongue had limbered
an ’ his jaws had loosened so that
he could talk.
*• - Why did you come and take
your robe before I could get
home?’ he asked.
•"Mv wotawe—medicine robe
—a u o ly can take ’less somebody
sure goin’ to die.’
“There was no use in arguing
against this solemn assurance.
“•I'm afraid I’ll lose nn feel —
have to have ’em cut off,'said 11a
zen.
“White Pony shrugged his
shoulders. ‘Feet all right bine
by,’ he said. \Mebbe can’t walk
for two moons.’
“This was a line prospect, but
(lie white man had to grin am
bear it, as he did the fever and
tain of his thawed out legs that
night.
-His feet were terribly swollen,
nd he could not walk when morn
in- came. But White Pony wa*
equal to the emergency. After
breakfast he went out and was
gone for an hour or more. W hen
h#carae back he called to Hazen.
Hazen crawled forth to find that
the weather was still clear, and
that the Indian had brought the
back sled of his light pair of bobs.
He had made aback prop from an
end gate and a harness, and with
another harness had fixed a gear
for hauling the sled.
“In ten minutes the white man
was placed on the sled, tucked into
the boy's wolfskin robe, and they
were off across tlit* prairie. I lie
wind had packed the snow so hard
that the sled and its freight were
no burden at all. \N bite Pony
made most of the trip at an Indi
an’s swift trot, and in two hours
Hazen was at home and his wife
was nursing his frozen feet.
“Both these people took a fancy
to White Pony, and they fed and
t reated him so well that they final
ly weaned him off the reservation
and got him into a school. He be
longs now to the firm of Hazen
Brothers and Corwin, who deal in
grain, cattle and general mer«
chandise.”—Youth’s Companion.
RUDE IN HIS LANGUAGE.
But the Town Assessor Evened TTp
Things with the
Janitor.
Martin Hobbs was a man of un
certain temj>cr, but of such im
portance in his native town that
he lash of his tongue was borne
with patience by those to whom lie
grudgingly ministered in bis ca
pacities of iceman, plumber and
janitor of the town hall, relates
Youth’s Companion.
In the course of his duties as jan
itor he reduced almost to the verge
of tears a young woman who asked
for the key of a room in the town
hall where certain records were
kept.
Martin knew that she was writ
ing tlie history of the town, but h *
did not propose to strew her path
with roses.
••Lockin' and unlockin',” he
grumbled, as he began fumbling
in his pockets; “potterin’and put
terin’, fussin’ and fidgetin’, and
what does it amount to when all's
said an’ done? Anybody ast’ ye to
write a hist’ry? Who’s agoin' to
read it? Here's your key, and
mind you fetch it back, and lay it
on that table if I'm not here.”
The town assessor was at work
where lie heard this ungracious
address, and when the young
woman returned the key lie said,
indignantly:
“Martin outdid himself in rude
ness this morning, I should say.”
“O, well,” said the young his
torian. "lie felt a little cross, and
had to grumble, that’s all.”
“Never yon mind,” said the as
sessor, cheerfully, “I’m going to
make out his tax bill to-day, and
I shall assess him for seven mo if
hens!”
Lake Shirwa Disappears.
It is reported in I'etermann’s
Mittheilungen that Lake Shirwa,
discovered by I »r. Livingstone in
1839, southeast of Lake Xvassa in
Central Africa, has entifelv disao
with tte exception of a few
small ponds in its bed. In Living
stone's day the lake was 30 miles
long and from 10 to lf> miles wide.
At least it was thus shown on the
map. Lake Ngami, also discovered
by Livingstone, has since disap
peared. The cause of the changes
appears to be a gradual drying up
<>1 bodies of water in Central Af
rica. It is not a process of silting
up of the bottom, like that which
has recently affected the shore line
of the Sea of Azof.
As Compared.
^ our head, remarked the gar
| 111 loiis barber to the Irishman in
his chair, “is twice ns large as
I mine."
“Iil,t °> suppose thot head av
Jtons do he big enough fer you,’
i said t he son of L'rin.
answered the tonsorial
artist.
A\ course," continued the
Irishman. “1‘fwat’s th’ us.* av a
man havin’ a big trunk whin he
am t any clothes to put in it, Oi
dunuo." Cincinnati Enquirer.
^H^Direct^rj
MUNICIPAL OFFICERS
Mayor, J. H. Holderby,
Recorder, J. A. Gibson,
Marshal. Walter Pascoe,
Night Marshal, H. J. Mayhan,
Treasurer, K. J. Magness,
Aldermen:- A. A. Henderson, W. T.
Magness, W. 0. Mims, Fred. D. Whit
ing, Morg Drennen.
Council meets first Monday night in
tech month.
CHURCHES
Methodist church, services at 11, a.
m and 7:30 p. m. fourth Sunday in
each month. Rev. C. H. Newman,
Pastor.
Baptist church, services at 3 p. ra.
Saturday before third Sunday, and 11
a. m. third Sunday in each month.
Rev. J. L. Brown, pastor.
Christian church, services first and
third Sundays in each month at 11 a.
m. and 7:30 p. m. Kev. W. W. Young,
Pastor.
KKATKKNITI KS
Dannelly Chapter R. A. M. meets
third Saturday night. I. C. Nuckolls,
E. II. P.; T. H. Hearing, Sec.
Newark Lodge F. A A. M. No. 248
meets second Saturday night. T. J.
Raney, W. M.; .1. II. Jimerson, Sec.
Newark Encampment I. O. O F. 1H8
meets second and fourth Thursday
nights. G. A. Ashley. C. P; F. C. Hoyt
Newark Lodge I. O. O. P. No. 2fi.t
meets the first and third Wednesday
nights. T. J. Kauey, N'.G;0. F. Craig
Secretary.
Newark Camp \V.<). W. No. 2>s meets
second and fourth Tuesday nights in
each month. E. IL Magness, C. C.;
O. F. Craig, Clerk.
Independence Lodge No. 2379 K. <fc
L. of H. meets first and tnird Monday
nights in each month. < >. F. Craig,
Protector; Zed Griffith, Secretary.
Railroad Time Card,
WHITE RIVER BRANCH
St. L. I. M. & S. Ry.
Trains pass Newark as follows:
GOING WEST.
No.127.12.50 p. m.
No. 125.8.00 a. m.
GOING KAST.
.9.10 a. m.
.7.02 p. m.
F. C, Hoyt, Agent.
S. A. MOORE,
ATTORNEY - AT - LAW,
and Notary Public,
Land titles, administration, damage
cases and collections a specialty. Will
practice in all courts of the state
office in Post Office Building,
NKWAKK, - KANSAS.
No. 128
No. 126
M
A. A. HENDERSON
Notary Public
Makes a specialty of
Writing arid Correcting Deeds.
Office in The Journal Building.
Call at
J. QUALLS’
BOOT AM) SHOE. SHOP
For Legal Advise.
J. T. MILLER,
Physician and Surgeon
| Office Back of John Martin’s Store.
Residence l’tione No. (S3.
Office Phone .... No. 7(5.
CALLS PROMPTLY ATTENDED.
CITY BARBER SHOP
First class in every respect
Up to-Now Artists.
l
Sharp Knives. Clean Towels.
J. L. Crosser Proprietor.
A. I). HOLLAND,
Dentist,
Newport, - Arkansas
Deeds of trust and legal blanks
for sale at The Journal office.