her and we saved her life for on account of the White man[.] "I wish you had not been so merciful my son' exclaimed an old blind woman who was sitting by the fire'. I wish you had Killed the B—h for she has stolen my Knife which I had for three winters – it was as a good as ever Knife only the handles upon it of it was broken[.]" "Yes […] two other old woman another woman said a young girl from the opposite corner the bad slave has stolen my Knife also – I wish she was dead[.]" And [T]hey did not wish in vain[.] In a short time after while the village was still in an uproar rejoicing for their late success in war – Four Young men who had been employed to pursue go in the pursuit of the flying beauty returned appeared with her head – at the end of a Pole which they planted at the door of the Lodge where she made her escape. And they delivered the Horse which she had taken to help her flight they returned to the owner; and then retired in silence to their respective lodges. Nor did the men of the village heed their arrival – for they considered the head or the Scalp of the woman beneath their notice – not so the women overjoyed at the spectacle they collected in numbers and danced for hours together round this object of their hatred – turning it into ridicule[.] Then they pulled it down from the pole by the hair and took delight in tossing it about with their feet from one Lodge to the other – each as she kicked the head it to the next called out – take care! and be Kind to the enemy who is going to see you! Yes! Yes! Squealled out exclaimed the other rising her foot and and repeating the application as she passed the joke on to the next. In this manner the severed head was hurried bounced several times round the village – & at length it was assigned over to the boys to serve as as a mark to exercise their arrows where I saw it two days after[.]

The Young men who went to look out for this unfortunate creature followed her track by the means of marks left when she digged up roots for subsistence[.] When she got to the Mountains

thinking

[28]