Last of the Great Scouts | Page 9

the panther's tawny form come
gliding through the brush. He saw Turk, and crouched for a spring.
This came as an arrow, but Turk dodged it; and then, with a scream
such as I never heard from dog before or since, our defender hurled
himself upon the foe.
Turk was powerful, and his courage was flawless, but he was no match
for the panther. In a few moments the faithful dog lay stunned and
bleeding from one stroke of the forest-rover's steel-shod paw. The cruel
beast had scented other prey, and dismissing Turk, he paced to and fro,
seeking to locate us. We scarcely dared to breathe, and every throb of
our frightened little hearts was a prayer that Will would come to us in
time.
At last the panther's roving eyes rested upon our inadequate
hiding-place, and as he crouched for the deadly leap we hid our faces.
But Turk had arisen. Wounded as he was, he yet made one last heroic
effort to save us by again directing the panther's attention to himself.
The helpless, hopeless ordeal of agony was broken by a rifle's sharp
report. The panther fell, shot through the heart, and out from the screen
of leaves rushed two hysterical little girls, with pallid faces drowned in
tears, who clung about a brother's neck and were shielded in his arms.
Will, himself but a child, caressed and soothed us in a most paternal

fashion; and when the stone of sobs was passed we turned to Turk.
Happily his injuries were not fatal, and he whined feebly when his
master reached him.
"Bravo! Good dog!" cried Will. "You saved them, Turk! You saved
them!" And kneeling beside our faithful friend, he put his arms about
the shaggy neck.
Dear old Turk! If there be a land beyond the sky for such as thou, may
the snuggest corner and best of bones be thy reward!


CHAPTER III
.
THE SHADOW OF PARTISAN STRIFE.
OWING to the conditions, already spoken of, under which Kansas was
settled, all classes were represented in its population. Honest, thrifty
farmers and well-to-do traders leavened a lump of shiftless
ne'er-do-wells, lawless adventurers, and vagabonds of all sorts and
conditions. If father at times questioned the wisdom of coming to this
new and untried land, he kept his own counsel, and set a brave face
against the future.
He had been prominent in political circles in Iowa, and had filled
positions of public trust; but he had no wish to become involved in the
partisan strife that raged in Kansas. He was a Free Soil man, and there
were but two others in that section who did not believe in slavery. For a
year he kept his political views to himself; but it became rumored about
that he was an able public speaker, and the pro-slavery men naturally
ascribed to him the same opinions as those held by his brother Elijah, a
pronounced pro-slavery man; so they regarded father as a promising
leader in their cause. He had avoided the issue, and had skillfully
contrived to escape declaring for one side or the other, but on the scroll
of his destiny it was written that he should be one of the first victims
offered on the sacrificial altar of the struggle for human liberty.
The post-trader's was a popular rendezvous for all the settlers round. It
was a day in the summer of '55 that father visited the store,
accompanied, as usual, by Will and Turk. Among the crowd, which

was noisy and excited, he noted a number of desperadoes in the
pro-slavery faction, and noted, too, that Uncle Elijah and our two Free
Soil neighbors, Mr. Hathaway and Mr. Lawrence, were present.
Father's appearance was greeted by a clamor for a speech. To speak
before that audience was to take his life in his hands; yet in spite of his
excuses he was forced to the chair.
It was written! There was no escape! Father walked steadily to the
dry-goods box which served as a rostrum. As he passed Mr. Hathaway,
the good old man plucked him by the sleeve and begged him to serve
out platitudes to the crowd, and to screen his real sentiments.
But father was not a man that dealt in platitudes.
"Friends," said he, quietly, as he faced his audience and drew himself to
his full height,--"friends, you are mistaken in your man. I am sorry to
disappoint you. I have no wish to quarrel with you. But you have
forced me to speak, and I can do no less than declare my real
convictions. I am, and always have been, opposed to slavery. It is an
institution that not only degrades the slave, but brutalizes the
slave-holder, and I pledge you my word that I shall use