lm.

"Now," said Sappy, in triumph. "Ain't he an old socker?"

"Sure enough. You ain't missed any cows lately, have you? Wonder you
ain't scared to live anyways near!"

IV

A "Massacree" of Palefaces

"Say, fellers, I know where there's a stavin' Birch tree--do you want
any bark?"

"Yes, I want some," said Little Beaver.

"But hold on; I guess we better not, coz it's right on the edge o' our
bush, an' Paw's still at the turnips."

"Now if you want a real war party," said the Head Chief, "let's
massacree the Paleface settlement up the crick and get some milk.
We're just out, and I'd like to see if the place has changed any."

So the boys hid their bows and arrows and headdresses, and, forgetting
to take a pail, they followed in Indian file the blazed trail,
carefully turning in their toes as they went and pointing silently to
the track, making signs of great danger. First they crawled up, under
cover of one of the fences, to the barn. The doors were open and men
working at something. A pig wandered in from the barnyard. Then the
boys heard a sudden scuffle, and a squeal from the pig as it scrambled
out again, and Raften's voice: "Consarn them pigs! Them boys ought to
be here to herd them." This was sufficiently alarming to scare the
Warriors off in great haste. They hid in the huge root-cellar and
there held a council of war.

"Here, Great Chiefs of Sanger," said Yan, "behold I take three straws.
That long one is for the Great Woodpecker, the middle size is for
Little Beaver, and the short thick one with the bump on the end and
a crack on top is Sappy. Now I will stack them up in a bunch and let
them fall, then whichever way they point we must go, for this is Big
Medicine."

So the straws fell. Sam's straw pointed nearly to the house, Yan's a
little to the south of the house, and Guy's right back home.

"Aha, Sappy, you got to go home; the straw says so."

"I ain't goin' to believe no such foolishness."

"It's awful unlucky to go against it."

"I don't care, I ain't goin' back," said Guy doggedly.

"Well, my straw says go to the house; that means go scouting for milk,
I reckon."

Yan's straw pointed toward the garden, and Guy's to the residence and
grounds of "J.G. Burns, Esq."

"I don't care," said Sappy, "I ain't goin'. I am goin' after some
of them cherries in your orchard, an' 'twon't be the first time,
neither."

"We kin meet by the Basswood at the foot of the lane with whatever
we