The White Rose Of The Cherokees.

" And before I had time to recover from my surprise , he had left the cabin threshold , and plunged forward into the woods . " My wife ancl I sat sorroAvfully doAvn to meditate upon the meaning of the Avarn ing Avhich Ave had received . Was it possible that our Indian neighbours Avere planning mischief against us ? Must we leave the home AA'here we had been so long happy together , and the little property Avhich Ave had succeeded in amassing , to the ravagers of the AVilderness ? But one answer could be given to these queries . The air about

us , like that AA'hich hung over Jerusalem , previous to its final destruction by the Romans , seemed filled Avith that portentous sound , ' Depart ! ' So we arose , and began to prepare for removal . I went to the field after the horses , while Susy gathered together what feAV articles of wearing apparal Ave could-take Avith us . " My friends , I am an old man . The scene Avhich foUowed my departure after those horses has been dwelt upon in my mind a thousand times ; but I shrink from

its recital now , as I Avoidd do Avere the blood of Susy still fresh upon the sod . " When I came back , my cabin Avas in flames , my Avife a corpse in the front yard —her throat cut from ear to ear and her scalp gone—and my daughter a captive . " It is not in the poAver of language to paint my desperation . What AA'as I to do ? I was single-handed , ancl the Indians Avere thicker than Sennacherib's host . They had my child in their possession . They Avere familiar with all the fastnesses of the

wilderness ; they could , if they chose to do so , elude my most daring pursuit . " I was sitting like a statue of stone beside the dead "body of my wife , when I heard a rustling sound behind me , ancl looking up saAV an Indian brave , dressed and painted for Avarfare , with his hatchet glittering in his hand . I did not feel a thrill of fear . Had he smitten me then ancl there , I should not have offered resistance . Life did not look to me Avorth having .

"' You do not know Okafenka , then , he said . 'He is dressed as a Avarrior , so that the braves may not be suspicious that he is friendly to the pale face ; but I will follow on and look after the white papoose . Why did you not fly as I bade you ? Did I not tell you that he-Avolves Avere in the thicket—Avith teeth like sAvords and eyes like 'fire ? They came clown thicker than the leaves of the forest upon the home of the pale face , and Okafenka coidd not save his Brother ' s squaw and papoose . The Avhite Brother should hai'e gone instantlas I bade him . But it is too late UOAV to save the squaAV .

y , The papoose shall be looked after ; and , by and by , I will bring her back to you . Okafenka is afraid that the eye of the braves may be upon him ; he may not stay to talk longer now . He wiU come again , bringing the little Avhite sqmuv Avith him ; not a hair of her head shall be injured . Ancl the Indian vanished away in the thick wood . " I determined to trust my child , after mature deliberation , to God and the Indian Freemason . I could do nothing more ; and so , after burying my dead , I waited

patientl y for Okafenka ' s return . TAVO years Avent by AA'ithout bringing a word from him—two Avretched , anxious years , as you may well suppose . At the end of that time , the Indian returned . But he Avas alone , and I saAv at the first glance that something bad happened . "' The little Avhite squaAV , ' he said abruptly , ' Avas sold by the Oherokees to the Winnebagoes . There she Avas admired for her pale face and her curlhair . Okafenka watched

y Jong , hoping to steal the white squaAV aAvay , but he could not do it . The Winnebagoes JOA'ed her too Avell . But what has UOAV become of her he cannot say , She is nowhere in the Indian nation . At first he thought the Winnebagoes had sold the " White Rose ° f the Oherokees , " as they called her , and he asked them about it , but the old chief , who Airv ^ ' -k 1 ^ father , said , No , no ; she has gone among the pale faces again . The V \ hite Rose was too pretty for the lodge of the red man of the Avilderness . I did not

tIT k ™ ' ^ ^" ' ace was ^ e ^ aoe ° ^ ^ le tur ^ e ^ ove > kut bis tongue Avas the tongue ° t the serpent . I Avent aAA'ay among the Sacs and the Foxes , the Otoes and the Kicka-P ° os , but the white squaw cannot be found . She must be dead . She is noAvhere among ln J people . ' 5 , 1 ou may imagine my grief at the announcement . I stood at forty-five alone r the world—a hopeless , miserable man . I thought of my unacknoAvledged birth—