Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/372

355 THE PADOUCAS. ' " ' ,355 la:td afc the bottom of it, and they, again emaar^f alLof Whiph ifl otbserred by the six Padoacas. From the mouth of the Osage river to the village of the Idttle Osages, which was located where Malta Bend, Saline county, Missouri, now stands, was at least 100 miles by land and 150 by river, and owing to. having to go against the stream it would require at least three days to make the journey. But nothing else could be done as there were no settlements where the injured young fellow could, be left, so the' hope of the voyagers was that they might meet a hunting party from the Little Osage viUags. the south side of the river, and after the loss of four men by drowning, were not inclined to resort to a like procedure, and in fact, it would be foolish to do so. But while paddling up the stream, young Was- bashas could not help getting into the Indian way of thinking of his exploit in killing an enemy of his tribe, and he now felt that it would be proper to act like a man, so his brain was in a whirl how he could do something to compel his being permitted to rank as a warrior, and he formulated a plan: So coming to the mouth of a creek on the north side of the river, he takes the boat up the creek to get out of sight, and the sick youth is comfortably located, then the plan is divulged to the prostrate Indian, to which he assents; the canoe is then emptied of everything and carried by the two Indians up the stream, but back in the timber so the watchful enemy could not observe, and when around a bend in the river out of sight the canoe is launched and Wasbashas is taken to the south shore
 * The Padoucas followed the canoe, they beinn: on