Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/384

367 KINDNESS TOWARD PRISONER. 387 Both of them were very much exhaustefl, and the young Padouca was made to understand he must go to the village qf the Great Osages, and his life would be In the hands of the chief. The two young, men now leisurely returned to the balance of the party, who upon coming up were much surprised to sec a live enemy, and particularly a hated Padouca, but our young Osage brave assured them that it was his wish and also insisted that the boy must be protected from injury. After gath- ering up the secreted articles, the three young men make their way up the Osage river to the village of the Grand Osages in Bates county, Missouri, and be- cause of the fame he had acquired, the chief and all the warriors unanimously assented that Wiasbashas use his own pleasure regarding the fate of the young Padouca chief; but he had already formulated his plan, which was to get permission of his chief to per- sonally conduct the young man to his home ajad to request the release of some of his own tribe in exchange. The Padoucas were so impressed with the unusual act that they feted their enemy and al- lowed ten prisoners to return home, and loaded Was- bashas with many presents. This act did more for the fame of our young brave than the number of men he slew, for it was passed around and magnified to such an extent that he was selected by all the prairie tribes as their ideal, as were the heroes in Homer's Odyssey by the Greeks. Many pages could fee de- voted to the wonderful rise of the humble boy to chief of the Great or Grand Osagesij but he merited
 * fche mouth of the Osage to await the coming back of