Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/454



and they determined to try to reach the nearest settlement. There was great fear that the Indians were concealed near by in the woods. Some one must venture to make a careful examination of the surroundings. It was a perilous undertaking and all hesitated. A young man stepped forward and volunteered to risk his life in behalf of the others.

It was the brave Morris Markham who had discovered the massacre at the lakes and had already saved the lives of all present by warning them of the impending danger. Carefully examining his rifle by the dim fire-light, he told his companions that if he discovered Indians, he would warn them by firing, if possible, even if he was stricken down in the dark by the lurking savages, and they should immediately barricade the door and defend themselves without waiting for him. He stepped out into the darkness with his rifle cocked and noiselessly disappeared. His comrades waited with intense anxiety. Markham crept silently through the snow from tree to tree, listening for the first movement of a stealthy foe. He cautiously made a wide circuit around the house and stable, expecting any moment to hear the crack of a rifle or the sudden rush of armed savages. Half an hour passed and the suspense of his companions in the house, intently listening, seemed unendurable. Not a sound reached them, and a terrible fear came to them that he had been tomahawked by the stealthy Sioux before he could give the alarm.

At last they heard approaching footsteps and hastily barricaded the door. Another moment of intense waiting and peering through the port-holes with loaded guns, then they heard the well-known voice of Markham. He informed them that the Indians had disappeared and he had found a yoke of oxen which had escaped the general slaughter. He had hitched them to a sled and all hands hastened to bring out the small children, the wounded, blankets and provisions, and they started on their