Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/262

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247
247

yOUNG TATARBAX WlWg. 247 Trith his haads tom^e'a nmse so as to encourage tae boy, as well as for another artful purpose, for then up bobs young Tatarrax's head and down goes Ysopete, •who grabs the handle, keeping the craft steady and on the- move, while his young friend is climbing in. The young feUow soon talces in the situation that he is a httle ahead, but then bQth men are making, for him, but Ysopete is now doing hiaJBttl^ diying act; so BfVraj speeds the little thing to the; astonishment of the two, racers. The plan was well conceived, for Ysopete ' strained every nerve to drag the canoe, which with bothhis efforts and the occupant thereof with the paddle she fairly flew over the water, but the wily Indian diver knew when to desist, so with a final, last, extra-powerful pull he released his hold, but in- stead of coming to the surface ran back as far as he possibly could hold his breath,' this beitag to put the people off the scent as to his conspiracy. About the time our La Subtle Ihdian gets to the surface,' he hears the acclaim of the people, and he is happy to see the successful termination of his well laid plot. To the credit of the young chief, just as soon as possible he told his father of the good work done by Ysopete, and the old man admonished his son to bring the guide to him, which was done, the chief in private requesting that not another soul be told of what was resorted to for the purpose of winning the race, the main thought in the astute leader's mind was the ad- vantage which would accrue to his boy in the future to advance his being selected as the chief of the tribe. And from that day Ysopete was a marked and favored Indian, all of which was merited.