st 16, 181".
questions, 1 had spoken to my interpreter, telling him to
entreat the Indian in my name not to kill Mr. Spalding,
which I begged of him as a special favor, and hoped that
he would not refuse me. I was waiting for his answer,
and did not wish to relate the disaster to Mr. Spalding
before getting it, for fear that he might by his manner
discover to the Indian what I had told him, for the least
motion like flight would have cost him his life, and prob
ably exposed mine also. The son of Tiloukaikt, after hesi
tating some moments, replied that he could not take it
upon himself to save Mr. Spaldiug, but that he would go
back and consult with the other Indians; and so he started
back immediately to his camp. I then availed myself of
his absence to satisfy the anxiety of Mr. Spalding."
The news was quickly told, for there was no time to be lost. Brouillet represents Spalding as paralyzed by it. u ls it possible! Is it possible!" 13 he repeated several times. "They will certainly kill me;" and he was unable to come to any conclusion. Urged by Brouillet to rouse himself and decide upon a course, he resolved to fly, and leaving his loose horses in charge of the interpreter, with a little food given him by the priest turned aside into the pathless waste, with his face set in the direction of home. His horse straying, after a painful journey of a week on foot, traveling only at night, he reached Craig s on the day after Mrs. SpaTding s removal to that place.
Meantime, on the very day of the removal, a messenger from the Cay uses arrived with a statement of what had been done by them, and the reasons for their acts, with a demand for an expression of opinion by the Nez Percés. A majority preferred remaining neutral until they knew what course was likely to be pursued by the white people in the country. This course was commended and encour aged by Spalding, who, after counseling with the chiefs,
13 Eighteen years afterwards Mr. Spalding said to the writer of this : " I felt the world all blotted out at once, and sat on my horse as rigid as a stone, not knowing or feeling anything ;" and the sweat of a long past anguish stood out on his forehead as he recounted the history of that time.
