Chapter Five He Ok's A Strange Cherokee Indian One day we were entertaining some friends in our sitting room. The weather was nice and pleasant and we had the doors all wide open while we were talking on various subjects of minor interest to most of us. When to our great surprise an Indian appeared just outside the doorway. We all looked up in astonishment. Conversation all ceased; all eyes focused on the object standing in the doorway. The dogs had not barked or given any warning of his coming. We had not heard him coming, but there he was, standing six feet or more in height; erect, straight as an arrow, with broad shoulders and long black hair streaming down on his shoulders. He had removed his hat and was holding it in his hand. He made a low bow and his hair flowed out in front when he came erect. I have never seen anything like it. He held up his hand, palm out, as a token of friendship before he spoke, then said, "My name is Ye Wau. I come from Cherokee Nation…come to see country where my people come from. Me Cherokee Indian, come long way, make long walk, like to rest then go on." He was invited to come in and take a seat with us. He came in and politely sat down, placing the little bundle which he had tied up in a large bandana handkerchief, on the floor beside his chair. My father says to him, "It's a long way from here to where you came from. Have you walked all the way?" He said, "Yes, long way, me walk long time, stop when tired, rest then go, no hurry. See lots of people…make many friends, like to make friends, not long now until I get to where I want to go, see country then go back, me little when I left it." He stayed overnight. I liked to listen to him talk and tell stories. I remember one very distinctly that he told on himself about going courting, and the way that he told it made it very funny and at times made me feel scared to look at the expression on his face. He made it look so real. He commenced by saying, "I go two three miles to see girl one place lots of trees, sometime wild animals in there. I go to her place, see girl, we talk, talk, love lots, stay long time. Love some more, get plenty late, loves some more, then start home, come to woods, heap dark, me get afraid, take out long knife, open it, go in woods got knife in hand, me afraid, plenty scared, walk on little ways, stumble on something, fall down, don't know what it is. It begin to fight me. Me bad scared now. Me Cut, Cut, Cut__um hard and fast as can. Pretty soon it bawl, Bawl BA-U-L-L-L-L! Me stop, no cut anymore. No scared so much now. Find out it's cow. Now I'm ashamed, awful sorry. Went home, sleep; next day find out it's widow woman's cow. She poor. All she had. Plenty children, now no cow. Heap sorry now, didn't want folks to know me scared and kill cow. Went to see widow woman…tell her me sorry she lose cow. Me not tell me kill cow. Me had twenty dollars, give it to her. Say, sorry, twenty dollars buy another cow." (He said that a good cow then was worth about fifteen dollars.) I couldn't understand why Carlo never barked when he came, and I still don't understand id. I asked him how he got past Carlo and he said, "Me honest, love dogs, dogs love me, never bite me." Carlo was there when he came through the gate and just walked away and laid down. Someone saw him from a distance and if the Indian said anything, couldn't hear it. Ye Wau went his way going Eastward toward the country of his ancestors and we never heard of him again. Chapter Six A Whole Flock of Geese Slaughtered I was awakened one Sunday morning by the fierce barking of Carlo and Bonny. They were up on the hill near the barn, chasing something and seemed in a high state of excitement. I knew right away there was something unusual happening. I jumped out of bed, ran out on the porch, which was open on three sides and had a stairway leading down to the porch below. (Note: The house did not have an inside staircase. To get to the upstairs bedrooms, one had to go out on the front porch then climb the steps to the second floor, not an unusual arrangement for 1817 when the house was built-EC) I heard a goose squawking off in an easterly direction and looking in that direction, I saw something white flying across toward the north, high above the fence when it squawked again, I knew something was chasing it and that it was a goose. It was not more than thirty or forty yards from the house where it flew but it was just beginning to get light in the east and I could see but little. Thoughts were tumbling through my mind so fast, trying to figure out what might be taking place. When I heard the goose squawk again over where it had lit and I knew that something had caught it. I ran back into my bedroom for a revolver that I kept handly on a shelf near my bed always loaded ready for just such an emergency. I took it and ran out and down the stairs as fast as I could. I didn't take time for clothes not even shoes. I ran out and jumped over the gate, didn't have time to open it, ran down along a nearly dry branch a short distance and stopped when I saw something white on the ground. The object just seemed raised up a little and moved away from me toward a rail fence nearby. I followed very cautiously until it reached the fence where it stopped and I stopped; at first, I could only see the white goose, and the way it had moved along without noise made it seem uncanny. I stood there straining my eyes for a moment while thoughts were running through my mind like lightening. I thought of a report about a panther being seen in the neighborhood and some folks were afraid to go out after dark. Just then I saw the dim outline of something as it moved a little. I was holding the revolver in my hand and I shoved it out aiming it as best I could in the dim light and fired. I was not more than ten feet away and I heard it make a little noise more like a whine than anything else. I took a step closer and it turned it's head around in my directions that I could see it plainer, then I fired again at it's shoulders which knocked it down. (What can I say? He was 76 years old when he wrote this, guess he forgot to tell us what he shot-EC) Chapter Six (The second Chapter Six-EC) He looses a Battle But Wins the War To be continued with the second Chapter Six in next email Edna Clack