A DOLL THAT SERVED THE GOVERNMENT.
Some Apache Indians had left the reserve, and some of our generals had had a great deal of trouble in trying to get them back. One day a little papoose—that is, a little Indian girl—three years old, strayed away from her father's wigwam. One of the soldiers found her, and took her to the fort. All day she was very quiet; but when night came, she sobbed and cried, just as any little white child would, for her mother and her home. The soldiers did not know what to do with her; they could not quiet her. At last the commander in charge remembered that a beautiful doll had been sent from the east to the daughter of one of the officers. He went to this officer's house, and asked to borrow the doll for the little Indian girl at the fort. The doll was beautiful herself and was beautifully dressed. The little girl loaned it to the officer, and it was carried to the fort to the little Indian baby. It was placed in her arms, and she was made to understand that she could take it to bed with her. Immediately she stopped crying, and fell asleep with the beautiful doll closely held in her arms. When morning came, she was radiantly happy the moment she opened her eyes and saw her beautiful little companion. She petted it, she rocked it, she talked to it, just as any little white child would. But now there came a new difficulty. The soldiers hoped, if they kept the little girl, that her parents would come or send for her, and they could enter into some negotiations with them to get them back on the reserve. But the father and mother of the little girl did not appear. It was a very serious thing for a lot of soldiers to have charge of a little three-and-a-half-year-old girl, and they were very greatly puzzled. Several days passed; and at last the soldiers decided that the little papoose must be taken back to her family, as they would not come for her. With her doll in her arms, she started with her protectors for the wigwam. When she reached the tribe with her doll, she created the greatest excitement. The soldiers left the child with her mother, and returned to the fort. The next day the little papoose's mother appeared at the fort with the doll, to return it. She was received with the greatest courtesy by the soldiers, treated with great consideration, and made to understand that her little daughter was to keep the doll. The result was that the soldiers' kindness to the little girl, and their courtesy to her mother, created a revulsion of feeling among the wandering Indians, and led to negotiations which resulted in the Indians going back to the reserve—that is, the land set apart for them by the United States Government—without any trouble.—Outlook.