, he said in a low tone: _'Does
the mole think that Black Hawk forgets?'_

"Stepping away with a dignified air, he now left me, as you may well
suppose, bordering in despair, for I knew too well the Indian character
to imagine for a single instant that my life would be spared under the
circumstances. I had been adopted into the tribe by Black Hawk, had
lived nearly three years among them, and by escaping had incurred their
displeasure, which could only be appeased with my blood. Added to this,
I was now taken prisoner at the very time that the passions of the
savages were most highly wrought upon by the mean and cowardly conduct
of the whites. I therefore gave up all hope, and doggedly determined to
meet stoically my fate.

"Although the Indians passed and repassed me many times during the day,
often bestowing on me a buffet or a kick, yet not one of them seemed
to remember me as having formerly been one of the tribe. At times
this infused me with a faint hope, which was always immediately after
extinguished, as I recalled to mind my recognition by Black Hawk
himself.

"Some two hours before sunset Black Hawk again came to where I was
bound, and having loosened the cords with which I was fastened to
a tree, my arms still remaining confined, bade me follow him. I
immediately obeyed him, not knowing what was to be my doom, though
I expected none other than death by torture. In silence we left the
encampment, not one of the savages interfering with us or offering me
the slightest harm or indignity. For nearly an hour we strode on through
the gloomy forest, now and then starting from its retreat some wild
animal that fled upon our approach. Arriving at a bend of the river my
guide halted, and turning toward the sun, which was rapidly setting, he
said, after a short pause:

"'I am going to send you back to your chief, though I ought to kill you
for running away a long time ago, after I had adopted you as a son--but
Black Hawk can forgive as well as fight. When you return to your chief I
want you to tell him all my words. Tell him that Black Hawk's eyes have
looked upon many sum, but they shall not see many more; and that his
back is no longer straight, as in his youth, but is beginning to bend
with age. The Great Spirit has whispered among the tree tops in the
morning and evening and says that Black Hawk's days are few, and that he
is wanted in the spirit land. He is half dead, his arm shakes and is no
longer strong, an