Up, warriors! and sharpen your wits to invent the
most damnable tortures that the mind of man can conceive!" and at the
sound of his voice, which was loud and hoarse, each Indian sprung to his
feet, with an anxious and troubled face.

"And you, ye miserable white dogs!" continued Girty, turning to Younker
and Reynolds, on whom he bestowed numerous kicks, as if by way of
enforcing the truth his assertion; "were you suffering all the torments
of hell, you might consider yourselves in perfect bliss, compared to
what you shall yet undergo ere death snatches you from me!"

"What new troubles ha' ye got, Simon Girty?" asked Younker, composedly.
"But you needn't answer; I can see what's writ on your face; thar's bin
a rescue--you've lost your prisoners--for which the Lord be praised! I
can die content now, with all your tortures."

"Can you, by ----!" cried the renegade, in a paroxysm of rage; "we shall
see!"

As he concluded, he bestowed upon Younker a kick in the face, so violent
that a stream of blood followed it. The old man uttered a slight groan,
but made no other answer; and Girty turned away to communicate to the
others the intelligence of what had transpired since their parting; for
although they believed it to be of the utmost consequence, and tragical
in all its bearings, yet so far there had not been a question asked nor
an event related concerning it on either side--such being the force of
habit in all matters of grave importance, and the deference to his
superiors shown by the Indian on all similar occasions.

As soon as Girty had made known the sad disaster that had befallen his
party, there was one universal yell of rage, accompanied by violent
demonstrations of grief and anger--such as beating their bodies,
stamping fiercely on the ground, and brandishing their tomahawks over
their heads with terrific gestures. They then proceeded to dance around
Younker and Reynolds, uttering horrid yells, accompanied with kicks and
blows; after which, a consultation was held between Girty and Wild-cat,
wherein it was agreed to take them to Piqua, a Shawanoe settlement on
the Miami, and there have them put to the tortures. Accordingly, without
further delay, they unbound their prisoners, with the exception of their
hands, and forced them to set forward at a fast pace--treating them,
meanwhile, in the most brutal manner. Oshasqua, however, took good care
there should be no violence done to Rosetta; for he kept her closely