vil and kind to them all,
however, though reserved; and, as time wore away, he enjoyed much more
liberty than was the case at first. Still, however, he was watched by
the tall savage, who was a surly, silent fellow, and would not be drawn
into conversation. Indeed he did not walk with Martin, but followed him
wherever he went during his hours of leisure, at a distance of a few
hundred yards, moving when his prisoner moved, and stopping when he
halted, so that Martin at last began to regard him more as a shadow than
a man.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

SAVAGE FEASTS AND ORNAMENTS--MARTIN GROWS DESPERATE, AND MAKES A BOLD
ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE.

Hunting and feasting were the chief occupations of the men of the tribe,
with whom Martin sojourned. One day Martin was told that a great feast
was to take place, and he was permitted to attend. Accordingly, a
little before the appointed time he hastened to the large hut, in and
around which the festivities were to take place, in order to witness the
preparations.

The first thing that struck him was that there seemed to be no
preparations making for eating; and on inquiry he was told that they did
not meet to eat, they met to drink and dance,--those who were hungry
might eat at home. The preparations for drinking were made on an
extensive scale by the women, a number of whom stood round a large
caldron, preparing its contents for use. These women wore very little
clothing, and their bodies, besides being painted in a fantastic style,
were also decorated with flowers and feathers. Martin could not help
feeling that, however absurd the idea of painting the body was, it had
at least the good effect of doing away to some extent with the idea of
nakedness; for the curious patterns and devices gave to the Indians the
appearance of being clothed in tights,--and, at any rate, he argued
mentally, paint was better than nothing. Some of the flowers were
artificially constructed out of beetles' wings, shells, fish-scales, and
feathers, and were exquisitely beautiful, as well as gorgeous.

One of the younger women struck Martin as being ultra-fashionable in her
paint. Her black shining hair hung like a cloak over her reddish-brown
shoulders, and various strange drawings and figures ornamented her face
and breast. On each cheek she had a circle, and over that two strokes;
under the nose were four red spots; from the corners of her mouth to the
middle of each cheek were two parallel lin