ese was tied a man, and Gibault had
no difficulty in making them out to be his unfortunate comrades.

Occasionally, as he gazed, one or two of the old Indian women went up to
these helpless men, with a yell of execration, and, brandishing
scalping-knives before their faces, appeared as if about to plunge them
into their hearts; but their time had not yet come; the hags were only
anticipating the feast of butchery that awaited them on the morrow.

While Gibault was gazing at this scene with mingled feelings of anxiety,
rage, and horror, the whole band of Indians suddenly sprang to their
feet and seized their weapons. Almost at the same moment Bounce strode
into the circle of light and deposited his cask on the ground. Then,
making signs of peace, he advanced towards one of the Indians, who, from
his dress and appearance, seemed to be the chief, and presented him with
a piece of tobacco. The chief accepted the gift in silence.

Bounce, who was well acquainted with many of the dialects of that
region, had no difficulty in making himself understood. He stated that
he was a trapper, that he had come to that country to trade, and asked
whether his Indian friends had furs to dispose of. As he had
anticipated, the savages were in no mood to treat with a solitary man
who was entirely in their power. The chief, who evidently suspected
that he was a friend of the prisoners, instead of replying, asked him
sarcastically what he had in the keg.

"Fire-water," replied Bounce unhesitatingly.

At this the eyes of the savages sparkled with delight. Not deigning to
waste more time with him, they seized the unfortunate trapper and
confronted him with his companions, gazing earnestly in their faces the
while to observe whether they betrayed any sign of recognition.

It said much for the self-control of these hardy men, that, although
their comrade was thus suddenly and unexpectedly placed before them,
they did not permit a muscle of their countenances to change, but gazed
on him and on his captors with that expression of defiant contempt with
which Indians usually meet their fate, and in which they are equalled,
sometimes even outdone, by the unfortunate white trappers who chance to
fall into their cruel hands.

And well was it, for the success of the scheme, that Theodore Bertram's
nerves had received such repeated and awful shocks that day, that they
were now incapable of feeling. He had been so terribly and repeatedly
stru