l choice in the
matter; 't would be certain death otherwise, for I know not east from
west in this blind waste of sand."

I turned abruptly from him, and strode forward across the sand-ridge
out into the short prairie grass beyond, shaping my course westward by
the stars. However revengeful the Frenchman might feel at my plain
speaking, I felt no hesitancy in trusting him to follow, as his life
depended upon my guidance through the wilderness.

My mind by this time was fairly settled upon our first movement. The
only spot that gave promise of a safe survey of the Indian camp, where
doubtless such prisoners as there were would be held, I felt sure would
be found amid the shadows of the west bank of that southerly stream
along which the lodges were set up. From that vantage point, if from
any, I should be able to judge how best to proceed on the perilous
mission of rescue.

While we were feeling our way forward through the darkness, a great
burst of flame soared high into the northern sky, the red light
radiating far abroad over the prairie, until even our creeping figures
cast faint shadows on the level plain.

"Saint Guise! They have set fire to the Fort!" exclaimed De Croix,
halting and gazing anxiously northward.

"Ay, either to that or to the agency building," I answered. "It was
not there I expected to find the prisoners, but rather hidden among
those black lodges yonder whence all the shouting comes. 'T is
torture, De Croix, which has so aroused those devils; and it will soon
enough prove our turn to entertain them, if we linger long within this
glare."

"You have a plan, then?"

"Only a partial one at present,--'t is to put the safeguard of the
river between us and those yelling fiends. Beyond that it will all be
the guidance of God."

The stream proved to be a narrow one, and the current was not swift.
We crossed it easily enough, without wetting our stock of powder, and
found the western bank somewhat darkened by the numerous groups of
small stunted trees that lined it. I moved with extreme caution now,
for each step brought us in closer proximity to those infuriated
tribesmen who were holding mad carnival in the midst of their lodges.
I felt sure that our pathway along the western shore was clear, for the
most astute chief among them would hardly look for the approach of
enemies from that quarter; but I was enough of a frontiersman not to
neglect any ordinary precautions, and so we crept like