tiamen; you belonged to the
company?"

He nodded, his eyes dull, his lips moving, as though it was an effort
to talk. Quite evidently whatever little intellect he had ever
possessed, now refused to respond. Kennedy broke in impatiently.

"It takes thet boy 'bout an hour fer ter tell enything, Cap," he
explained gruffly. "I reckon he's skeered half ter death in the furst
place, an' then thar's sumthin' wrong with him enyhow. Maybe I kin
give ye the main pints. Them thar fellers belonged ter Cap. Hough's
company frum down Edwardsville way--greener then grass, most ov 'em.
They'd cum up frum sumwhar on the Illinoy, an' wus a headin' fer Dixon.
Never onct thought thar might be Injuns down yere, an' never kept no
guard. Them Injuns jumped 'em at daybreak, an' not a soul knew they
wus thar, till they yelled. 'Twan't no fight, just a massacre. This
feller he got away, just as he sed he did, by a hidin' in the bush. I
reckon he wan't even seed at all, but he wus so blame close thet he
heerd 'bout all thet went on, an' even seed a bit ov it. Lord! I hed
ter poke him out; he wus thet skeered he cudn't stand."

"Wal, I reckon yer'd a bin too," the boy stuttered angrily. "I ain't
never seed no Injuns afore."

"An' don't wanter ever see no more, I reckon. Hell! I don't hanker
after eny myself. Howsumever, it's whut he seed an' heerd, Cap, thet
sounds mighty queer ter me. He sez thar wus mor'n fifty bucks in thet
party, an' that ol' Black Hawk wus thar hisself, a leadin' 'em'--he
done saw him."

I turned, surprised at this statement, to stare into the boy's face.
He half grinned back at me, vacantly.

"Black Hawk! He could scarcely be down here; what did he look like?"

"'Bout six feet high, I reckon, with a big hooked nose, an' the
blackest pair o' mean eyes ever yer saw. I reckon he didn't hav' no
eyebrows, an' he wore a bunch o' eagle feathers, an' a red blanket.
Gosh' Mister, but the Devil cudn't look no worse'n he did."

"Wus thet him, Cap?" burst in Tim, anxiously.

"It's not a bad description," I admitted, yet not convinced. "I can't
believe he would be here with a raiding party. If he was, there must
be some important object in view. Is that all?"

"No, 'tain't; the boy swears thar was a white man 'long with 'em, a
feller with a short moustache, an' dressed in store clothes. He wan't
no prisoner nuther, but hed a gun, an' talked ter Black Hawk, most like
he wus a chief hisself. After the kil