could have laid them away in the grave, with the consoling thought,
that all must lay there at last. But the harassing idea of the torture
they would be subjected to, and the terrible death they must at last
suffer, if indeed they still lived, was a constant source of agony to
her.

"If I only knew that they were dead and at rest, I would be content;
but, alas! I fear they still live!" she often said to herself, and then
the throbbings of her heart would not be still. Poor mother! her
thoughts made her life a torture of the deepest intensity.

Lewis would not believe they were dead, and had devoted the whole time
of their absence in wandering from tribe to tribe, in his endeavors to
gain some information of them. Once he heard there were some white
persons captive in a distant Indian village, but he could not learn the
name of the tribe, or in what part of the vast western wilds they were
located. Twice he had been through to Oregon in hopes of obtaining a
clue to their whereabouts, but heartsick had returned only to sink the
already drooping spirits of his parents still lower. Mr. Duncan had
removed his family farther east, where he would be less liable to be
annoyed by hostile Indians, and there taking up his abode determined to
await until he could learn the fate of his children.

Cole and the chief travelled with great rapidity. They were inured to
hardship from infancy, and with nothing to impede their progress,
sometimes riding, and sometimes walking, the fourth week out they came
to the Arapahoe village in the evening just as the shades of night were
drawing to the lodges, the men, women, and children who had scattered
themselves during the day through the forest. The chieftain's eye
kindled as the old familiar faces passed before him, and his breast
heaved with pride us he read in their cheerful steps and careless ways
the security and prosperity of his tribe. Cole and the chief were
standing in the shadow of a large chesnut tree, which protected them
from observation, but from which they saw all that was passing in the
village without being seen. Gradually the Arapahoes seated themselves
on the bank of a small stream in little groups, and then the chief saw
who it was that had succeeded him in command--it was his best
friend--the brave and good Eagle.

"Stay here, till I return," whispered the chief to Cole, and then
folding his arms over his brawny chest, he walked with a proud step
into their midst. Ever