ce of
a hunter's skill to be able to get the proper quantity for the ball.
Then he put the charge into the barrel. Placing a little greased
linsey rag, about half an inch square, over the muzzle, he laid a
small lead bullet on it, and with the ramrod began to push the ball
into the barrel.

A slight rustle behind him, which sounded to him like the gliding of
a rattlesnake over the leaves, caused him to start and turn round.
But he was too late. A crushing blow on the head from a club in the
hand of a brawny Indian laid him senseless on the ground.

When Isaac regained his senses he felt a throbbing pain in his head,
and then he opened his eyes he was so dizzy that he was unable to
discern objects clearly. After a few moments his sight returned.
When he had struggled to a sitting posture he discovered that his
hands were bound with buckskin thongs. By his side he saw two long
poles of basswood, with some strips of green bark and pieces of
grapevine laced across and tied fast to the poles. Evidently this
had served as a litter on which he had been carried. From his wet
clothes and the position of the sun, now low in the west, he
concluded he had been brought across the river and was now miles
from the fort. In front of him he saw three Indians sitting before a
fire. One of them was cutting thin slices from a haunch of deer
meat, another was drinking from a gourd, and the third was roasting
a piece of venison which he held on a sharpened stick. Isaac knew at
once the Indians were Wyandots, and he saw they were in full war
paint. They were not young braves, but middle aged warriors. One of
them Isaac recognized as Crow, a chief of one of the Wyandot tribes,
and a warrior renowned for his daring and for his ability to make
his way in a straight line through the wilderness. Crow was a short,
heavy Indian and his frame denoted great strength. He had a broad
forehead, high cheek bones, prominent nose and his face would have
been handsome and intelligent but for the scar which ran across his
cheek, giving him a sinister look.

"Hugh!" said Crow, as he looked up and saw Isaac staring at him. The
other Indians immediately gave vent to a like exclamation.

"Crow, you caught me again," said Isaac, in the Wyandot tongue,
which he spoke fluently.

"The white chief is sure of eye and swift of foot, but he cannot
escape the Huron. Crow has been five times on his trail since the
moon was bright. The white chief's eyes were shut an