s. I wonder if it is a bad dream, if I will
soon wake up."

I blundered along the best I could, striving to say nothing which might
upset her. She suddenly refused to talk and began displaying much physical
nervousness. Lost Sister promptly took her in hand and led her some
distance in advance of me. That was the day the band split up, the bulk of
the warriors leaving to go to their different villages. Half a dozen
remained to press on to Cornstalk's Town.

Ward was among those who left us and he was unwilling to go. His departure
was a great relief to me. His presence frightened the girl, although she
gave no sign of remembering him as having been a factor in her life. It
was due entirely to Lost Sister's appeal to Black Hoof that the renegade
was ordered to Chillicothe.

As he was leaving us he promised me:

"I'll yet see you eating fire. That white squaw will see me again."

"I'll dance your mangy scalp some time," I retorted.

Whereat he used terms of abuse he had picked up from traders, and I struck
him with my fist. Black Hoof stopped him from killing me, and threatened
me with torture if I offended again. Then he ordered Ward to go.

The chief continued with us to Cornstalk's Town, but Cornstalk was not
there; so he went in search of him at Grenadier Squaw's Town. Before
leaving he gave orders that I was not to be molested so long as I did not
attempt to escape. The town was inhabited by women and children largely,
with a dozen men left to act as hunters.

It was plain that the fighting men of the tribe were gathering somewhere,
probably at Chillicothe. Patricia was believed to be in touch with the
manito, and was feared and respected accordingly. The days that followed
were not unhappy for me; and Patricia appeared to be contented in a numb
sort of way.

My own reaction to the anxieties and fears of our captivity devitalized me
to a certain degree, I believed; else, I would not have been contented to
settle down to the drowsy existence of village life. I did no hunting. I
was a companion to the girl when she wished for my company. Aside from
that capacity the Indians looked on me as if I had been a tree.

I talked on general subjects with Lost Sister, always waiting for her to
blaze the trace our words were to follow. Her red husband remained aloof
from her from the day she took charge of Patricia. Whether he resented her
companionship with us I do not know, and after our arrival he disappeared
for a