ations were being made for a
great union of tribes to drive the "Long Knives" back. He promised to
lead a large party of his people to join with other Delawares and the
Wyandots, Shawnees and Miamies in a war which, he boastfully said, would
secure to the Indians again the forests in which the Palefaces had
already settled. He referred to the defeat of the whites eight years
before and the burning of Col. Crawford, and said there would be scalps
and plunder for every warrior who accompanied him.

John found himself wondering whether the Indians might not undertake to
whet their appetites for blood by killing himself and Ree. It was of the
terrible torture of Col. Crawford which Ree was thinking, and he found it
hard to keep from hating the savages before him, horrible and cruel in
their war paint.

And could he have looked but a few months into the future and have seen
the awful carnage in which Capt. Pipe and his braves had a prominent
part, at the defeat of General St. Clair near Fort Jefferson, in what is
now Mercer County, Ohio, he could not have restrained his hatred as he
did. He knew in after years what that battle was, and knew that the
Indians boasted that their arms ached from their work with the scalping
knife.

The frightful dance went on when Capt. Pipe had finished speaking, his
words inspiring the warriors with new vigor who now whirled around the
circle with great rapidity, going through all the motions of attacking,
vanquishing and scalping an enemy. At a call from the chief, other
warriors, who were standing by, sprang into the ring, joining in the
singing and contortions of faces and bodies with furious energy. More and
more followed as from among the dancers Capt. Pipe called from time to
time, urging all who wished to win renown as warriors, and to hang scalps
of the hated whites at their belts, to join him.

Each addition to the whirling, shrieking, blood-thirsty band was greeted
with thunderous whoops and in the end nearly one hundred and fifty braves
were going through all the barbarous awe-inspiring motions of the horrid
celebration.

Well might Ree and John feel alarm for their own safety; but they looked
upon the terrifying scene quite calmly, notwithstanding that, as their
passions were kindled and their savage patriotism aroused by the fervor
of the dance, the Indians gave them many a glance which was far from
friendly.

There were two things which Ree could not help but notice as the