e
massacre, though it has been stated as high as seven hundred. He
related to the young exiles his adventures in his long journey through
the devoted region which had been the scene of so much cruelty and
bloodshed. He told of the men, women, and children he had seen lying
dead and mangled in the deserted settlements; of the wounded, starving,
and dying fugitives he had met in their flight; and of the desolation
which lay in the track of the merciless savages.

The listeners were appalled and horrified at the sad and bloody tale.
Fanny wept, and Ethan with difficulty choked down the emotions which
agitated him.

"What shall be did?" asked the trapper, at last. "Kin you let the boy
go, or shall I go back and be skelped?"

"You certainly shall not go back!" exclaimed Fanny.

An earnest consultation followed, and a plan was soon agreed upon by
which Rattleshag could be saved.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE INDIAN AMBUSH.

Fanny was the originator of the scheme by which it was expected to save
the party from the ferocity of the Indians, and enable the trapper to
keep his plighted faith with them. The exiles, accompanied by their
new-found friend, were to descend the river in the bateau to Mankato.
Wahena was to be taken with them to some point above their destination,
where he was to be delivered to his friends, when his presence as a
hostage was no longer necessary to the safety of his captors.

This was thought to be the only safe plan, for even Rattleshag did not
pretend to believe that the Indians would not be treacherous when
Wahena was no longer in peril. It was arranged that the trapper should
return to Lean Bear, and inform him of the terms on which his son could
be saved. He was instructed to tell the savage chief that Ethan could
fire eight shots a minute, and that Wahena would surely atone with his
life for any treachery on the part of the Indians.

Rattleshag put off on his raft again, and paddled towards the
settlement. It was late in the evening when he returned with the
intelligence that Lean Bear had accepted the terms, though very
reluctantly, for they compelled him to send a party of his braves on a
journey of seventy miles to receive Wahena when he was delivered up.
Rattleshag had been obliged to argue the point with him; but the
assurance that the boy would certainly be shot if he did not yield,
induced him to comply. Six Indian horsemen were deputed to follow the
boat on the banks of the river,