lel with the said ridge until they were finally
lost behind a sudden elevation that continued the hill in an obtuse
angle towards the forest.

Startled by the appearance of these fresh comers, Lieut. Elmsley
paused for a moment in his advance, but feeling that any appearance
of mistrust might act unfavorably upon the band, he renewed his
course, expecting at every moment to reach the mangled body of his
friend. The Indians approached the same point at the same time,
and he saw at once that the majority were composed of those who
had accompanied Winnebeg when he came to offer terms to Captain
Headley. Trusting, therefore, that there was no violence to be
apprehended from those who were aware of the fact of the surrender,
towards himself or party, he proceeded to search for his friend;
but, to his surprise, his body was not to be seen. He could not be
mistaken as to the spot where it had lain, close to Sergeant Nixon;
but, though the latter was nearly in the same position in which he
had fallen, the knife which he had used upon the throat of the
Chippewa, and the imprint of his body upon the sand, deeply moistened
with the blood of both, was the only indication of Ronayne's having
been there. It was evident that he had been carried off by the
strange party who had formed their escort, and that the cries of
agony uttered by him had been produced by the torture of moving
his broken limb. What the motive for this new outrage could have
been, it was difficult to conjecture, unless it was to secure at
their leisure, and before the other party of Indians came up to
dispute possession of the spoils with them--not only his scalp,
but the blood-stained colors which he bore--perhaps to sell the
latter as a trophy to the British.

Without condescending to bestow the slightest notice upon the
officer, the Indians approached the bodies, and leisurely proceeded
to strip them of their clothing. Their leader, uttering a yell of
delight and surprise as he came near it, sprang upon the sergeant
and secured the scalp, which Pee-to-tum had failed to take. This
piece of good fortune led the others to hope for something similar,
and they accordingly dispersed themselves rapidly over the scene
of combat, examining every head and stripping everybody. All this
was done without Lieut. Elmsley having the slightest power to
interfere, for he knew that any attempt at remonstrance would only
be to provoke a similar fate, and thus the party passed o