iscovered. First he was bound hand an'
foot, an', although I might have cut my way through the lodge to release
him from the fetters, he forbade it because of the risk, sayin' I must not
endanger my life on account of mother, an' insistin' that at some future
time escape would be more easy than then. He ordered me to go home at
once, providin' I could not find you, an' I would have done so this night
but for the battle of the mornin'."

"Why did that stop you?" I asked. "Surely you had no part in it?"

"No; but the savages were so infuriated that I feared even Thayendanega
himself would be unable to prevent the wretches from leadin' my father to
the stake, therefore I remained on watch. Three prisoners have been
murdered in a most barbarous manner, but yet he was left unmolested in the
lodge. Have you somethin' to eat?"

I took from my pocket all the food remaining, and the lad devoured it like
one famished, whereupon Sergeant Corney asked:

"Have you had nothin' to eat since we left you?"

"I gathered some roots an' berries, but not enough to satisfy my hunger."

"An' yet you would have stayed here longer in danger of starvation?"

"Ay, until havin' satisfied myself that father was as safe as one can be
who remains in the power of such as are encamped here. Did you come for no
other purpose than to find me?"

"Nothin' more," I said, not minded to let him know that if he could show
any reasonable chance of rescuing Peter Sitz it was our purpose to give
him aid.

"Where have you been all this while?"

"That is too long a story to tell now," Sergeant Corney interrupted. "If
the savages are not likely to do more than dance from now till mornin', we
may as well find a shelter in which to spend the morrow, an' then I'm of
the opinion that the three of us had best make tracks for Cherry Valley,
as Jacob's father advised."

As he ceased speaking, Sergeant Corney would have led us out of the
thicket; but Jacob whispered, softly:

"Not half a mile away is a small cave--no more than a hole in the
hillside, an' there we may remain hidden durin' the hours of daylight."

"Lead the way, an' we will follow," the old man said, in a tone of
command, and straightway Jacob did as he was thus ordered.

Knowing, as the lad did, very nearly where the Indians might be found, we
advanced with reasonable rapidity, until having come to the place of which
he had spoken.

It was indeed no more than a hole in the ground, and so sma