em when we, unarmed,
stood in their midst.

I was satisfied in my own mind that they had seen the trail, even in the
darkness, which had been made when we three entered the cave, or by Jacob
as he went out, and had followed it rather from curiosity than the belief
that white men were in the vicinity.

This idea of mine, although there was in it nothing favoring to us, gave
me no little relief of mind, for it led to the conclusion that Jacob was
yet free.

After the first outburst of rejoicing at having taken two captives at a
time and in a place where they least expected to find them, the Indians
set about securing us in the most businesslike manner.

Some one of the party brought strips of rawhide, by which our hands and
arms were bound tightly to our sides, and with so large a surrounding that
it would have been impossible to escape even had we been unfettered, they
led us down to the village, where we were greeted by the squaws and the
children with fiendish cries of delight.

I knew enough of savage customs to understand that we would be forced to
submit to a certain amount of ill-treatment from the female portion of the
band before the warriors decided upon our fate, and nerved myself to bear
it as best I might, realizing that any show of weakness at such a time
would work to our disadvantage later.

We were tied to a tree, Sergeant Corney on one side and I on the other,
within twenty paces of Thayendanega's lodge, where the light of the
camp-fire shone full upon us.

The braves of the tribe seated themselves in a circle, as if holding a
council to determine our fate, while the squaws and the young boys amused
themselves by holding stout sticks in the fire until one end was a living
coal, and then placing these against our hands, until the pain was so
great that only by summoning all my strength of will could I prevent
myself from screaming.

Even at such a time, when our lives were literally hanging in the balance,
I found somewhat of comfort in the thought that Sergeant Corney was with
me, and not very far away Peter Sitz could probably see us.

It may be difficult to understand why knowledge of that kind should serve
to cheer one at such a horrible moment, and I myself cannot explain it. It
simply remains a fact that I seemed in less danger of being murdered than
if I had been the only prisoner in the encampment.

"It's plain that Jacob was not captured, else we would see him near by,"
Sergeant Corne