ced my eyes were fixed upon the lodge wherein our
comrade had said his father was held prisoner, and I saw the flap pulled
cautiously aside.

Then the face of a man could be seen close to the ground, and I said,
eagerly, to my companion, who, perforce, had his head turned in the
opposite direction:

"Peter Sitz is lookin' at us."

"I would he had remained ignorant of our whereabouts," Sergeant Corney
muttered, and I asked, in surprise:

"Why?"

"Because, in addition to his own sufferin', he must believe that we've
been brought to this plight through tryin' to aid him, an' it only serves
to make his troubles greater, without lessenin' ours."

Sergeant Corney was rapidly becoming a hero in my eyes, for surely it is a
brave man who, when he stands in most imminent danger, can think rather of
others than himself.

We spoke but little from this time on, the sergeant and I. The rawhides,
which were tied so tightly as to nearly stop the circulation of blood,
were eating their way into our flesh, and the pain thus caused became
greater than the smarting of the blisters raised by the burning brands.

We knew that those who formed that circle of painted forms but a short
distance away were deciding whether we be put to torture immediately, or
reserved for some especial time of rejoicing, and there grew upon me such
a fascination as is sometimes brought about by keenest peril, until I
almost forgot the desperate situation as I watched those who held our fate
in their hands, trying to discover from the expression on their hideous
faces what might be the result of the conference.

As the moments passed I sank into a sort of apathy, until it was as if
some other lad's fate trembled in the balance, and I myself was looking
down upon the encampment from a secure place of refuge.

The fires burned dim. One by one Thayendanega's heathens stalked away to
his lodge, until the council was finally brought to a close; a deep
silence came over the encampment, as if all, save that white face which I
could see just beneath the flap of the lodge in front of me, and we two
who were bound to the tree, were wrapped in slumber.

"We can count on remainin' alive at least until to-morrow night," Sergeant
Corney said, as if imparting some cheering information, "for these
wretches do not torture a prisoner in the daytime."

"Unless some change is made speedily I will not be in their power, for of
a verity I am dyin', Sergeant Corney," I sai