d his eyes had his hands not been tied instead, he turned his
head away. He could not bear to see more. But the horrible chant came to
his ears, nevertheless, and it was reinforced presently by other sounds
still more terrible. Fires sprang up in the forest, and cries came from
these fires. The victorious army of "Indian" Butler was beginning to
burn the prisoners alive. But at this point we must stop. The details
of what happened around those fires that night are not for the ordinary
reader. It suffices to say that the darkest deed ever done on the soil
of what is now the United States was being enacted.

Shif'less Sol himself, iron of body and soul, was shaken. He could not
close his ears, if he would, to the cries that came from the fires, but
he shut his eyes to keep out the demon dance. Nevertheless, he opened
them again in a moment. The horrible fascination was too great. He saw
Queen Esther still shaking her tomahawk, but as he looked she suddenly
darted through the circle, warriors willingly giving way before her, and
disappeared in the darkness. The scalp dance went on, but it had lost
some of its fire and vigor.

Shif'less Sol felt relieved.

"She's gone," he whispered to Paul, and the boy, too, then opened his
eyes. The rest of it, the mad whirlings and jumpings of the warriors,
was becoming a blur before him, confused and without meaning.

Neither he nor Shif'less Sol knew how long they had been sitting there
on the ground, although it had grown yet darker, when Braxton Wyatt
thrust a violent foot against the shiftless one and cried:

"Get up! You're wanted!"

A half dozen Seneca warriors were with him, and there was no chance of
resistance. The two rose slowly to their feet, and walked where Braxton
Wyatt led. The Senecas came on either side, and close behind them,
tomahawks in their hands. Paul, the sensitive, who so often felt the
impression of coming events from the conditions around him, was sure
that they were marching to their fate. Death he did not fear so greatly,
although he did not want to die, but when a shriek came to him from one
of the fires that convulsive shudder shook him again from head to foot.
Unconsciously he strained at his bound arms, not for freedom, but that
he might thrust his fingers in his ears and shut out the awful sounds.
Shif'less Sol, because he could not use his hands, touched his shoulder
gently against Paul's.

"Paul," he whispered, "I ain't sure that we're goin' t