lieutenant, Levi Coleman, older, heavier, and with a short,
uncommonly muscular figure. His face was dark and cruel, with small eyes
set close together. A half dozen other white men and more than a dozen
Indians were in the room. All these lay upon their blankets on the
floor, because all the furniture had been destroyed. Yet they had
eaten, and they lay there content in the soothing glow of the fire, like
animals that had fed well. Henry was so near that he could hear every
word anyone spoke.

"It was well that the Indians led us to this place, eh, Levi?" said
Wyatt.

"I'm glad the fire spared a part of it," said Coleman. "Looks as if it
was done just for us, to give us a shelter some cold winter night when
we come along. I guess the Iroquois Aieroski is watching over us."

Wyatt laughed.

"You're a man that I like, Levi," he said. "You can see to the inside of
things. It would be a good idea to use this place as a base and shelter,
and make a raid on some of the settlements east of the hills, eh, Levi?"

"It could be done," said Coleman. "But just listen to that wind, will
you! On a night like this it must cut like a saber's edge. Even our
Iroquois are glad to be under a roof."

Henry still gazed in at the crack with eyes that were lighted up by an
angry fire. So here was more talk of destruction and slaughter! His gaze
alighted upon an Indian who sat in a corner engaged upon a task. Henry
looked more closely, and saw that he was stretching a blonde-haired
scalp over a small hoop. A shudder shook his whole frame. Only those who
lived amid such scenes could understand the intensity of his feelings.
He felt, too, a bitter sense of injustice. The doers of these deeds were
here in warmth and comfort, while the innocent were dead or fugitives.
He turned away from the window, stepping gently upon the snowshoes. He
inferred that the remainder of Wyatt's band were quartered in the other
house from which he had seen the smoke rising. It was about twenty rods
away, but he did not examine it, because a great idea had been born
suddenly in his brain. The attempt to fulfill the idea would be
accompanied by extreme danger, but he did not hesitate a moment. He
stole gently to one of the half-fallen outhouses and went inside. Here
he found what he wanted, a large pine shelf that had been sheltered from
rain and that was perfectly dry. He scraped off a large quantity of the
dry pine until it formed almost a dust, and he did not