d. I was soon
reinstalled in my gloomy prison, and after tying me in the usual manner,
my attendants left me to solitude and misery.

Bitterly disappointed by the failure of my daring scheme at the very
moment when it seemed to promise success, my thoughts were the reverse
of pleasant; and when my mind reverted to the fate of my wife, I
suffered such mental agony, as I pray that you, kind reader, may never
know.

Another night passed, and remembering the words of the old trapper, I
awoke filled with the conviction that it was to be my last day on earth.
The usual scanty meal was supplied to me, and about an hour later I was
again brought forth upon the plain. I was soon among my companions in
misfortune, and like them securely tied to stakes; but allowed to sit
upright, as if the red demons wished us to fully observe the
preparations now going forward.

[Illustration: The Torture.]

Upon the level plain facing the temple, and at a short distance from it,
scores of brawny savages were busily engaged planting firmly in the
ground a row of massive posts; they were arranged in a semi-circle, and
were about twenty in number. We saw many of the Indians go to the woods,
tomahawk in hand; we heard the sounds of chopping, and saw them return
with bundles of faggots; we saw them fastening curiously fashioned
chains of copper to the posts; we observed them painting their faces and
bodies in hideous stripes of red and black. It was a scene of fearful
import, for we knew but too well that it was the prelude to the torture.
What were my companions' reflections I knew not, for they spoke but
little. But the set and stern expression that showed itself on every
face, told me plainly that they fully realized the terrible drama in
which they were to be the principal actors. The appearance of all was
ghastly in the extreme. Travel-stained, covered with dust, and with
spots of dried blood, some showing fresh and bleeding wounds--souvenirs
of yesterday's rough sport--our clothing torn and disarranged, we were
indeed objects of pity, calculated to excite commiseration in the
breasts of any others than the brutal and sanguinary wretches who were
about to put us to a terrible death. As for me, my brain was on fire;
and could I but have freed myself from my bonds I would gladly have
sought instant death at the hands of the nearest savage, rather than to
longer endure the ever present torture of mind, and the not more acute
physical sufferin