all his efforts were in vain.
He then turned towards his brothers, so that they might stretch forward
and draw out the string with their teeth. They were no longer near him!
The squaws had dragged them to some distance off; and, like himself,
their ankles were tied together, and they could not move from the spot
where they had been placed.

Basil saw all this with a feeling of consternation; for, judging from
the cruel treatment to which they had been submitted, and from the
excited and exasperated manner of the Indians, he began to fear the
worst, and to doubt whether the charm he carried might, after all, avail
them. He used every effort to give it a trial. Failing to reach it, he
made signs to the squaws around him, nodding with his head, and casting
his eyes downward towards his breast. These, however, did not
understand his meaning; and only laughed at what appeared to them a
somewhat comic pantomime.

During the continuance of this scene, the Indian men stood apart,
conversing together, and evidently deliberating what they should do with
their prisoners. The manner of some of them was angry and excited.
They talked loudly, and gesticulated with violence, occasionally
pointing to a spot of level ground in front of the camp. The captives
could see that among these loud talkers was the man whom Basil had
wounded, as he carried his arm in a bandage. He was an ill-favoured,
ferocious-looking savage; and the boys, although they knew not a word
that was uttered, could tell by his manner that he was speaking against
them. To their consternation, they at length saw that he and his party
had carried their point, and all the others appeared to acquiesce. What
could their decision have been? Were they going to murder them?
Agonised with these terrible apprehensions, the boys watched every
action of the Indians with the keenest solicitude.

All at once each one of the savages was seen to arm himself with a bow;
while two of their number, carrying a large stake, proceeded out into
the open ground, and planted it firmly in the earth. O God! the horrid
truth now became clear. It was their intention to tie their prisoners
to the stake, and use them as a target for their arrows! The boys had
heard that this was a common custom among Indians with their captives;
and each of them uttered a cry of terror, as they recognised the fearful
preparations.

They had but little time to shout to each other; and what they said