e at supper, Jack heard the
leader addressed, as he believed, by name. He could not catch the
precise word, but it sounded, as nearly as he could tell, like
"Ogallah," which of itself resembles the name of a tribe of western
Indians.

Jack waited till he had heard it again, and then, from the manner in
which it was spoken, he was convinced it was the real name of the leader
of the party,--that is as near as he could pronounce it.

By and by there came a lull in the disjointed conversation; the indolent
red men were lolling on their blankets, and the leader was sitting
cross-legged like a Turk, sending rings of smoke upward and watching
them as they curled inward upon themselves and climbed out of sight. The
dimensions of his mouth were that ample that he could have done the same
on either side of the stem without removing it from between his teeth.

Jack Carleton looked straight at him for a few seconds, and then,
imitating the guttural style of those around as best he could,
pronounced in a distinct voice the single word--

"_Ogallah!_"

At that moment the chin of the chief was in the air and a procession of
rings were tumbling over each other as they hastened from between his
lips. He dropped his head as abruptly as if some one had struck him in
the throat, and with his mouth still in circular shape allowed the rings
to go to ruin, while he stared in amazement at the boy who had
pronounced his name. The others showed as much wonder as did the
chieftain. They also stared at the lad and then gave expressions to
their feelings in their guttural, grunting fashion.

It was quite embarrassing to Jack Carleton, who blushed, looked
confused, and then tried hard to appear as though he did not feel
specially proud over his performance. The leader addressed some words to
him, as if suspecting he understood his language after all, but Jack
could only smile and shake his head to signify that he had already
exhibited his full proficiency in the tongue of his captors.

CHAPTER X.

WAITING AND HOPING.

It would be hard to measure the effect of the little achievement of Jack
Carleton upon the Indians who held him captive. He had pronounced the
name of the chieftain with such clearness that every one recognized it.
After all it was no great exploit, and it may have been the red men
feigned a goodly portion of the astonishment they seemed to feel.

Jack did not make any more essays in that direction, and a few minute