e amanuensis, Barrington Beaver). "You
leave the honest Delaware in the clutches of the bear; you leave
yourself surrounded by a band of fierce Dacotahs thirsting for your
blood; and poor Noggin even in a worse predicament; indeed, I would not
wish to be in the skins of either Short or Blount; and now you suddenly
stop short, and leave us all lost in a labyrinth of doubt as to how they
got out of their various dilemmas."

"Not a word more just now, not a word more," answered Dick, laughing.
"You'll all do your best to keep me alive, and I promise you I will go
on with my tale another day."

CHAPTER EIGHT.

OBED'S STORY CONTINUED--NOGGIN RESCUED BY THE CHIEF'S DAUGHTER--SAM AND
BLOUNT RETIRE, HOPING THAT HE MAY BE HAPPY--THEY CONTINUE THEIR
WANDERINGS--BLOUNT'S DEATH--SAM PROCEEDS ALONE--CAPTURED BY THE
RED-SKINS--THEY PREPARE TO KILL HIM--NOT LIKING IT, HE ENDEAVOURS TO
ESCAPE FROM IT--ESCAPE AND PURSUIT--A RIDE FOR LIFE--HARD PRESSED FOR
FOOD--OBED'S ADVENTURES--HOW HE ESCAPED FROM THE BEAR--THE FAITHFUL
DELAWARE.

"So you all want to know what became of poor Noggin," said Dick, leaning
back in his comfortable arm-chair, after he had taken a sip from his
claret glass, and stretching out his legs on the thick buffalo-skin
which served as a rug to his cosy dining-room fire-place. "I'll
continue the narrative as old Short told it to me, though not exactly in
his own words, for those I cannot pretend to repeat--I cannot even hope
to imitate his quaint expressions and racy humour. Noggin stood the
attacks of his tormentors with as much heroism as could the most stoical
of red warriors. We longed to rush in to his rescue, but we knew full
well that the attempt would be worse than useless, and we should
inevitably lose our own lives and not save his. The fires burned up
brightly, shedding a lurid glare over the whole scene, making the
red-painted and feather-bedizened warriors, and their hideous brown
squaws, look more horrible and terrific than ever, as they danced, and
leaped, and grinned, and shrieked round our friend. To make the picture
perfect, you must remember the dark forest in the background, the tents
covered with red-tanned skins, and the groups of children and dogs
scuttling about in front of them, with the stakes, and the lean-to's,
and sheds of different sorts, on or in which the spoils of the chase and
other provisions were hung to dry or smoke. Indians delight in
prolonging the sufferings of t