shot down, I was
running away to find some one who might have influence over them when I
met a lieutenant. He came up and ordered them angrily to unbind
Maisonville and bring him before the Colonel. Fletcher laughed, whipped
out his hunting knife, and cut the thongs; but he and Willis had scarce
got twenty paces from the officer before they seized poor Maisonville by
the hair and made shift to scalp him. This was merely backwoods play,
had Maisonville but known it. Persuaded, however, that his last hour was
come, he made a desperate effort to clear himself, whereupon Fletcher cut
off a piece of his skin by mistake. Maisonville, making sure that he had
been scalped, stood groaning and clapping his hand to his head, while the
two young rascals drew back and stared at each other.

"What's to do now?" said Willis.

"Take our medicine, I reckon," answered Fletcher, grimly. And they
seized the tottering man between them, and marched him straightway to the
fire where Clark stood.

They had seen the Colonel angry before, but now they were fairly withered
under his wrath. And he could have given them no greater punishment, for
he took them from the firing line, and sent them back to wait among the
reserves until the morning.

"Nom de Dieu!" said Maisonville, wrathfully, as he watched them go, "they
should hang."

"The stuff that brought them here through ice and flood is apt to boil
over, Captain," remarked the Colonel, dryly.

"If you please, sir," said I, "they did not mean to cut him, but he
wriggled."

Clark turned sharply.

"Eh?" said he, "did you have a hand in this, too?"

"Peste!" cried the Captain, "the little ferret--you call him--he find me
on the prairie. I run to catch him with some men and fall into the
crick--" he pointed to his soaked leggings, "and your demons, they fall
on top of me."

"I wish to heaven you had caught Lamothe instead, Davy," said the
Colonel, and joined despite himself in the laugh that went up. Falling
sober again, he began to question the prisoner. Where was Lamothe?
Pardieu, Maisonville could not say. How many men did he have, etc.,
etc.? The circle about us deepened with eager listeners, who uttered
exclamations when Maisonville, between his answers, put up his hand to
his bleeding head. Suddenly the circle parted, and Captain Bowman came
through.

"Ray has discovered Lamothe, sir," said he. "What shall we do?"

"Let him into the fort," said Clark, instantly.

There was a