rently issuing from the darkest corner.

"May the Lord God forgive ye, Master Benteen, and be merciful unto ye,
for thus placing His minister in such stress. 'T is I, Ezekiel
Cairnes, who hath become an abomination unto Israel."

There was a tone of such utter depression in the great roaring voice, I
feared some serious mishap had befallen him, and hastened to cross the
room, heading toward the corner whence the sound came. As I attained
the outer edge of the platform, groping my passage through the dense
gloom, I was halted in the midst of a dozen or more savages, lying
prone upon the hard floor, evidently in adoration of that grotesque
figure perched above, and now clearly revealed by a blazing up of the
charred log. Not one among them stirred from his prostrate position at
my approach. Forgetting them instantly, my whole attention became
riveted upon the marvellous transformation presented by my old Puritan
comrade. Odds! what a sight! He sat bolt upright, as though bound in
that stiff posture, occupying a low dais, almost at the edge of the
platform. This latter had been covered with a glaring crimson cloth,
roughly woven, presumably of native manufacture, peculiarly brilliant
in its coloring, and hence of rare beauty to Indian eyes. At my
approach he began straining at the cords which held him helpless, and I
soon saw that his entire body was wrapped about with ropes of grass in
such a manner as to render vain any hope of escape. His oddly shapen
figure, with the wide, square shoulders and short legs, was
likewise-draped in red, above which flared his fiery shock of
dishevelled hair, while a face fairly distorted with rage, gray from
loss of sleep, and rendered ludicrous by its little snapping eyes,
glared down upon me.

"Memory of Beelzebub! It would be no matter of laughter for ye, Master
Benteen," he snorted savagely, straining at his cords, "could I burst
these accursed strings, and lay my hands to your throat. Ay! nor would
yonder idolatrous swine lie there long if I once got free among them.
Imagine not, vain and presumptuous unbeliever that the Lord God
Almighty--He who rideth in the chariot of the whirlwind--will long
permit the heathen to profane His holy places, or triumph in the misery
of one of the elect. There cometh the Day of Judgment, when the wicked
shall be scattered as chaff."

"You are in a most unpleasant condition, friend," I replied,
endeavoring to speak so as to calm his temp