motioned us farther back
into the passage, and slipped in himself.

We did not have time to ask any questions before we heard the sentry
coming up the stairway, which was near our corner. When he reached the
top, he walked away from us over toward the Indian barracks, which were
on the ramparts, at the other end of the fort. As soon as he reached the
barracks, Maiden's Heart took me by the arm and Rectus by the collar,
and hurried us to the stairway, and then down as fast as we could go. He
made no noise himself, but Rectus and I clumped a good deal. We had to
wear our shoes, for the place was paved with rough concrete and
oyster-shells.

The sentry evidently heard the clumping, for he came running down after
us, and caught up to us almost as soon as we reached the square.

"Eugh!" said he, for he was an Indian; and he ran in front of us, and
held his musket horizontally before us. Of course we stopped. And then,
as there was nothing else that seemed proper to do, we held out our
hands and said "How?" The sentinel took his gun in his left hand, and
shook hands with us. Then Maiden's Heart, who probably remembered that
he had omitted this ceremony, also shook hands with us and said "How?"

The two Indians now began to jabber to each other, in a low voice; but
we could not, of course, make out what they said, and I don't think they
were able to imagine what we intended to do. We were standing near the
inner door of the great entrance-way, and into this they now marched us.
There was a lamp burning on a table.

Said Rectus: "I guess they're going to put us out of the front door;"
but he was mistaken. They walked us into a dark room, on one side of the
hall, and Maiden's Heart said to us: "Stay here. Him mad. I come back.
Keep still," and then he went out, probably to discuss with the sentinel
the nature of our conspiracy. It was very dark in this room, and, at
first, we couldn't see anything at all; but we soon found, from the
smell of the bread, that we were in the kitchen or bakery. We had been
here before, and had seen the head-cook, a ferocious Indian squaw, who
had been taken in the act of butchering a poor emigrant woman on the
plains. She always seemed sullen and savage, and never said a word to
anybody. We hoped she wasn't in here now.

"I didn't know they had Indian sentinels," said Rectus. "That seems a
little curious to me. I suppose they set the innocent ones to watch the
guilty."

"I don't believe tha