im; so he had every opportunity for a careful observation of what was
going on around him.

After recovering from the first sensation of terror and amazement, his
thoughts naturally reverted to the tragedy that had been enacted a short
time before in Devil's Pass. It was a fearful scene for a lad like him
to look upon, and he was sure it must remain vividly impressed upon his
memory so long as he lived.

"I'm the only one alive," he repeated to himself, with a shudder. "Poor
Corporal Hugg was the last man left, and I saw him killed. I wonder why
they spared me?"

He had no suspicion of the intention of the Apaches in preserving his
life, and which has already been hinted at in another place; so it was
very natural that he should feel puzzled to understand why it was that
he had been selected from such a party to escape the hatred which these
wild Jiccarillo Apaches had shown toward the whites ever since the
latter encroached upon their domains.

"I guess they're going to make an Indian of me," was his conclusion. "I
wonder what father will think when he hears of it? Poor mother! I know
how she was worried when she bid me good-bye. I hope she won't hear
anything till I carry her the news myself."

Fortunately for his peace of mind it never occurred to Ned that he might
have been spared for the purpose of torture and indignity. There was no
fear of present danger, as he sat upon the buffalo skin, viewing the
strange scene about him. Something like fifteen minutes had passed while
thus engaged, when the figure of a tall, athletic Indian strode slowly
toward him, apparently attracted by the interest which the boy showed in
the proceedings. This warrior was fully six feet in height,
magnificently formed, with long horse-hair like shreds hanging from his
crown, which, like his face, was daubed with startling colors, giving
him the appearance of a variegated zebra of the hues of the rainbow.

It was Lone Wolf, one of the most famous leaders of the Jiccarilla
Apaches.

But the most noticeable feature about this warrior was his dress. He was
enveloped from head to foot in a sort of cloak, of a greenish tinge,
which rattled and crackled as he walked, as if made of paper. And so it
was; for, as he approached, Ned saw that his outer garment was composed
entirely of greenbacks, carefully stitched together in such a way that
they made a blanket of half a dozen feet square. No redskin probably
ever paraded so costly a blanket