Allie Lee came back from that black gap in her consciousness she
was lying in a circular tent of poles and hides.

For a second she was dazed. But the Indian designs and trappings in
the tent brought swift realization--she had been brought captive to the
Sioux encampment. She raised her head. She was lying on a buffalo robe;
her hands and feet were bound; the floor was littered with blankets and
beaded buckskin garments. Through a narrow opening she saw that the day
was far spent; Indians and horses passed to and fro; there was a bustle
outside and jabber of Indian jargon; the wind blew hard and drops of
rain pattered on the tent.

Allie could scarcely credit the evidence of her own senses. Here she was
alive! She tried to see and feel if she had been hurt. Her arms and body
appeared bruised, and they ached, but she was not in any great pain. Her
hopes arose. If the Sioux meant to kill her they would have done it
at once. They might intend to reserve her for torture, but more likely
their object was to make her a captive in the tribe. In that case
Slingerland would surely find her and get her freedom.

Rain began to fall more steadily. Allie smelled smoke and saw the
reflection of fires on the wall of the tent. Presently a squaw entered.
She was a huge woman, evidently old, very dark of face, and wrinkled.
She carried a bowl and platter which she set down, and, grunting, she
began to untie Allie's hands. Then she gave the girl a not ungentle
shake. Allie sat up.

"Do you--do they mean--to harm and kill me?" asked Allie.

The squaw shook her head to indicate she did not understand, but her
gestures toward the things she had brought were easy to interpret. Allie
partook of the Indian food, which was coarse and unpalatable, but it
satisfied her hunger. When she had finished the squaw laboriously tied
the thongs round Allie's wrists, and, pushing her back on the robe,
covered her up and left her.

After that it grew dark rapidly, and the rain increased to a torrent.
Allie, hardly realizing how cold she had been, began to warm up under
the woolly robe. The roar of the rain drowned all other sounds outside.
She wondered if Slingerland had returned to his cabin, and, if so, what
he had done. She felt sorry for him. He would take the loss hard. But he
would trail her; he would hear of a white girl captive in the Sioux camp
and she would soon be free. How fortunate she was! A star of Providence
had watched over her. The pr