to the last," said Carl. "Ten extra licks for that."

"Twenty of them," answered Darling, eager to deal the first blow.

"We should have taken off her jacket."

"No, the sticks will cut through it like a razor."

"Then let her have the whipping, George. When your arm tires, I will
continue the work."

George Darling selected the longest bundle of withes, and stepped back
for a terrible sweeping blow. The girl gritted her teeth and waited. Her
white face seemed frozen against the tree.

With demoniac pleasure in his eye, the young man raised the whip and
swung his arm back for the blow. Carl Merriweather did not cease to
watch him.

The second of silence that followed was suddenly broken, but not by the
sound of the sticks on Little Moccasin's back.

There came a stern voice from the right:

"Stop! I'll kill the rascal that touches that girl!"

George Darling started, and the knout fell from his hand. There were
more than one white face beneath the tree.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!" said the same voice, and the
would-be whippers saw Wolf Cap advancing. "It is a pretty business for
two young men to be engaged in--whipping a girl in the woods. By hokey!
I ought to take the whips and wear them out on your backs."

The youths were too astonished to reply. They trembled like criminals
before the tall spy, and did not stir until he had cut the girl's bonds
and released her.

"Go back to the camp!" he commanded. "Or hold! Apologize to this
creature. Down on your knees, or by the great horn spoon, I'll cut your
faces into strings with your own whips."

The tall man was in a tempest of passion, and, frightened almost out of
their wits, the young men dropped upon the ground and craved forgiveness
of the creature whom they had so grossly insulted.

"Areotha cannot hate the Americans," she said softly. "She will forget
the bark and the whips."

Sullen and abashed, Carl Merriweather and his companion slunk away,
leaving Wolf Cap and Little Moccasin at the tree.

For a long time the scout and spy looked into the girl's eyes, and all
at once he covered his face with his hands and groaned.

"Every time I see her I think of that terrible night," he said.

"What does the hunter say?" said the girl, catching his words but
indistinctly, for they were spoken through his great hard hands.

"Nothing," Wolf Cap answered, starting at the sound of her voice.
"Nothing; don't speak to me! You make me think of a