rt Alec?" he exclaimed. "Doubled ye up like a two-bladed jack-knife, I
should guess. Oh, these here boys are frisky! No foolin' with them!"

John laughed at this, but no one took heed of him except Tom, who laughed
boisterously, as he always did when anyone showed an appreciation of his
crude jokes.

Almost immediately upon reaching the camp the Indians asked for
"fire-water," but Ree shook his head. It was true that in one of the
several packages of goods there was a large stone bottle of whiskey which
Capt. Bowen had provided for the boys together with other medicines, but
not for a great deal would Kingdom have let the Indians know it; and he
hoped that Tom would not find it out, either; for the truth was that Fish
had drunk more than was good for him at Pittsburg. But all the savages
ate of the meat which was placed before them, and Tom Fish, never
neglecting an opportunity of this kind, made out a square meal also. The
boys joining in, too, there was quite a feast.

One of the Indians, a good looking young buck, showed for Ree a warmer
friendship than any of the others. He was the one whom the boy had
mistaken for the chief of the party the day before. His name was Fishing
Bird and the chief's name was Big Buffalo. The latter was far from
showing entire friendship and a dispute arose between these two savages
when Ree told them that he and John wished to purchase land.

Fishing Bird indicated that the boys must go to the great chief of their
tribe, Hopocon, or Captain Pipe, as the whites called him, at the village
of the Delawares. Big Buffalo, on the other hand, contended that he
himself had power to sell land.

Ree rightly judged as he saw an ugly feeling between these two, that he
had made a serious mistake when he had mistaken Fishing Bird for the
chief the day before, arousing the other's jealousy very much. He thought
now, that he recognized in Fishing Bird the Indian with whom he had
grappled in the forest. If this were true, it was evident that that
Indian, unwilling to confess how he had been vanquished, had said nothing
to the others of his struggle with the escaped prisoner.

However, seeing that the land question might cause trouble, both Ree and
John dropped it, having learned from the savages that a day's journey to
the south and west would take them to the Delawares' town. They
determined, therefore, to visit the village of Captain Pipe and talk with
the great chief himself.

The afternoon was