had not the least suspicion of the peril, until
he saw the hand suddenly extended and the rifle withdrawn at the same
moment he leaned it against the tree trunk. Then, before he was able to
form an idea of what it meant, the Indians came out, he was surrounded
and all escape cut off. His gun was beyond his reach, and, wherever he
turned, he was confronted by a painted and fully armed Indian warrior.

Ned was confident that these were the same ones he had seen under the
command of Captain Bagley, and he looked around for that officer. But he
was not to be seen. It was a small matter, however, whether they were
the same redmen or not. It was not to be expected that there was any
perceptible difference between the Iroquois--let them come from whatever
part of the country they chose.

The warriors seemed to enjoy the consternation depicted on the face of
their prisoner, who was speechless for a minute or so. But Ned was
brave, and there was no shrinking when he was called upon to face one of
the possibilities of the warfare in which he was engaged. The first
really strong emotion of which he was sensible was that of astonishment,
as he recalled the events of the past few days, during which he had met
with so many narrow escapes, both from death and capture. Now he had
fallen a victim just like a lamb when driven into a corner by the
slayer. The next matter which agitated him was the question whether the
Iroquois would kill him then and there, or whether they meant to
preserve him for future punishment and torture. It must have been that
they had received instructions from higher authorities that the whites,
whenever possible, were to be taken prisoners instead of being shot, for
they made no demonstration toward the fugitive in their power.

After the first feeling of amazement passed, and the captors and
captured seemed to understand the situation more fully, the Iroquois
stood for several minutes in a conversation which seemed to Ned to
consist mainly of exclamations and gestures. He concluded they were
discussing what was best to do with him. As he was unable to catch the
meaning of a single word uttered, he busied himself in trying to read
their sentiments through the gestures in which they indulged. This was a
hard task, for they were not of a character natural and expressive to
him. But when the thing had lasted some time, he caught the name of
Lena-Wingo pronounced by one of them. This led the youth to suspect they