Ware were taken they would clamor at
once for his life. None would be more eager for the torture than they,
but Red Eagle had another plan in his mind. The principle of adoption
was strong among the Indians. Captives were often received into the
tribes, and Ware, with death as the alternative, might become a splendid
young adopted son for him and, in time, the greatest chief of the
Shawnees. He would not come as a renegade, like Blackstaffe and Wyatt,
but as a valiant prisoner taken fairly in battle, to whom was left no
other choice.

It was to the credit of Red Eagle's heart and brain, as he sat deeply
pondering, that he evolved such a plan, but he made one mistake. High as
he estimated the mental and physical powers of the fugitive to be, he
did not estimate them high enough. Few would have had the strength of
will that Henry displayed then to lie quiet in the council house while
his enemies were all about him and the warriors were searching the
forest around for his trail. It was fortunate, in truth, that the snow
had come and passed, hiding any possible traces he might have left.

His conviction that he was safe, for the present at least, remained. He
knew there was no occasion for the chiefs to enter the sacred building
in which he lay, and the others would not dare to do so. Nothing
troubled him at present but thirst. His throat and mouth were dry and
craved water, as one in the desert, but he knew that he must endure.

Late in the day, the warriors of the village who had gone out to look
for his trail began to return, and when they had made their reports,
Henry knew by the disappointment evident on the faces of Red Eagle and
the renegades, that they had found nothing. He saw the Shawnee chief
give orders to his own men, half of whom plunged into the forest to the
northward and disappeared. They reckoned that he had gone on, and,
spreading out in the usual fan fashion, would continue the pursuit. But
it seemed that Red Eagle, with the remainder of his immediate force and
the renegades, intended to pass the night in the village.

A supper of great abundance and variety was served to the Shawnee chief
and his men, and, when he saw the pure fresh drinking water brought to
them, Henry raged inwardly. They had not taken him yet, but already he
was being put to the torture. It was bitter irony that he should suffer
so much for water when the forest contained countless streams and pools.
He shut his teeth tight togeth