ormer assented to the conditions of surrender
Captain Headley had imposed. To have reposed any faith in the
warriors themselves after what had occurred, that officer was now
fully sensible would have been an act of madness; but he confidently
hoped that, although Winnebeg and the other friendly chiefs might
not have had the power to restrain the excitement of their young
men in the first outburst of their rage for blood, their influence
would to a certain extent be regained, now that the fiercest act
in the drama had been played, and the chief actor was no more. The
only thing that created uneasiness in him was the apprehension that
the severity of their own loss might induce such a desire of
vengeance in the minds of the warriors as to cause in them a renewal
of their fury, and an utter disregard of the pledges of their
leaders. Something however--indeed much--must be left to chance.
As prisoners they might and would be saved, if the influence of
their sager warriors and their own better feelings prevailed, while,
as combatants, every man, without an exception, must have fallen.
Moreover, the reason which had decided Lieutenant Elmsley in giving
his vote had an equal influence in sustaining himself in the
expediency of surrender. Their wives were prisoners, and a reunion
with them was not impossible; whereas if they had resolved on
defending themselves with the obstinacy of despair, that hope must
have been for ever cut off, and the noble women--not to speak of
the partners of their brave and humble followers--who had taken so
prominent a share in the combat, wounded and sustained only by the
faint possibility of a meeting with their husbands, would assuredly
be made to undergo a similar fate.

And now commenced the most humiliating part of the movements of
the day--the breaking up of the gallant little square, and the
return, flanked by their Indian captors, of the remains of the
detachment to the fort. In compliance with the wish of Captain
Headley, expressed at the suggestion of his men, instead of taking
the route selected by Winnebeg in his advance, the party were
suffered to return past the wagons. The scene which took place here
was one of mingled consolation and despair. Such of the married
men as had survived the conflict anxiously sought their wives, many
of whom, with pale cheeks and sunken eyes, and hearts nearly crushed
by the pitiless murder of their children, still wrung comfort in
the midst of their d