ith the foliage at that period of the year,
hung from his shoulders. He carried a rifle and there were other weapons
in his belt.

Will felt with increasing force that he was in the presence of a great
Sioux chief. The Sioux, who were to the West what the Iroquois were to
the East, sometimes produced men of high intellectual rank, their
development being hampered by time and place. The famous chief, Gall,
who planned Custer's defeat, and who led the forces upon the field, had
the head of a Jupiter, and Will felt now as he stared up at Heraka that
he had never beheld a more imposing figure. The gaze of the man that met
his own was stern and denunciatory. The lad felt that he was about to be
charged with a great crime, and that the charge would be true.

"Why have you come here?" asked the stern warrior.

In spite of himself, in spite of his terrible situation, the youth's
sense of humor sparkled up a moment.

"I don't know why I came here," he replied, "nor do I know how, nor do I
know where I am."

The chief's gaze flickered a moment, but he replied with little
modification of his sternness:

"You were brought here on the back of a pony. You are miles from where
you were taken, and you are the prisoner of these warriors of the Dakota
whom I lead."

Will knew well enough that the Sioux called themselves in their own
language the Dakota, and that the chief would take a pride in so naming
them to him.

"The Dakotas are a great nation," he said.

Heraka nodded, not as if it were a compliment, but as a mere statement
of fact. Will considered. Would it be wise to ask about his friends?
Might he not in doing so give some hint that could be used against them?
The fierce gaze of the chief seemed actually to penetrate his physical
body and read his mind.

"You are thinking of those who were with you," he said.

"My thoughts had turned to them."

"Call them back. It is a waste."

"Why do you say that, Heraka?"

"Because they are all dead. Their scalps are drying at the belts of the
warriors. You alone live as we had to strike you down in silence before
we slew the others."

Will shuddered over and over again. He was sick at both heart and brain.
Could it be true? Could those men be dead? The wise Boyd, the cheerful
Little Giant, and the grave and kindly Brady? Once more he looked Heraka
straight in the eye, but the gaze of the chief did not waver.

"I have hope, though but a little hope," he said, "that it ple