o had been hob-nobbing with the savages,
himself drinking until he could stand only with difficulty, was set upon
by two of the feathered wolves, murdered and scalped before our eyes,
without an alarm being raised.

Then the Indians began a war-dance, waving the bloody scalp in the air
with frenzied gestures as they circled around and around the lifeless
body, and many of the drunken white men applauded heartily, although it
must be set down in extenuation that they were so drunk as not really to
understand what had taken place.

"It's a nice kind of a tea-party," Sergeant Corney whispered to me, while
the orgy was at its height. "If the rum holds out these villains will
settle matters among themselves, so that Colonel Gansevoort won't find any
to stand against him when he arrives."

To this I could make no reply. I was literally sickened by the horrible
scene, and began to wish most fervently that I had been the one to draw
the shortest twig, for it was by no means agreeable to remain there idle
while murder was being done, even though it was a bitter enemy who had
thus been cowardly done to death.

The savages soon brought their dance to an end as they stumbled into this
tent and that, searching for more spirits although the cask was not yet
empty, and I was on the point of suggesting to Sergeant Corney that it
would be wise to move back among the bushes lest some of the drunkards
come upon us by mistake, when a heavy body suddenly fell, or was thrown,
directly upon my back, pinning me to the earth.

My first thought was that the rioters had flung some heavy piece of camp
equipage into the bushes at random, and then the blood grew cold in my
veins as I felt two hands clutching at my throat.

Like a flash of light came the knowledge that one of the drunkards, an
Indian as I believed, had stumbled upon me accidentally. I expected each
second to hear an alarm raised which would bring the murderous crew to the
spot without delay, when there could be no question as to the result, for
the sergeant and I could not hold out many moments against such a mob,
even though every one of them was intoxicated to a greater or less degree.

That which rendered my situation critical was the fact of my being
virtually unarmed. It will be remembered that the rifle was strapped to my
back, and even though I had been unhampered, it would have required no
slight time in which to unsling it. My knife was quite as useless,
because, born