e hut was well in the
shadow of tepees, and all were still at the feasting and merrymaking.
He cut the withes with two sweeps of his sharp hunting knife, opened the
door, bent his head, stepped in and then closed the door behind him, in
order that no Iroquois might see what had happened.

It was not wholly dark in the hut, as there were cracks between the
poles, and bars of moonlight entered, falling upon a floor of bark. They
revealed also a figure lying full length on one side of the hut. A great
pulse of joy leaped up in Henry's throat, and with it was a deep pity,
also. The figure was that of Shif'less Sol, but he was pale and thin,
and his arms and legs were securely bound with thongs of deerskin.

Leaning over, Henry cut the thongs of the shiftless one, but he did not
stir. Great forester that Shif'less Sol was, and usually so sensitive to
the lightest movement, he perceived nothing now, and, had he not found
him bound, Henry would have been afraid that he was looking upon his
dead comrade. The hands of the shiftless one, when the hands were cut,
had fallen limply by his side, and his face looked all the more pallid
by contrast with the yellow hair which fell in length about it. But it
was his old-time friend, the dauntless Shif'less Sol, the last of the
five to vanish so mysteriously.

Henry bent down and pulled him by the shoulder. The captive yawned,
stretched himself a little, and lay still again with closed eyes.
Henry shook him a second time and more violently. Shif'less Sol sat up
quickly, and Henry knew that indignation prompted the movement. Sol held
his arms and legs stiffly and seemed to be totally unconscious that they
were unbound. He cast one glance upward, and in the dim light saw the
tall warrior bending over him.

"I'll never do it, Timmendiquas or White Lightning, whichever name you
like better!" he exclaimed. "I won't show you how to surprise the white
settlements. You can burn me at the stake or tear me in pieces first.
Now go away and let me sleep."

He sank back on the bark, and started to close his eyes again. It was
then that he noticed for the first time that his hands were unbound.
He held them up before his face, as if they were strange objects wholly
unattached to himself, and gazed at them in amazement. He moved his legs
and saw that they, too, were unbound. Then he turned his startled gaze
upward at the face of the tall warrior who was looking down at him.
Shif'less Sol was wholl