needed.

CHAPTER XIII.

MRS. EASTMAN'S STORY CONTINUED.

Years have dragged their slow length along; once again I am surrounded
by friends, and a husband's love shields me from the persecutions of a
cruel captivity: yet, scenes and incidents of that terrible time recur
to my memory with a vividness only too real. The capture, torture, and
fatiguing marches, have left their imprint on my memory in ineffaceable
characters. These were, however, but the overture to the drama. My
intense sufferings commenced, and were comprised in the nine years of my
life among the Apaches.

I had passed a restless night; my couch was haunted by dreams of ill
omen, and it was with a sigh of relief that I saw the morning's rays
peeping through the crevices of our lodge of skins. I was enabled to
look upon my surroundings, and take stock of my future home. The lodge
was circular in form, measuring a circumference of about fifty feet at
the base, narrowing as it extended upwards, until a space of about six
feet was left open at the top; the framework consisted of poles driven
firmly into the ground, and held in position by a covering of dressed
buffalo skins. The floor in the center of the lodge was depressed
sufficiently to form a fire-place, in which a few glowing embers could
yet be seen. Ranged around the walls were the beds, seven in number,
which were occupied by the chief and his six wives. I, of course, was
included in the number. Some of the beds were tastefully draped with
curtains of dressed skins, ornamented in various styles. The bed of the
chief was perhaps the most gorgeous; on it could be seen the labor of
five jealous women, each more anxious than the other to propitiate her
lord by some extravagance of decoration, which would deflect the
sunshine of his favor on her head to the envy and exclusion of the
remaining members of the family. Suspended from stakes driven into the
ground near the head of his couch rested the implements of warfare;
lance, shield, bow, and quiver, together with the deadly tomahawk and
murderous scalping knife. Extended along a line that bisected the
wigwam, at a distance of perhaps twelve feet from the floor, were the
scalps of his enemies. Judging from the great quantity of these ghastly
trophies, my master was a man of immense valor and shocking brutality.

Soon there was a movement, the curtains of one of the beds parted, and
the head, shoulders and body of a tawny savage appeared. Le