e painted black and yellow. His head was encircled by a snake skin.
A fox's tail rose above his brow and dropped back on his crown. A
birch-bark horn hung over his shoulder.

Solomon stepped out of the bushes after he had passed and said in the
Huron tongue: "Welcome, my red brother, I hear that a large band o' yer
folks is comin' and we have got a feast ready."

The young brave had been startled by the sudden appearance of Solomon,
but the friendly words had reassured him.

"We are on a long journey," said the brave.

"And the flesh of a fat ox will help ye on yer way. Kin ye smell it?"

"Brother, it is like the smell of the great village in the Happy
Hunting-Grounds," said the brave. "We have traveled three sleeps from
the land of the long waters and have had only two porcupines and a
small deer to eat. We are hungry."

"And we would smoke the calumet of peace with you," said Solomon.

They walked on together and in a moment came in sight of the little
farm-house. The brave looked at the house and the three men who stood
by the fire.

"Come with me and you shall see that we are few," Solomon remarked.

They entered the house and barn and walked around them, and this, in
effect, is what Solomon said to him:

"I am the chief scout of the Great Father. My word is like that of old
Flame Tongue--your mighty chief. You and your people are on a bad
errand. No good can come of it. You are far from your own country. A
large force is now on your trail. If you rob or kill any one you will
be hung. We know your plans. A bad white chief has brought you here.
He has a wooden leg with an iron ring around the bottom of it. He come
down lake in a big boat with you. Night before last you stole two
white women."

A look of fear and astonishment came upon the face of the Indian.

"You are a son of the Great Spirit!" he exclaimed.

"And I would keep yer feet out o' the snare. Let me be yer chief. You
shall have a horse and fifty beaver skins and be taken to the border
and set free. I, the scout of the Great Father, have said it, and if
it be not as I say, may I never see the Happy Hunting-Grounds."

The brave answered:

"My white brother has spoken well and he shall be my chief. I like not
this journey. I shall bid them to the feast. They will eat and sleep
like the gray wolf for they are hungry and their feet are sore."

The brave put his horn to his mouth and uttered a wild cry that rang in
the d