tion fastened
itself upon him that Ogallah had taken him to his lodge for the purpose
of keeping him until he was in the best physical condition, when he
would subject him to a series of torturing and fatal ceremonies for the
amusement of the entire village.

In the middle of these remarkable sensations exhausted nature succumbed,
and the captive fell asleep.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

A PATIENT OF THE MEDICINE MAN.

When Jack Carleton awoke, it was night and the rain was falling. He was
feverish and his brain was so overwrought that it was a full minute
before he could call to mind where he was. His slumber had been
disturbed toward the latter part by dreams as wild, vague and
unimaginable as those which taunt the brain of the opium eater.

When he remembered that he was in the wigwam of Ogallah, the chieftain,
he turned upon his side and raised his head on his elbow. The fire at
the other end of the apartment that had been burning brightly, had gone
down somewhat, but enough remained to light up the interior so that the
familiar objects could be seen with considerable distinctness.

He observed the figure of the sachem stretched out in the dilapidated
slouchiness peculiar to himself. He did not bother to remove any of his
clothing, and, though the place was quite chilly he drew none of the
bison robes over him. He had lain down on one, but had managed in some
way to kick it half way across the lodge, and his couch, therefore, was
the simple earth, which served better than a kingly bed of eider down
could have done.

The favorite posture of the queenly consort was not a prone one, but
that of crouching in a heap near the coals, where, with a blanket that
had never been washed since it was put together years before, gathered
about her shoulders, her skinny arms clasping her knees and her head
bowed forward, she would sleep for hours at a time. The reflection of
the flickering flames against her figure caused it to look grotesque in
the fitful light, and the captive gazed at her for a long time, led to
do so by an infatuation which was not strange under the circumstances.

There, too, was the dog which, could he have been given his way, would
have done nothing all his life but sleep and eat. As was his custom, he
was at the feet of his mistress, a position which he seemed to prefer
above all others. Then the blankets, deer and bison skins, and rude
articles hanging about the room, the two columns in the center
s