hould they discover us, even though we might escape them or
come off victorious, we should have to abandon all hopes of saving
Noggin. We accordingly lay down in some thick cover where no one was
likely to find us, and waited till they were likely to have gone to
sleep for the night. We talked over all sorts of plans. Blount
proposed going boldly into the camp himself dressed as a medicine-man;
but then the difficulty was to find the wherewithal to fit himself out.
I, too, opposed the scheme; for they would naturally be suspicious, and,
come from whatever quarter he might, they would be apt to question him
very narrowly before letting him range their camp at liberty.

"`Well, Short, it's all very well for you to say this plan won't do, or
that won't do, but do you just tell me what will do.'

"This was a poser; I could not. We had our deerskin coats. They had
been saved in the canoe. He proposed cutting his into strips, and with
the aid of a red pocket-handkerchief he judged that he could turn
himself into a very good white medicine-man. I at last consented to let
him try the scheme, provided no opportunity occurred during the night of
helping poor Noggin. When the plan was arranged, we crept nearer and
nearer to the savages. They had camped in an open part of a green
valley, the sides of which were clothed with trees. They were far
enough from any trees not to be taken by surprise from any enemies
except those armed with rifles. We climbed one of the trees, whence we
could look down on them and watch their proceedings. We might indeed
have picked several of them off had revenge alone been our object; but
that would have done no good to poor Noggin, unless he could have
managed to escape in the confusion.

"Hour after hour passed away. The savages sat up talking over their
fire. Several of them at last lay down, but a party went out to examine
the neighbourhood of the camp, and when they returned four of those who
had previously gone to sleep got up and sat watching their prisoner,
evidently with malignant pleasure. This vigilance of the enemy made us
almost despair of being able to deliver our friend. Whenever we turned
our eyes in the direction of the camp, there were the four wretches
gazing up into the countenance of their victim, and he, poor fellow,
already looked more dead than alive. Thus we lay stretched out at our
length watching them hour after hour. No one moved. Our hearts sank
within u