to them and
give them my hatchet, and rifle, and knife, and say to 'em that you hope
they won't be so wicked as to kill you, for you are very fond of Injun,
and think 'em very nice; and then you'll see they'll be as pleased as
pleased, and they'll make such a fuss over you."

"Do you mean that, Joses?"

"Mean it, my lad? to be sure I do. A friend of mine did so, just as
I've told you, for he was afraid to fight."

"And did the Indians make a fuss over him?" asked Bart.

"To be sure they did, my lad; they took his weppuns, and then they set
him on his knees, and pulled all the hair off his head to make an
ornament for one of their belts, and then, because he hollered out and
didn't like it, they took their lariats and tethering pegs, and after
fixing the pegs in the ground, they put a rope round each of his ankles
and his wrists, and spread-eagled him out tight, and then they lit a
fire to warm themselves, for it was a very cold day."

"What!" cried Bart, looking aghast at his companion, who was evidently
bantering him.

"Oh no, not to roast him," said Joses, laughing; "they didn't mean that.
They lit the fire on purpose to warm themselves; and where do you think
they lit it?"

"In a hole in the ground," said Bart.

"No, my boy; they lit it on that poor fellow's chest, and kept it
burning there fiercely, and sat round it and warmed themselves; and the
more that poor wretch shrieked for mercy, the more they laughed."

"Joses, it's too horrid to believe," cried Bart.

"Well, it does sound too horrid; don't it, eh? But it's the simple,
honest truth, my boy, for some of they Injuns is regular demons, and
stop at nothing. They do any mortal thing under the sun to a white."

"Then you would not surrender?" said Bart.

"Surrender? What! to an Indian? Not till I hadn't got a bit o' life in
my body, my lad. Not before."

"But would you have me turn upon them and shoot them, Joses?" said the
lad, with all a boy's horror of shedding blood.

"Bart, my lad," said Joses, holding out his rough hand, which the boy
readily grasped, "if you ask me for a bit of advice, as one who knows
pretty well what unfriendly Injun is, I'll give it to you."

"I do ask it, Joses, for it horrifies me to think of trying to take a
man's life."

"Of course it does, my lad; so it used to me. But here's my bit of
advice for you:--Whenever you meet Injun, don't trust 'em till they're
proved to be of the right grit. Don't hurt a hair