And then I turned and mingled with the crowd, with my heart beating strangely but my brain cool.  The interest was centring in Starling, and the older men had their calumets in hand and were preparing for the council.  I saw that for a few hours at least I should have life and semi-liberty.  There was no possibility of my escape, so, bound as I was, I was free to wander within limits.  I would keep as near the women as possible and try and herd my faction together.

I had been too absorbed to use my eyes, but now I saw that a captive was lying near my feet.  He was closely tied on two pieces of rough wood shaped like a St. Andrew’s cross, and was a hideous sight with his tongue protruding and his eyes beginning to glaze.  Dogs were scrambling and tearing at him, and I edged nearer and tried to drive them away.  I examined him as closely as I dared, and judged by the dressing of his long hair that he was a Miami.  In that case the war party must have come from the south by way of the Ohio and the Illinois country, and they were probably working their way north to reach Michillimackinac on its unguarded side.  I saw it was a war party, for there were no women with them, and the Iroquois carry their families on all hunting trips.

I looked at the dying man and wished for my knife.  So they tortured Indian captives while they let me, a Frenchman, go lightly bound.  Well, my turn was yet to come.  My white skin probably gave me importance enough so that I would be referred to the council.  I would not look ahead.  I would plan for the moment, and open eyes and ears.

There were many captives, I saw now, and my anxiety for Leclerc and Labarthe grew keen.  I made my slow way around the bound figures.  Some were pegged to the ground by their out-stretched hands and feet, and some were stretched on crosses.  But all were Indians.  I saw more Miamis, a few Kickapoos, and some whom I did not know; I learned later that they were Mascoutens.  And then I saw Labarthe.  He was tied to a tree, Leclerc beside him.  Leclerc, who was ever a fool, would have motioned to me, but Labarthe struck down his arm and gave a blank stare.  So I was able to get near them.  They looked blood-stained and jaded, but practically unhurt, and I saw a half-eaten chunk of meat in Leclerc’s hand.  They had been fed and reasonably well treated.  But that meant nothing as guide to what might come.

I had not made my way alone.  Starling was the chief attraction, but I, too, was the centre of a curious, chaffering crowd.  The braves were unwontedly good-humored, childishly pleased with the evening’s excitement, and I amused them still further by shrugging at them and making great faces of contempt.  When one offered me a meal cake I kicked at him and trampled the food into the ground, and as I swaggered away I heard him tell the others that I was a bear for courage.  I could have smiled at that, for I was acting more like a blustering terrier than any nobler animal, but I would not let them see that I understood their tongue.