"I must help him if I can," was Dave's one thought, as he descended to the ground. "Sam would do his best for me if I was in his place, and I must do the same."
Slowly and cautiously the youth made his way through the forest and around the rough rocks with which the neighborhood abounded. Feeling that the Indians might be ready to pounce on him at any moment, he kept eyes and ears on the alert, and did not make a step until he was almost absolutely certain that it was safe.
At last he came in sight of the Indians once more. By their dress and war paint he saw that they were Ottawas. He counted twenty-two Indians, including an under chief, who could easily be remembered by the fact that he had but one ear. This was Falling Star, afterwards known as the terror of the lake shore, because of his peculiar bloodthirstiness. Falling Star was said to have killed two other Indian chiefs, and at the end of the Indian wars lost his life by being carried over Niagara Falls in his canoe.
Dave could see that some of the Indians were questioning Sam Barringford. Evidently the replies from the old frontiersman were not satisfactory, for the red men made angry gestures, and one spat upon the old hunter. Then the Indians withdrew for a conference, leaving Barrington tied to a tree.
"Oh, if I could only release him," thought Dave, and crawled a little closer. But this was not to be, for a moment later an Indian came forward, rifle in hand, to stand guard over the prisoner.
The Indians imagined that Barrington was carrying dispatches from Fort Pitt to Detroit. They had heard that a messenger was on the way, and they insisted upon it that the old frontiersman tell them the news. As Barringford could not do this, they grew exceedingly angry, and the majority voted to burn the prisoner at the stake, in hopes of making him talk.
It was not long before the preliminaries for the burning were complete. The top of a young sapling was cut off, and the tree trimmed into a post and then Barrington was bound tightly to this. In the meantime some of the red men gathered a quantity of dry brushwood which they heaped around the prisoner up to his waist.
These preparations made Dave faint at heart, for he understood only too well what they meant. His best loved old friend was about to die and not only that, but to die in a manner too horrible to contemplate. Shudder after shudder passed through the youth and he clutched his rifle nervously.
