"Poor thief of a Seneca!" said Eagle's-Wing, "whose sharpest weapon is that of a woman; he can only hurt his enemies with his tongue. If we had him in our villages, we would put on him the dress of a squaw, that he might scold, while the warriors stood around and laughed! It is a pity that an Iroquois can only hurt his enemies with his tongue. I have killed a great many Senecas; they all die like women, and scream when they feel the knife on their scalps. I have got some of them here," throwing back his blanket, and displaying to the passionate eyes of the Seneca three or four gory scalps. "They are not fit for a warrior to wear; and I will not hang them in the council-room of my nation. I will give them to the pappooses to play with," and turning with a gesture of contempt he walked back into the crowd of Indians.
But while the preparations were being made for the torture of Panther, Barton and his friends had concluded their arrangements for their return on the next day to the settlements. But little preparation was necessary, and the possession of the horses had obviated the greatest difficulty in their removal. There was little or nothing to be transported, as the Senecas had destroyed nearly every valuable upon the premises.
Their arrangements were all made, and that peculiar and natural solemnity of feeling, which attends the abandonment of a cherished home, laid waste and desolate, prevented any continued conversation.
"The friendly Indians will accompany us a portion of the way, I suppose," said Barton; "but only for a few miles, as their path lies northward, while ours is more to the eastward. They will, doubtless, take their prisoner with them."
"That would be an useless trouble, I should think," said Ralph. "It would be better for them to let him go at once. But perhaps, as a matter of pride, they wish to display a Seneca chief in their villages, as a prisoner."
It was at this moment, that the shout was heard, which attended the ebullition of anger on the part of the Indians at the contemptuous language of Panther. Each individual of the party, excepting Ichabod and Singing-Bird, started;—it recalled, for a moment, with vivid distinctness, the memory of the perils from which they had just escaped.
"What is the meaning of that shout?" asked Barton.
"It is, perhaps, an attempt to terrify their prisoner," said Ralph, "or perhaps it may be," and he started at the sudden conjecture, rising hastily upon his feet, "that they are about to put him to torture."
"Oh! they will not do that!" exclaimed Ralph. "It cannot be, that Eagle's-Wing can imitate the cold-blooded cruelty of Panther. Say it is not so, Singing-Bird."
"Eagle's-Wing great chief," said the Indian, quietly, "he know how to punish enemy."