The whole thing was done so quickly and in so dauntless a fashion that the savages were completely taken back, and when Marin, having berated them further, placed Seth under the protection of a Caughnawaga chief, who promised to be responsible for him, they acquiesced in the arrangement without a murmur.
The Caughnawaga accepted the trust reposed in him, and at first seemed disposed to treat Seth kindly, but the means he took to insure the prisoner not attempting his escape, while certainly effective, were by no means considerate of his comfort, seeing that he stretched him on the ground in the form of a St. Andrew's cross with his wrists and ankles fastened to the stems of young trees.
Nor was he satisfied with this, but must needs place brushwood upon his body, and across it long slender saplings on the ends of which several warriors lay down to sleep, so that Seth could not make the slightest movement without rousing them.
The misery of that night may hardly be conceived, since in addition to all the physical suffering, the proud, sensitive nature of the New Englander writhed as he realized what an utterly ludicrous figure he presented.
Next day after a painful march he reached Fort Ticonderoga, and was taken before Montcalm, who asked him a number of questions about the strength of the English forces, and their plans for the future.
But he got little light from Seth, who, thoroughly understanding the purpose of the examination, either evaded the questions, or firmly refused to reply to them, even though the French commander threatened to have him tortured if he did not answer in the way desired.
The end of it was that Montcalm, finding he could elicit nothing from him, ordered him to be sent up to Montreal as a prisoner of war.
OUT OF CAPTIVITY INTO ACTION AGAIN