"About two hours."
"Good. Let me make you a proposition. We can dine now, and you can tell us the conclusion of your story."
An hour later dinner was concluded, and the captain continued his narrative.
"At the moment I put foot on the threshold of the cabin I heard a peculiar noise, and at the same moment an arrow flew past my head and lodged itself in the door. Where had the arrow come from? What to do I knew not. Suddenly an inspiration came to me. The cabin was pretty solidly built, and the roof was constructed of thick canewood. Around the four sides were thick planks, which offered me shelter in case of an attack. That my enemies were Indians I felt sure. I locked the door, barricaded it from the inside, and felt sorry that the rattlesnake was dead, for it would have been a splendid weapon against the Indians. Going up to the roof, and lying flat on my stomach, I peered out. I shuddered when I saw my enemies. They were Indians of the worst kind. With the Sioux and Chippewas we had kept up friendly relations, but these were Arikaras, our bitterest foes. This tribe were deadly enemies of the whites, and the refined cruelty with which they tortured their prisoners made them feared by all. They were all armed with muskets, and numbered about fifty warriors. At the rear of the group I saw two Sioux. One was a man and the other a woman. The man was Tu-Sam-Ba; the woman, his wife, the 'Prairie Flower,' the present Mrs. Wharton. They seemed to be prisoners, and when I thought of the custom of the Arikaras to roast their prisoners alive, a thrill of horror ran through my veins. The attitude of the 'Prairie Flower' was so noble that she immediately won my heart. 'Either you or no one,' I thought, and firmly resolved to attempt the rescue of my angel."
The "angel" tried in vain to allay her husband's excitement. Madame Caraman could hardly restrain her laughter whenever she looked at the angel. Clary, on the other hand, preserved her gravity, and calmly said:
"I appreciate your feelings, captain; continue."
Wharton bowed profoundly and proceeded.
"The Arikaras surrounded the cabin, while I lay motionless, with my hand on the trigger of my gun. The savages now began to break in the door and soon effected an entrance. Immediately I heard a loud noise. They had discovered the two dead bodies and the rattlesnake. They thought the two whites had killed the rattlesnake, which is regarded as a sacred animal by them, and that Manitou, their god, had struck them dead. A place which Manitou visits is sacred to them, and I thought that they would leave the hut. An ugly Indian, who seemed to be the chief, commanded silence and delivered a long speech to his subjects. At its conclusion the Indians moved about and began to gather brushwood. They piled it in heaps on the floor of the cabin and the chief set fire to it. Presently the smell of burning flesh reached me. They were burning Dick and Osborne's bodies. At the same moment a bright flame licked the roof, my gun exploded in consequence of the heat, and, half dead with fright, I fell into the middle of the group. My fate was settled now. They surrounded me, bound me with cords, and with wild yells they rushed out bearing me along. I—"
"Captain," interrupted Clary, "don't you think we have reached Bona yet?"
"No," replied Wharton, vivaciously, "not before the next two hours."